Severn Valley Railway Autumn Steam Gala 18-21th September 2014

Indeed, I can't say I saw this incident, but it sounds very isolated. It would be interesting to know whether they bought their drinks within the railway or off site. If on the railway I'd have thought someone might have spotted they'd had enough and refused service. Always difficult judging that kind of thing. Some people are very good at disguising drunkeness.

 

You'd be surprised, I can't imagine that many members of the public go on mainline rail tours as they cost a bomb for the casual observer, yet some of the graffiti found on the panelling of an ex-mainline mk 1 we're restoring at the moment is horrendous - I'd have thought if it was BR times it would have been removed for tourist purposes?

I think people asking for information for free from WTT holders is a difficult one. to my mind it depends on how much you want to know. If it's something like "Can anyone give me the movements of 88 on Sunday?" then I'd say that's a bit much as they are obviously prepared to be around for quite some time and thus definitely "freeloading" IMO. However if I was to ask something like "I might be able to stop by at Hampton Loade to see a train in at around 11;30, could anyone suggest what it'll be?" I'd say this is more respectable, as they are simply asking for details of a single train, rather than several trains as in the previous example.

 

Excellent event, Sunday was a beautiful day weather wise. Stars for me were the standard 5 and the 4f. No big namers, but the smaller locos were more than up for putting on a show. Trains were pretty well loaded but you were always able to get a seat. Sir Keith was performing well for those who wanted a pacific fix. Star performance for me was 43106 on a 2 coach local - completely overpowered but no less chimney talk and some very vigorous accelerations up to line speed! It was good to see some of the crew getting into the spirit of the event and remembering they are in the entertainment business - when big locos visit some crews seem almost a bit scared of the beasts. Don't know why, some of my most memorable performances on the SVR have been behind number 9 when it was based there. Anyway, thanks everyone, this was my 21st consecutive SVR autumn gala, roll on number 22!

 

Couple of comments on the timetable. Once again you were unable to change trains in Kidder, with the Bridgnorth departure timed to leave a few minutes before the arrival (presumably crossing by the carriage shed?). If you did come into Kidder you were then stranded there for an hour - having lived in the place for 13 years, trust me that's the last place I want to be stranded! Kidderminster was painfully quiet really, I remember galas when there were 4 or 5 locos in the station at once with locals doubling up on platform 2. What this meant was that I changed trains in Bewdley, but then missed out on the thrash up the tunnel. At Bewdley, once again Bridgnorth bound trains were using platform 1 rather than 3, meaning a mad rush over the footbridge. I can not understand this as platform one only holds 4 or 5 coaches whereas 2 & 3 hold 8 and allow simple cross platform interchange. The diesel gala timetable always does this and it makes life so much easier. Plus points - the use of the locals was excellent, having 2 in the siding at Arley was a masterstroke. Also good to see the goods in action during the day. There was plenty of slack for catching up time, but overall it didn't have the sparkle of lots of movements seen in previous years.

 

I'm amazed at people complaining - what do they expect?

The finances are a zero-sum game. Give away the programme, and you have to make up the money somewhere else. At £6 a throw, let's say 500 sales, knock off the production costs and you basically have the hire fee for a visiting engine over two weekends. If you give away the WTT, then it is one less visitor, or maybe instead a pound or two on every ticket - which would you prefer?

In my eyes, a basic timetable of publicly available trains should be freely available for any event, and in advance. Anything extra (including loco and carriage diagrams, times of non-public trains etc) is fair game to charge for. After all, if I go to a sporting event or the theatre, my ticket price covers entry to the entertainment, but if I want a programme so I know the names and bios of the players (or actors) involved, I have to pay extra. Why would I expect such information for free?

Maybe the trick is to call such documents "the programme" rather than "the (working) timetable" and it might make comprehension a bit easier.

Tom

 

I can't think of an example where I've shown myself up as not knowing what I'm talking about unless you're talking about me reading the dates of SSS4 wrong, which is, quite frankly, pathetic. Even if I did have a lot to learn, that gives you no right to be sarcastic. I doubt you talk to people like that face-to-face or you wouldn't still be around. You're the only person I've ever had a problem with on this forum.

