List the top five

Hmm, that would be an interesting debate, starting from scratch, should we have gone for the Kingham line going through Bourton on the water a major honeypot village, or the current gwsr? I think the gwsr has more (or will have) with broadway and Winchcombe both being destinations. Could facilities have been better? All irrelevant now of course, as the track bed's all but gone In Cheltenham.

 

NYMR
Bluebell
Tanfield
KESR
Whitrope (a tiny outfit at present, but scores highly because of the sheer friendliness and enthusiasm of its personnel, and because of its location.)

 

My personal involvement should really prohibit me from sticking the SVR and Swanage in my listing so here it goes (in no particular order):
Bluebell: pre nationalisation stock, plenty of extras making it more than just a train ride (at Sheffield park and Horsted), East Grinstead could do with some development but it's early days yet.

South Devon: nice setting, beautiful recreation of a GW branch line, lots to do at Buckfastleigh and close to the town in Totnes.

Ffestiniog: yet another beautiful setting, quirky railway with a lot of history and very well set out with good catering and plenty to do.

GWSR: very much up and coming, great passenger facilities and smart trains, once Broadway is reached it'll be a real gem.

North Norfolk: beautiful setting, beautiful trains and plenty to do at each end.

 

1.SVR
2.SVR
3.SVR
4.SV...
5. You get the Idea!
Joking aside SVR's great used to be my local line plus you can do a great pub crawl with some fab motive power along it.
North Norfolk,great little railway my only criticism is its just not long enough.if that counts as criticsm.
New Entry Churnet Valley wow! Scenery is fab plenty of scope for expansion
East lancs. Again pubs at either end always a winner.
And lastly Ravenglass/The Small Railway love it for the TtTE reference bostin little railway Staff were great too, and pub at either end!
Dont Mind GC but dare I say its just a big trainset?

 

Don't want to pick a "top five" particularly but here are a few random thoughts.
(Am deliberately excluding W&LLR [long time member] and IOWSR [new member])

Didn't expect particularly to like but I do!

Spa Valley (yes I know the Tunbridge Wells terminus is basic, it's Mk. 1 land and there are bits and pieces scattered around everywhere but it is an interesting trip and the potential is obvious)

Paignton and Dartmouth. Very professional, clean and with some of the better Mk. 1's about

Swanage. Actually performs a transport function

Rather too much dull scenery taking the shine off the good bits

Welsh Highland

Vale of Rheidol

Kent and East Sussex

Places where the interesting stock is apt to be in a siding leaving passengers to ride in sometimes tatty Mk.1's

Bluebell

Kent and East Sussex

Places in a little danger of overdeveloping aspects of their operation

Talyllyn (Wharf Station is, IMHO, over the top, and, arguably, Abergynolwyn as well)

Bluebell (Too much a default Mk.1 line although they don't need to be and in a little danger of becoming a secondary mainline in character rather than a branch)

Getting things just about right

Ffestiniog

South Devon

(Above lists are not exhaustive in any category, just got a bit fed up with it!)

PH

 

From the point of view of the average punter I'd go with - NYMR SVR WSR GWSR KWVR

Turning it round a bit the sort of things I think go down well with non-enthusiasts would be

The nature of the journey itself - how long (yes size matters) and does it go from somewhere to somewhere;
The environment itself - so scenery, other stuff to do nearby, museums / displays that don't assume too much knowledge but aren't patronising
Interesting mix of locos and stock (and here the historical accuracy beloved of the enthusiast can go right out of the window to a casual visitor)
Operational flexibility - is it just an out and back or can you change midway, how often?
Friendly staff to suggest ideas for activities, give basic directions, pass on information if things go wrong (very important....)

I think all of the railways above score well on at least 4 of the above criteria.

Not sure how the South Bedfordshire Railway would do..... maybe it could be a first, a sort of preservation line meets horror film tie-in "experience"... think the Railway Children meets Mad Max meets The Hills Have Eyes.... Well, maybe, it's just a thought....

 

Are you for real? Welsh Highland ...dull scenery? Snowdonia...what did you expect..majestic herds of Wildebeest sweeping across the Serengeti?Bluebell, a mk1 line!

 

There is an element of truth in the comment about the Bluebell I believe - the paid C & W superintendent is said to be a big fan of Mk1s with Commonwealth bogies and that has caused some disquiet.

 

That notwithstanding, the fact remains that if you turn up on any running day, you can guarantee sitting in a non-Mark 1, SR-designed carriage; and if you turn up on a service 2 day (weekends and school holiday week days), you can guarantee having a choice of SR-designed carriages in one train, and guarantee pre-grouping carriages in the other. So if you don't like Mark 1s, you never have to sit in one! I'm not quite sure how that makes us a "default Mark 1 line".

Tom

 

Hmm, I didn't think it would be long before we moved from things we liked, to what is wrong with other places! This is all particularly subjective and a matter of personal taste. As I said in my earlier post, as an enthusiast I can find interest in almost (repeat almost) anything railway orientated, but I would think twice about inflicting some places on my wife - not because there is anything particularly amiss with them, but because there is not much to interest a non-enthusiast, or the time taken to travel is too long (as someone else said "size does matter"), or because it is too expensive for our limited budget for both to travel. Where children are involved there are many smaller attractions that are more easily do-able. We lived in North Wales for much of the time our children were growing up and the Llanberis Lake Railway made for a much more agreeable trip with them than facing hours on the Ffestiniog - much as though I love the Ffestiniog.

