Bluebell Northern Extension - so what's occurring then?

...clearing the tip is probally the first mission impossible to be actually compleated or soon will be , 10 years ago it was just a dream

How quickly people forget! Whilst not wanting to belittle the Bluebll's achievement, what about the Festiniog deviation, the rebuilding of the Welsh Highland, the building of 60163 or even the rebuilding of 71000 as projects that ere probably thought of as more impossible than digging out a cutting full of waste!

 

Chris you are totally wrong, because you assume that the many thousands of potential donors and interested bystanders have no knowledge, interest or insight into the civil engineering phases and therefore should not be bothered with or entitled to regular updates. That has already been proved wrong by comments here and elsewhere. If details are not piublished at the sharp end they are not being reported elsewhere either and for instance on BBC news websites the story quickly subsides into obscurity and will not be picked up again. "Sustained Media Interest" is the prize that the project has concistently and continually failed to understand. I know the Bluebell seeks to recreate a railway from the 1930s but I didn't realise that extended to recreating the 1930s Ministry of Information attitude to go with it.
People in 2012 - and by people I mean sponsors - require rapid and ongoing feedback of what their funding is doding. Ask yourself why instant broadcast concepts such as webcams even exist if there is not an appetite to consume them, let alone instant online communication devices such as twitter. The world has changed.
You ask what is the point of reporting every time earth his moved about?
The simple answer is that the people who paid for it to be moved want to see the ongoing story of the project. The project manager has the incorrect idea that reporting retrospectively once per quarter in the magazine is somehow adequate. It is not. You may argue that he is an engineer not a marketer, but this groundswell of discontent which has now run for over a year will have reached his ears and he has chosen to ignore it, and in doing so he is making it harder to raise the funds on which his project depends. RIchard Salmon the webmaster publishes what is given to him, so he is not at fault here.
If I give more money to this project I want to be viewed as a stakeholder, and I don;t think I am different to most others in this regard. If I say I want regular information, you don't turn around and tell me I am wrong, uninterested or simply unentitled. You are doing the Bluebell no favours at all by acting as its apologist.

 

Stop bickering about things you pair of old farts. I just want to see progress on the extension here

 

I give full reason to Domeyhead ! I'm a shareholder of the BB since 1987 and I feel very frustrated about the lack (sometimes true absence) of updates about the Tip! I belive that some members of the BB board are stubborn
Fortunately we have the excellent updates from Robert Philpot!(incidentally very critical about the BB wall of silence)
regards
Noel

 

What is the first thing you see on the Bluebell Railway's website? A request for donations to pay for the clearance of the cutting. What do I expect if I donate? Concise updates on how my money is being spent. Failure to do this = lack of interest= lack of donations, simple isn't it.
Just look at the G & W Railway's reports on progress on the Chicken Curve slip. As a result, they will get plenty of donations.

 

Robert Philpot's update for Friday 23rd March already posted here - Imberhorne Cutting Removal - Page 5

Dare I pose some real questions?

How suitable is compacted clay for the foundations of a railway?

Does the fact that they are now working at the south end of the tip in anyway indicate that track will be laid from the south end to the north?

 

I made no such assumption - of course regular updates should be provided, which i think they've done a fair job of providing given the circumstances.

Of course 'regular updates' for a project like the WHR can be daily given amount of work ongoing in different areas and the number of people who can provide them, but thats hardly reasonable when there's only one worksite where activity remains limited to earthmoving and waste removal, onlookers have caused problems with neighbours and uncertainty over the makeup of the tip (and no doubt ongoing discussions with contractors and the Environment Agency) have made it very hard to define what's going to happen in advance.

That said, if people do want to see much more regular, even daily updates of work at the tip they can - through the e-group, forums like NatPres and Robert's website. While it may be tempting to think doing so officially would provide more publicity, it just doesnt work like that - the BBC and others arent going to report everything, so you want to target them with the most impressive updates possible.

Im afraid endless shots of the cutting can do as much, if not more harm than good - dont forget it wasnt that long ago someone said people should stop donating after accusing the railway of lying about amount of waste they needed to remove, despite being assured otherwise, because it didnt look like they'd made enough progress...

Chris

 

A clay base will not allow rainwater to drain away naturally, so a very good drainage system will have to be installed.

 

I think one difference with the WHR project was that they employed a paid project manager, who presumably had it in his job description to provide regular updates. Whereas, for better or worse, the Bluebell has elected to manage this project in house using volunteer effort, and there are only so many hours in the day for a volunteer. (Especially as the main person responsible - the Infrastructure Director - is also ultimately responsible for all other maintenance and infrastructure projects the railway has undertaken at the same time, such as the track relaying in SP platform, on Freshfield Bank, through the tunnel, new washout pit, new loco lobby etc etc, as well as the day-t-day operational side of maintaining the infrastructure. The extension has come on top of that workload).

What is clear is that the project has been very successful at reducing the costs by dint of careful management and skilled negotiation with suppliers, to the extent that the final cost will be something like £1.5m - £2m less than the original estimates. That constitutes successful project management in anyone's book.