 

In this modern age could the svr do something like I tunes do and say put the wtt on line and you either download the hole thing or just the locos you want? Or would it cost to much to set up just a thought

 

I suppose it's possible, it depends on what timetables and diagrams exist for the crews. for example I'm sure someone here will know, do the SVR give their crews a bog standard WTT for their shifts to look at or do they get a specific locomotive diagram containing only details of that particular loco for ease of reading? If the latter it probably wouldn't be too much bother to sell those as stand alone documents, but I'd say not worth it for the amount of people who will either buy a full one anyway or just not bother and see what turns up. Might not need to be set up on iTunes, thinking model railways how does the Scalescenes website work? That is where you pay then download PDFs of kits to print out and cut 'n' stick etc. Something similar to that? If not individual loco diagrams, the WTT could surely be sold this way, maybe more customers for those who didn't pre-order but like to plan before the day?

 

At Steel Steam and Stars 3 they had "Souvenir Gala Programme" which stated " Includes 9 - day Timetable and Guide to Events", although it was a full colour brochure.

Perhaps change to a programme with timetables with loco allocations, and miss out locomotive workings and set diagrams ? Might sell more and appeal to the general public rather than just the enthusiast.

 

Just a thought cuz I didn't buy a wtt I never do I just turn up and ride behind a loco till I see what I want to go behind then go after it but if you could buy just the timetable for the loco you want for say £1.50 I would of bought it so I could plan my day the svr don't loose out cuz I still buy a rover they just gain an extra £1.50 per customer and in this modern world they save on paper and printing cost as it will be downloaded to the phone and there to look at as long as your battery doesn't die

 

I have paid online and have timetables emailed to me as either Excel spreadsheet or pdf. Steam Steam and Stars 2 and a gala at the K&ESR.

 

I also changed at Bewdley, since it was not just that you were stuck there an hour for a full line set but behind the same loco as well. I did go to Kidderminster twice on the Saturday but 3 of the 4 trains were locals.Kidderminster did seem quiet.

 

Extra pound or two on the ticket, please!

 

If I'm buying a ticket I'd expect a timetable.

But see no reason a timetable couldn't be sold separately.
Tbh I'd go further and have silly headboards between stations, but then have a list of locations enroute where they would not be used...
Also a location guide for clag / noise etc
Having a turntable and using it.. Put tender first lottery in a new light
Then put all that in a photographers pack and offer it for sale.

 

If it's the incident I'm thinking of (Saturday evening behind 73129), they came across as general members of the public.

 

With respect to the actual timetable rather than the nature of the WTT booklet, for me it was rather dull. Someone mentioned that previous years had been very south end focused, while this year's (and last year's as well) weren't. The issue is that the south end is more flexible for operations, particularly Kidderminster to Bewdley so it can be run more intensely, while the north isn't. For me a gala should attempt to use the line operational capacity and flexibility to the most.
This year wasn't helped by what can only be called a cock-up at Hampton Loade which made the operation of the local awkward and lead to the need for a shuffling arrangement of the engine for the local and the full line trains.

 

The whole WTT is issued to staff who need it, it is after all the prime working document for the gala. Loco diagrams form part of the WTT. This is totally a personal view and not that of SVR - the WTT is difficult enough to write and consumes a volunteers time. You are suggesting a volunteer spends more of their own time producing special electronic versions just to pander to a few who find £6 too much to spend. Just to put it in context my members accomodation(a MK3 sleeper) cost me £6 plus diesel to get to KD to be part of putting on a show for the public. As a mod has said "play nicely" so I will leave it there.

 

I was told Hampton Loade issue arose because they had measure the length of the carriages by body length, not body+buffer length. They allowed for a spare foot, but need 4 spare to fit buffers in. This meant that the local loco had to sit in the up loop till the down train arrived, at which point the local loco ran out onto the mainline. This allowed the up train into the platform. The down train then leaves (after time for people to switch trains), allowing the local loco to move into the down platform, and then the up train can leave.

Re:WTT I'm sure a PDF version must be available. But I'm guessing a digital copy would mean it could be emailed about etc meaning it is far easier to distribute to people who haven't paid, which obviously the railway wants to discourage.

I have no problem with paying for a working timetable, though I would really appreciate exactly what stock is in use. I know volunteers on the line will know what coaches are in GW2 etc, but an extra page for the public one stating what is in what set would be great.

 

Apologies didnt try to make it obvious Im sure a signal box log will back me up that in no circmstances no loco ever has exceeded the 25mph speed limit it just seemed a lot faster