petes blog

When I visit a railway  I’m not involved with I always try to spend a tenner as a thanks for what they’re doing.  That’s me!  What I see creeping in is a lets take the money off them attitude. Beware! We have always allowed the public in to the stations free and asked people to give a donation. In the past this has brought the very people we need to keep it going and the young ones.  We musnt  kid ourselves -  we are in the entertaiment business and we have a great product. Our best brand is Thomas, we may not like it, but it’s true – just look at the best selling items in the stores. The Thomas guys are going too far to protect their brand and they will learn, like we all do, that if you get too greedy then the public vote with thier feet. There are lots of things for people to spend their money on and they need us as much as we need  them – they will come to understand this. But we have to remember the Americans always know best ( so they think.) We must avoid the same mistake as they are making. We must not stop fathers bringing the kids to our railways,  and if they cant afford to spend anything – thats all right, just bring the kids and the wife or girlfriend, the more the merrier.  I remember only too well the days when all you saw at these railways were the die hard enthusiasts and there weren’t too many of us. Now we have what we could not have dreamed of twenty years ago with the galas which are fantastic,  the 40s and 60s weekends are fantastic. The railways have now become part of the community and the rural economy. We are a major factor in the economic recovery of Britian, we are alive and booming when all around is doom and gloom. We still have skills,  we still talk to each other and we have more people than anyone else giving their time free .  Let us not start to try and make money from every thing but let the visitors decide what to spend their money on.  Let them smile as they always have. We in the business of memories so lets make them happy ones. THERE MUST BE NO CHARGE FOR VISITING A RAILWAY IT MUST BE FREE.

When I first posted this blog on Aug 28 2009 I didn’t know what I was about to start. It was only meant to be a comment which I thought might help. What has now come to light is what can only be seen as some real management issues. What started off over thirty years ago seems to have come full circle. Will we be trying to preserve the preserved railways? There has to be some quick thinking here chaps -  time for heads out of the sand. What we have to look at is how we can make it work. Not everybody will -  thats for sure. Is there room for all of us,  are we at or even past saturation point,  we are short of volunteers so we’re taking on full time staff.  On one hand its a good thing we’re creating jobs, but on the other hand, it means less funds to run the railway. You can see where I’m going here.  I hope  it doesn’t mean that if we dont make a profit we have to make cut backs  – have we already started down this route  by issuing PLATFORM tickets?  There are even railways who can’t run trains because they dont have crews. Over the last week I have visited six of the top lines and enjoyed every minute of them , but that’s not saying they done all have their own problems. The good news is they’re  all doing better this year with numbers up on last. The bad news is that the visitors are spending less. Most of the railways I’m talking about are registered charities, with a company running the day to day affairs who pay over there profits to the charity, so the more the cost the less goes to the charity Railways are expensiv to run even preserved ones ! Lets get one thing out in the open a lot of the railways up till now have had major benefactors who have given or donated locos or money to the trusts,  these are going fast. Old age takes what is always going to be his. We all go in the end. The trust find themselves asset rich but cash poor. We all know that repairing steam engines is very costly so there are more engines stood down rusting. In the past we could wait for volunteers to repair the engine but now with volume of trains being run the engines are now at a premium. If  it will take £300k to get a loco back in traffic its the same £300k whether it takes 18 months or 6 yeras but in 18 months your engines earning you money. You have a very big overdraft if you’re paying £250 a day and thats what it will cost you to hire a loco. These are a few things I can see going on  I dont believe most people should care about but the management should. Where is the association in all this. The preserved railways have come a long way we havent done all this to see it fall apart. FOR GODS SAKE START TO TALK ABOUT THE REAL WORLD. Not every railway has the problem but all need to work together or fall apart. A word to all the people who over 14 years  ago came to my office when I bought the special trains unit from BR  – I warned you all what would happen if we did not act as a movement everybody wanted to do their own thing and look at where that got us and now here we again. We cant afford to see one of our prized railways going in to receivership but we may well see that about to happen. ITS NOT JUST ABOUT THE MONEY ITS ALSO ABOUT HOW WE RUN OURS BSINESS.

I thought as for once as I was in London at the weekend  I would just pop down to the Bluebell for a pint and a spot of train watching but my god it was packed!  Great for the Bluebell but not what I’d planned.

This is the first sight of a new range of kits we will be doing. This is a 12T BR ply wood box van. It will be a one piece body with white metal and brass parts and will come with wheels. The range will quickly cover all the variations vented, non vented, alternative ends, fitted and non fitted. Next van will be the LMS – four types, then the SR.  We hope the first will be on sale at Telford.

