What *would* attract you/your family to visit a heritage railway?

I'm afraid I'm in too much of a hurry to get to Salcombe for lunch at the Ferry so drive straight past the SDR. Been doing it now for forty years. For me, it's a totally railway free holiday unless it rains and I might just take a trip on the SDR, dropping off at Staverton for lunch at the Sea Trout.
As regards what attracts me, I don't really know. Apart from the railways I volunteer on, I've only visited the GCR and the KWVR since 2019, the former because it was a convenient half way place to meet up with friends and the latter for the coal trials. If I do go somewhere, I'm more interested in looking round than travelling on the train. Linear scrapyards can be a big draw for me if you can get up close and, in that respect, Tanfield is close to heaven! I guess I'm a bit of an oddball.

 

For me, a touch more individuality would help. Please try not to replace the universal Mk. One with the universal Pacer.

 

I can (almost) agree with that: when the Nene Valley has a Swedish Y7 railcar and matching trailer as a USP, I can't believe someone felt a Pacer was a good idea... Pacers have zero connection to the area and before anyone pipes up about a Swedish railcar, remember the older name for the line was "Nene Valley Railway International" - which is why it was adapted to Berne Gauge.

 

there'd need to be a 'controlled shedding' of Pacers though, otherwise you'd have the opposite problem. I can't believe I'm typing this, but from a historical preservation point of view, we probably should have a couple of units in service somewhere.

My own preference would be for lines to draw lots, and the losers get to keep them...

 

I wouldn't want one as a shed, they leak to much!

 

Most railways got them as most were given away by the Tocs once something goes wrong they will be shunted into a siding and left to rot

 

A bit like the line from the song "when will they ever learn''?

Perhaps there should be an annual award for the most congested linear scrapyard.

 

I'll generally try any railway if there's something that piques my interest. My (non-enthusiast) partner is often happy to tag along provided the line goes somewhere with something interesting to do/see. The most basic requirement for her is honestly if decent food and drink are available. This can be as simple as a good cup of tea and a slice of cake from a well-presented cafe, and somewhere to sit and enjoy them that isn't a scrapyard. It's amazing how some railways don't manage this at principal stations and it can be a real turn-off. Our most recent visit was to Bala Lake at the end of last season; a nice short run one afternoon, friendly staff, good views, and lovely cake!

She finds the idea of riding up-and-down the same piece of line all day on a packed train at a Gala a bit bizarre, even behind different locos. BUT really enjoyed 'Giants of Steam' at the Bluebell a few years ago because of the huge variety of different carriage sets to travel in (pre-grouping 1st and 3rd class, 'Harry Potter' compartment Mk1's, and then the Pullmans were in normal service and for a supplement we were able to get a cream tea).

 

Agreed but the chances of finding a line where interesting rolling stock sees use on all services are almost non existent.

 

Isle of Wight

 

Indeed so. The person who spearheaded the return of grounded vehicles to the rails received the MBE recently for ''services to railway heritage''.

 

IMO just because something is free, it's not always a good idea to get one.

 

I think even Wansford Tunnel would object to it being parked in there, especially as there's far more interesting stuff in there like the R-H 165.

 

A have experienced the following as a parent when travelling with my family:

A railway in the north of England:

• Waiting at a cold unstaffed terminus. The train doesn't turn up at the advertised time. There are no toilets available at the station.
• They fail to answer the phone when enquiring about the non-appearance of the train.
• Just as we give up and have returned to the car, the DMU arrives an hour late, so we promptly unload baby, baby bags and pram in a great hurry.
• No apology is given by train crew.
• Once on board the DMU, we realize that a nappy change is required but the train toilet is out of use. We have to undertake a nappy change in passenger compartment.
• My wife is desperate for the toilet and sits cross legged for the remainder of the long journey.
• Upon arrival at Leeming Bar we find that the station toilets are out-of-use too. As a desperate measure she has to trespass and go to the toilet behind a line of rusting locomotives and other items of rolling stock in the adjacent yard. When we raise the matter in the buffet, the staff are indifferent.

At a very well known railway in the West Midlands:

• The Santa Excursions without a Santa. The only clue are presents left on carriage seats when passengers reboard the train. You couldn't make it up!
• A fish and chip special where the volunteer with the requisite list for the fish and chip shop storms off site in an apparent huff. Passengers are left hungry and without explanation at the destination as staff have magically disappeared off site. The only food that did appear was allocated to a party of shareholders in the first class compartment.
• The reactor light wearing buffet attendant that bellows at excited children in the carriage, "this is a railway and not a playground". The parents were understandably furious, referring to him as a miserable old fool. Later the attendant excoriates a passenger for placing their camera bag on the table. On another journey, the same attendant spends the journey talking loudly on railway politics with another volunteer.
• The station master that publicly admonishes a porter for helping a passenger of the train and onto an icy platform because he was, "not passed out" to do so. I dread to think what the passenger thought. Needless to say, I have not seen the porter since.
• The stations where baby changing facilities are only located in the ladies.

Arriving at an East Midlands heritage railway on the first day of their running season

• We find services are curtailed to one mile of running due over running engineering works. This was despite us having checked their website and social media prior to setting off on our 100 mile round trip.
• To add insult to injury they tried to charge passengers the full line fare but were met by howls of protest.
• The train was unheated despite winter conditions.
• As soon as we returned, we packed our bags and headed off to the GCR to rescue the day.
• In all fairness, we were contacted by the railway and told that the lack of publicised information about the disruption was inexcusable.

Fortunately I can off-set these stories with praises of excellent customer service, such as the Keith and Dufftown, Ravenglass and Eskdale, KESR, Middleton and Welsh Highland.

As one instructor said to new volunteers at the IOWSR, "you will note that we don't have a customer services department; customer service is an attitude."

 

Sad to read but indicative of some HRs that give impression of being run as a hobby by volunteers who probably possibly aren't trained to recognise good customer service, attitude or otherwise. Many are though.

Any business succeeds through ever reinventing itself and being willing to embrace continuous improvement through turning criticism into opportunity. I get the feeling that criticism, no matter how positive, isn't treated seriously by 'some' HRs. I won't name names and give specific feedback of good, average and less so, as I don't see NP as the right place to start such a debate.

 

I feel the cat may be out of the bag here…

Simon

 

The last couple of posts should be printed off and placed on the noticeboard of every heritage railway, to remind people that the paying public pays for your hobby, and you p**ss them off at your peril
Get it right and they will tell 10 others, get it wrong, and they will tell 1000 others possibly more if they are on social media, can your railway afford that?
It costs nothing to be professional and courteous, and might even earn you return visits, and more income, at a time when costs are ever rising, and competition will be very strong, We might be about recreating the 50's and 60's experience of travelling, but we are not about re creating the lack of customer service.

 

I was last in that area about a decade ago, when I enjoyed my only trip on the subject "railway in the north of England". It seemed an unusual set-up - a small organisation with limited resources, but operating one of the country's longest heritage railways.

 

With the attention span of some kids and parents these days the 3/4 mile long demonstration line and 1/2 mile long branch line at Didcot seem ideal before cries of "are we there yet" are heard

 

When we holiday we like to have a day out on any local railways. However it needs advanced planning so when some don't publish a timetable it doesn't help. (Looking at you Mid Hants!) Will likely go to Bluebell or Swanage instead.