Driver Experience Courses

That is what basically puts me off. If I am paying £4/500 I do not want to have to be lucky or unlucky to get the most of the experience

 

Must admit I'd be interested in several of these, though I find it quite hard to find dates on websites and often my schedule is short notice.
for example I could do early next week...but I don't know (or could spend until next week) looking for one. (pm me if there's an option..seriously).

 

Sorry lost login if I may have given a wrong impression there with choice of words - my experiences have all been at WSR which I have found to be excellent - on the stage 4 covering the whole line we all had different opportunities during the day and we all had to build up a fire for the 2 major banks. I felt I was lucky as I had a little bit more to do after the firing instructor had laid the fiundations of the fire. On all 4 courses we have been involved in oiling around/cleaning etc etc and by entering in wholeheartedly I tfelt I made the most of all my 4 to date - lloking forward to going again but probably not this year as pennies are a bit tight! DH

 

I think on a course like "fire a whole trip on the WSR", if you have limited footplate experience, you'd be hard pressed to really appreciate any difference between the first trip and the second trip. So I don't think you'd really notice being lucky or unlucky.

Where I'd be cautious is one where you swap round as fireman / driver part way along a line. (For example, person 1 fires and person 2 drives from A to B; then person 2 takes over firing from B to C etc while person 1 drives). In that case there really could be a matter of luck: in particular, (put crudely) the fun in firing is uphill and the skill in driving is downhill. So if the line in question is uphill from A to B and downhill from B to C, you might find you fire up and drive down the hill (which would be lucky); but you might find you drive up and fire down the hill, which would be a bit dull. At the very least, before booking, take a look at the gradients on a line, compare with how the course is structured, and see if there is the potential for the position of your turn to influence the experience.

But ultimately, you need to ask questions of yourself like:

- Do I want to drive an engine, or do I want to get a complete experience of driving, firing, being a guard etc?
- If driving is the main thing, do I want lots of experience in fine control (in which case choose a course with lots of starting / stopping etc) or do I want the feel of running a service (in which case choose a course pulling a realistic train the length of a decent sized line)?
- How physically fit am I? (firing especially is hard work; firing a complete 20 mile trip on a hilly line such as the WSR with a heavy load such as 6 coaches is a reasonable physical challenge if you haven't done anything similar before).
- Is the actual engine you get on significant, or will any engine do?
- Are you taking any friends / wife / etc? If so, what is on offer for them?
- Are there other factors that might play a part; e.g. scenery, closeness to home etc

I'm sure there are other questions.

Tom

 

Full Day Driving Experience - £ 275

Learn to cook bacon to perfection on the coal shovel as you spend a day driving our steam engine, Gelert. You will get the railway to yourself for the day and individual instruction from our driver and fireman. An added bonus of this course is that it's a one to one experience; you won't be sharing the footplate with anyone else.

I am sure we could adjust this for two people! On this course you are on a short line, but as mentioned in other posts, the skills of driving are in the stopping, coupling up and starting. A short line gives you more chances to practise these skills.

We also do evening courses during the summer.

If you just want to sample the thrill of you hand on the regulator, we do a simple drive an engine experience during the evening on our May and June gala weekends, (£10 for a single trip along the full length of the line!!!!!! Probably the cheapest full line driver experience course in the country????) dates and details will be on our website very soon. (Last year we had a visiting Quarry Hunslet and an unfitted freight train of considerable weight!!! The last few trips were in the fading light of dusk, which adds an extra challenge, which will appeal to people who have some experience of driving already - Putting the stock away in pitch black down a hill of 1 in 30 and stopping tight to the shed doors was quite a challenge that I personally enjoyed)

 

Just a quick post to thank you all for the responses so far - its all really thought provoking stuff, raising some issues, and lines i had not even considered. Keep the advice coming its much appreciated!