There seems to be a small but vocal group here who have consistently complained that the Bluebell has been slow in providing updates. But set against the obvious management success in dramatically cutting the cost of the project - not to mention successfully clearing the necessary waste before the Landfill tax deadline - maybe its time to recognise that just perhaps the project has just chosen to prioritise its resources elsewhere. In any case, it should be clear by now that no amount of bleating on Nat Pres about a lack of updates is going to magically bring more communication into play (though I'd argue, in any case, that between the Yahoo group, FaceBook, the Bluebell website, Bluebell News, the fortnightly email bulletin and the update letters I get sent as a donor to the project, there has actually been a lot of communication through official channels). So for those complaining of a lack of communication, I'd suggest that firstly there has been more than you are giving credit for; secondly if that amount still isn't enough, you probably aren't going to change things just by complaining on forums; and thirdly - if you can do better, why not volunteer your services to help with that aspect of the project?

Tom

 

I've been told by a Bluebell member that people have stopped donating to the exstension because there are no regular updates avalible. If his is true than someone at the BB needs to readdress this soon before any more funds are lost.

 

I'm puzzled why some seem to think that information isn't available. I have no special access to inside information and yet I seem to be able to find out what is going on!

If someone has donated and feels that they have been let down is some way by the Railway then it seems to me to be more appropriate for them to speak to the Railway, not moan about it in public. Doing so on a public forum like this may well undermine what the Railway is trying to accomplish - and surely that is not what any of us wants, is it?

Now I, for one, want to celebrate what is being achieved, not run down those who have been achieving it. Well done those folk!

Steve B

 

I'd be amazed if donations werent tailing off, but its rediculous to blame that on a lack of updates - its those updates that have shown people the project is on the 'home straight' and that the april deadline is no longer an issue. Without that tax deadline there isnt the same urgency for people to dig deep, which together with a quiet period both at Imberhorne and the railway itself is always going to reduce the number of donations.

Chris

 

That was not and is not the case. Both of the following websites were set up by individuals. The first by the late Dr Ben Fisher. Since Ben's untimely death, the site has been maintained by Andrew Thomas who also provided the splendid time lapse series of the Cob widening in recent weeks. Although Andrew is a company employee, these activities are unpaid extra mural work.

The Welsh Highland Railway Project

The second website was set up, and still maintained, by Barrie Hughes who has no formal connection with the company. It is simply a 'labour of love'.

Welsh Highland Railway

It just shows what can be done if the will is there.

 

I stand corrected...

Tom

 

Latest update is as follows:

Work has commenced to profile the trackbed south of Imberhorne Lane Bridge to align with the cutting entrance. This preparatory work influences the eventual final shape of the cutting and thus contributes to the overall design. There is no firm date as yet for work to commence within the cutting itself although progress on the project will now be continuous through the summer subject to available funds. Design development is progressing well and is expected to be finalised in April, following which the track vertical and horizontal alignment through the cutting will start to take shape.

Two weeks' work has also commenced to replace the points and realign the trackwork to the north of Kingscote station. As a result this weekend's train operation will involve a change of loco at Kingscote, as the work on the track involves the temporary removal of the run-round facility.

Meanwhile, the "double donation dash" has started:

Between now and 30th March 2012 donations made for the Northern Extension Project will be matched pound for pound by major supporters of the Railway.

If you are eligible for Gift Aid as well, this will turn a £10 donation into £22.50 for the Extension Project.

The target is to raise £40,000 through online donations and donations made by cheque - to release the £40,000 offered as match funding. Any money raised beyond the £40,000 will be used for the Extension project, but will not attract match funding.

You can donate online via justgiving.com/Bluebell-DDD.

Tom

 

Who knows all I can say is this info came from a BB member but on a more possative note today at the MHR gala talking to another BB member he said there has been a reasonable large donation by someone and money keeps coming in. But this again is only hearsay.

 

If you like then yes it could be called gossip or rumour but the only reason why gossip/rumour gets around is because there is no official updated news from the Bluebell. These rumours could be discounted if the BB updated their web site on a more regular basis.

Ps don't shoot the messenger I'm only passing on what I've heard.

 

Outside those directly involved on the Bluebell board or in fundraising, I doubt anyone actually knows exactly how the fundraising is going. Lobby gossip has everyone from Lord Lucan to the ghost of Joseph Firbank handing over big cheques, but in the end it is just that - gossip. In May, the annual accounts of PLC, BRPS and Trust will be published, and it will be clear then what has been raised - but it still won't show how much - if any - has come from big donors: understandably many such people wish to keep quiet about their generosity.

What is demonstrably true is that money has evidently been coming in at a rate that has allowed the project to progress at a rapid rate, to the point that only around £800k is still required. And what is also true is that while the fundraising has been a major contributor of success, the ability to manage down costs has also played a significant role in delivering the project. That point shouldn't be dismissed: the Bluebell has always spoken in terms of the remaining "funding gap" (e.g. difference between money in the bank and estimated costs still to be incurred) rather than "funds raised". It's kind of irrelevant whether someone gives you a cheque for £500k or someone else finds a way to deliver the project for £500k less: all that is important is that the funding gap has reduced by £500k either way. So people who want to see some kind of church tower style thermometer showing funds climbing to a notional target are probably always going to be disappointed - it's not going to happen, at least not until the railway gets to a point where it is pretty confident it knows the final cost and it isn't likely to change.

Right now the only number that is important is the funding gap: £800k, or £80k per month between now and the end of the year if the railway is to open as planned in the spring of next year. That sounds a lot, but remember the funding gap was about £4.5million only 3 years ago, so huge strides have been taken to bring that number down.

Tom