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

Whilst I understand where you are coming from , probably a little unfair this year whilst railways work out how to manage costs vs demand.

 

Whilst I accept that a specific loco roster is an enthusiast's indulgence, advertising what type of train is booked to work what service on what day is an absolute must for whether we visit or not.

In the past I have considered trips to Butterley and simply not bothered as for some years they insisted on publishing timetables with absolutely no clue as to whether it was Steam, Diesel loco or DMU operated. I have similarly struggled with some NYMR timetables which have become increasingly grey when it comes to what is Steam and Diesel. I accept that the latter railway have suffered badly from availability forcing the situation somewhat, but nevertheless it makes it a hard sell with ticket prices being higher.

From a personal perspective, this was a problem for me as I was seeking out diesel services, but the majority have similar dissatisfaction as they are equally looking to focus on steam. I have often visited railways with a steam biased friend, so we would often plan a return trip to deliberately be steam one way and diesel the other.

95% of services are rostered for particular traction in advance, so publishing that (with the usual availability caveat) in my opinion should be a given. People should pretty well know what they're getting before they arrive.

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Intrigued by that statement. Putting aside the high fire risk period of last year, NYMR trains were and are generally steam hauled. The timetabled exeptions are the 09.20 Pickering -Whitby and return, which is diesel hauled between Grosmont and Whitby on Bronze & Gold and certain advertised trains on Gold, which only operates on 24 days/year. 2023's T/T will be essentially the same as was planned for 2022 with the addition of an extra round trip on Silver which will be diesel hauled. The prime purpose of this additional train is to provide a diesel hauled train to maintain crew competence with the Cl.37 & Cl.47 as, otherwise, these locos would only be out on those 24 days of Gold T/T. The planned days haulage (steam and diesel locos) is posted on the NYMR's website each day.

 

The statement was based on our last three visits, all pre covid I admit, where on all three occasions we were surprised by unexpected traction on what we were expecting based on the online timetable. Diesel locos running steam services, a steam loco running what I read to be the diesel service, and even some mixed traction on one day. They weren't high fire risk days. I assumed it was all down to good control of what is a complex railway to operate. As a result of those experiences I'm less confident of the roster than perhaps simpler set ups.

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My last trips on both the SVR and NYMR were behind the advertised traction. {in August and September 2022}.

I think most passengers accept that, at times, operational "difficulties" will mean that changes are inevitable.

 

I would only add to the point raised that last summer (only as a webcam watcher) I found it far easier to use the timetable on the diesel group page after someone, maybe your self, posted the link than using the public website.