Press Release

Friday 3 July 2009

NG/G16 Garratt No.109 purchased for service on Welsh Highland Railway by The Waterman Railway Heritage Trust.

To be restored by London & North Western Railway Company at Crewe.

The Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways are pleased to announce that the Peter Waterman Trust has agreed to purchase NG/G16 Beyer Garratt locomotive No.109 from the Exmoor Steam Centre. This locomotive was the first of the class to be built by Beyer Peacock. It was constructed in 1939 at their works in Gorton, Manchester. It was also the first NG/G16 locomotive to be repatriated to the UK.

The restoration will be carried out at the London and North Western Railway workshops in Crewe and the restored locomotive will run on the Welsh Highland Railway in North Wales.

Peter Waterman, founder of the Trust said:

‘I am absolutely delighted that No.109 will be returning to the North West for renovation. The locomotive will be a focal point for a project focussed on the retention and development of traditional engineering skills in the region. We will be working closely with the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways team to pool knowledge, and we hope this project will lead to further business opportunities for both companies. The completed locomotive will work on the Welsh Highland Railway between Caernarfon and Porthmadog, a line which is readily accessible for those living in the North West.’

On a lighter note, Peter commented for the enthusiasts:

‘It has taken a long time, but at last the LNWR has a Garratt on its roster!’

Paul Lewin, General Manager of the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways also commented: ‘We have been overwhelmed by Peter’s enthusiasm and support. His team have been highly professional in assessing this project both quickly and effectively. The opportunities to work together to develop the skills of FR&WHR and LNWR staff are very interesting indeed. At a time when engineering skills are in steep decline, projects such as this give opportunities for new trainees in both Wales and Crewe.’

The Stirland family, owners of Exmoor Steam centre, rescued the engine from South Africa and have commented:

‘The story of No.109 began on 7 February 1995. After lengthy discussions with the Curator of the Transnet Heritage Foundation of South African Railways, we were invited to meet him at the Springs Railway Depot approximately forty miles east of Johannesburg. Here there were four NG/G16’s, an NG15 and one or two other locomotives being stored. They had been taken there for a preservation project which had then been abandoned, and they were now classed as redundant locomotives. We were offered No.109 and, as a special favour, some of the fitters from Germiston Depot agreed to move the locomotive on the May Bank Holiday. It was split into three parts and the components were lifted by a huge crane onto flat trucks. The loco was then transported over five hundred miles, firstly back to the Germiston Depot and then down to Durban Docks for shipment on to Tilbury.

After arriving back in the UK, in mid-June 1995, it took several weeks for Customs & Excise to release it. We had to establish that it was a British product being reimported. Finally No.109 arrived at Exmoor on 3 July.

No 109 was the first Beyer, Peacock-built NG/G16 to be sent to South Africa and the first to return home, it was also the first NG/G16 to be privately owned outside Africa, and its reimportation had nothing to do with the Robin Hoods Bay scheme.

Although we have not been able to restore No.109 to working order, we have continually oiled its rods, etc., and frequently painted the plate work, in the hope that one day this magnificent locomotive would work again.

All requests for further information should be directed to:

Paul Lewin

General Manager

Festiniog & Welsh Highland Railways

Paul.lewin@festrail.co.uk

Tel: 07775 585400

The Waterman Railway Heritage Trust are pleased to announce that with the help from the Welsh Highland Railway they have bought a 2ft Bayer Garrat for a project.  All the details will come via  a new blogger  WHR LNWR.

My thanks goes to Paul of the WHR for his help.

On Saturday, I popped down to see the Mountsorrel project  which is a branch of the Great Central -  a great idea and very different approach. I think it’s a first and you should all try to see it.  The team is made up of  ecologists and environmentalists as part of the team and it shows. The local schools are all involved with re planting the wild flowers and there are  youngsters all over the place getting very excited by it . The ballast was donated and delivered by Lafarge from their Mountsorrel quarry, which is a great example of a  company really working with their community.

I then went  off for a pint at Loughborough Station where I used to go most Saturdays a few years back. It was good to see so many old friends, who as always were their normal friendly selves.  The std 2 was on the lunch train  so after I watched it leave  I thought I’d pop up to Rothley to see what was happening there. My mums side of the family are all from around there so I feel a sort of bond.  Anyway in the yard I meet a right happy bunch of chaps with low and behold a Class 27  – well that had the camera working over time.

After this I went off to the Hornby Railway Collectors Association for a vist as I was the guest speaker at their dinner. To see all this  stuff from the 30s and 40s made me feel old . 

I headed home arriving in the early hours – what a day.