 

Another aspect for some participants to consider is the question of time available.
If you can spend all day doing something then there are plenty of railways offering the more 'intensive' experience.
For those who cannot spend all day then the 'Taster' sort of experience is the only one possible. The Swanage Railway's 'Tasters' have driving one way and firing back [or vice versa] but has the advantage of up and down gradients in each direction. There are only a few dates left in 2012 at the moment: The Swanage Railway Railway Experience 2012

 

It's several years since I did my firing/driving course and at the time I couldn't fault it really as it suited what I wanted, and for that I could justify the cost for a one-off experience.. but after I booked up the course I then went and volunteered in the MPD so I could learn a little bit more about the locos before I had my day out, which involved no classroom or on-shed time. Whilst that way I didn't learn all you would in the classroom, it certainly made the experience a lot more fulfilling when the time came.

I was lucky on the day to have had a rebuilt WC with three Mk1s over some decent gradients which is what I'd hoped for, loco allocations normally being down to availability.

Looking back over the years and whether I could have enjoyed the course anymore, I think it would have been to have had some on-shed time and to get involved in the prep. As a complete novice, I'm not sure how much more I'd have been able to do in terms of duration on the shovel - a very hot day on a Bulleid.. The day would have been as enjoyable, if not more so, if I'd have had something like an Ivatt 2MT tank compared to a pacific.

As a complete contrast to that day out, I was invited to have a go on the Welshpool - completely different line, a bit of a different skillset required and really good fun and I can recommend that for a day out for driving experience! I think the only part on their line that you don't drive is the steep descent into Welshpool around the reverse curves etc.

 

just too add another Narrow Gauge line into the mix the Talyllyn offers two courses where its just you on the footplate (with the Driver and Fireman) your friends and family in the full passenger set. you drive the whole time you are there we offer an evening experience which means after the last down train of the day has passed Pendre you depart from there, travel to Nant Gwernol and back to Abergynolwyn where a array of Sandwiches, cake and drinks are available for you and your guests (included in the price of your course) then you drive your train back to Wharf where your course finishes with a certificate signed by the crew of your train on completion of 14 1/4 miles of Driving all for 350 pounds

the full day option is the same as above but its two trips and 28 1/2 miles and your also crossing our normal passenger trains whilst you wind your way up and down the valley. on the second trip you get teas and cakes at Abergynolwyn all for just 700 pounds

within reason we can also try and roster your favorite engine with your set of carriages.

more information at Talyllyn Railway | The World's First Preserved Railway

cheers

AT

 

I really frncied a particular experience day on the east lancs, it was hauling a demonstration goods and was a fair amount less doshthan the regular turns. Apart from not including a tour round Buckley wells couldnt see the problem with it but both dates i was looking ast we're cancelled due to lack of interest....
Couldnt understand why

 

We offer a range of courses on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway, details here - GWR - Gloucestershire's mainline heritage railway - Steam on the website. I did a course 6 years ago which lead me to becoming a member and working volunteer. That first experience of Greet Tunnel on the footplate was quite a thing!

Aside from the experience of firing a driving an ex-mainline loco you get an insight into how the railway is run and what the volunteers have achieved/are achieving. Of course at the moment the courses only run between Winchcombe and Cheltenham Race Course but you still get a good amount of footplate experience.

Steve

 

Interesting video taken in the cab of D6566:

WSR :: West Somerset Railway :: Video Clips - the Railway on YouTube - 2012

Steve

 

The Severn Valley's Footplate Experience department now have their own Twitter and Facebook pages...have a look to see all our latest news!

- https://twitter.com/SVRFootplate

- https://www.facebook.com/groups/634129333267638/

ALL NEW courses have also been added to our itinerary:

- Drive the 'Flying Scotswoman' for £50 at our Ladies Day event on July 28th.

- New dates throughout the year have also been added: http://svr.co.uk/pdf/Footplate/2013 Public Course Dates - Table Format.pdf

http://svr.co.uk/FootplateExperience.aspx

Thanks,
Lewis