Paul H made some comments about the "dull bits" of the WHR. Personal taste of course, but actually the "dull bits" (I'm assuming he means the Caernarfon End) are still better than the best bits some other railways offer, and if you really can't be bothered with it, catch the train further up the line!

One of my most interesting "enthusiast days" on the F&WHR when I had to keep costs down was to travel from Pont Croesor (WHR) to Minffordd (FR) and back - travelled behind 4 different locos, saw 2 others in action, and watched some shunting at Porthmadog. And the views on the flat bit of the WHR are incredible (on a clear day...). Be creative!

Steve B

 

Very much for real. The view from the carriage window between Caernarfon and Waenfawr (quite a distance) is ho hum and my future visits to the WHR will be permutations of the section between Waenfawr and Porthmadog on this account. Please note I said nothing to imply that the WHR is all dull, merely that quite a lot of it is.

I will deal with the Bluebell point separately.
PH

 

I presume the "SR-designed carriage" is the Bulleid pattern semi-open which has a particularly well worn interior!

The Bluebell has plenty of interesting vehicles in good order but the trouble is that unless you go on a service 2 day then you are likely to encounter the "default set" which is, you've guessed it, almost entirely Mk.1. Other places have nothing else. You do.

PH

 

I rode it recently and I thought every inch was very interesting scenery wise.

ho hum.....

 

The Mk1/Bulleid sets are the only one which currently have both disabled access and catering which I believe are considered necessary for a one train service . The .co.uk website is usually update with what coaches are being used.
The C & W are looking at restoring a Maunsell brake coach with disabled access and the Maunsell Dining Saloon No.786 when there is room in the works after current projects have been completed.

 

I am afraid it's still "Ho hum" as far as I am concerned

PH

 

Paul - ignoring the Wealden Rambler and Golden Arrow sets, we have four carriage sets available for regular traffic: two mixed Mark 1 / Bulleid; one mixed Maunsell / Edwardian bogie carriages; one mixed Mets / 4 wheelers.

If we ignored the Mark 1 / Bulleids mid week, we would have to alternate the two vintage sets during the week. One of those sets (the Maunsells / Edwardians) doesn't have disabled accommodation; it is considered important to have such facilities available on all operating days. So running the more modern carriages means that on a typical off-peak midweek day, all trains have disabled facilities; weekends and peak mid weeks one train will definitely have disabled facilities, and it is 50:50 whether both sets will have wheelchair accommodation. Surely you'd agree that having wheelchair access available at all times is important? There are thoughts about how to provide wheelchair access in the Maunsell / Edwardian set, but it won't happen overnight.

The older coaches also require maintenance at about half the mileage of the Mark 1s, so using them mid-week would be beyond the current capacity of the workshop in maintenance terms.

Midweek also tends to see more visitors in coach parties, who seem to prefer corridor coaches.

I think we'd all like to run vintage all the time. But actually, even with two Mark 1 / Bulleid sets in operation turn and turn about, effectively we are running almost every operational carriage just to keep up. LSWR 1520 is about the only carriage we have that doesn't run very frequently, though it is getting more use at the moment while the LCDR brake 3rd is in the works for attention. Everything else is effectively used to its maximum capacity. So more vintage can only come from more workshop maintenance capacity.

Here's an anecdote from another, though related, field: the other day, we went to Amberley with grandparents and our children (aged 2 and 4). We went midweek and the bus service was run by some 1970s thing (sorry - I'm not knowledgable about buses!) Now, I would have loved it if one of the Edwardian or 1930s buses was out - but clearly the pragmatic view was to run the 1970s bus when it was quiet mid week, and save the "good stuff" for high days and holidays. Yet interestingly, my 2 year old son absolutely loved the bus, and I could hardly keep him off it! And even I at least had a connection to a bus that was typical of those I rode as a child. In a way, the fact that we run more modern carriages midweek has a similar rationale - though we are running pre-grouping carriages, and generally pre-grouping engines, every weekend, not just high days and holidays.

Tom

 

Not sure I would say that is an interesting view.

 

So the LCDR vehicle is in the workshops. That torpedoes a comment I was about to make namely, in effect, "you have this one: use it!" I will cheat though and observe you have just admitted you are a Mk.1 default outfit after all. Shame on you with your splendid collection.

Still, in your defence I would cite an old bus gathering many years ago at Marwell Zoo, where some friends of mine were driving. A 1929 Dennis charabanc was accompanied by pre-war Paris open platform buses with nicely cared for "hopital psychiatrique" destination boards! Also there was a completely bogus imitation London "B" type "replica" complete with pneumatic tyres and hydraulic brakes. The public flocked for the latter leaving the conductor of the Dennis exclaiming plaintively "anyone for a genuine vintage bus."

Paul H

 

but it on the boring bit between Carnarfon and Waenfaur, you know, the bit where you start off by a fabulous Castle and wend your way through some interesting old buildings and past the workshops, with a few locos parked outside and then pass the junction where the original standard guage line branched off and then past the old junction where the narrow gauge branch ran to the quarry ran in and then you have the beautiful woodlands (see photo) and then you run into Waenfaur...ho hum