As noted above, we are closed at the Spa Valley Railway until at least the 25th April. It's not been an easy decision though, as without running trains, there's no money coming in, and still bills to pay. Like many other railways, we are having to prominently ask for donations in order to ensure our survival. https://spavalleyrailway.co.uk/
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Coronavirus virus effect on Heritage lines Summer 2020
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fireftrm
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called it
cactustwirly
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I'd expect all of them to be closed until further notice, a lot will probably go bust and never open again.
This is true for Restaurants, Bars, Cinemas etc as well, and expect a 1940s style recession after the virus.
This is true for Restaurants, Bars, Cinemas etc as well, and expect a 1940s style recession after the virus.
I'd have said it was fairly obvious what was going to happen sooner or later.
I can imagine the smaller ones such as middleton will probably close
MotorcycleAlan
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I sincerely hope you are being over negative on that. Perhaps you are not aware of the determination and resilience of the many volunteers, who strived for decades restoring locomotives, relaying track, installing signalling etc. I doubt they will just roll over and let it all go to waste. Let's have some optimism, and enthusiasm please, I know people like to spread doom and gloom, but there is a tremendous history of achievement in the heritage sector.
I don't see it as being over negative, but a dose of reality. Volunteers can have all of the dedication, enthusiasm and engineering expertise in the world but if there aren't any visitors, it's for nothing. The world is going to look very different, heritage railways included.
MotorcycleAlan
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Only time will tell, but if you think that after this is over "there aren't any visitors" I would be interested to know why something people seem interested in today, will not be the case in a few months time. Does the same apply to National Trust properties, castles, museums etc. all currently closed. What are we all supposed to do with our leisure time?
cactustwirly
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Yes, the same also applies to cinemas and restaurants.
If we do go into lockdown, the economic impact would be huge, we could see the biggest recession in a generation.
Of course people will have an interest, but it's not guaranteed that some of these places will still exist for people to visit. There are very few or no visitors right now and no magic money pot to keep them all propped up.
theblackwatch
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Small lines like the Middleton have the advantage that they don't have huge costs. Look at which lines have had financial trouble in the past couple of years... it's the big ones - Llangollen and West Somerset spring to immediate mind.
Of course it all depends on what outgoings they are required to meet.
MotorcycleAlan
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Like other businesses from the giants like BA, to the cafe round the corner, they will have to ask paid staff to take unpaid leave. This has already happened. Their other big overhead, fuel, will clearly be greatly reduced as will water for steam locomotives. Yes station overheads and office costs continue, but they will draw on the goodwill of supporters as they often have in the past. I do wish more people had a "can do" approach, but clearly most prefer doom and negativity.
colchesterken
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I know many of the heritage lines are on the brink, But just think what would happen to the restored steam locos put back together over many years and thousands of pounds fund-raised, Dai Woodhams must be turning in his grave
Loads of lottery money and an effort to visit as many as poss when it is all over is needed
Loads of lottery money and an effort to visit as many as poss when it is all over is needed
Journeyman
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Heritage railways existed in a very challenging environment before all of this. It's got nothing to do with a negative attitude - most of the FlyBe staff I encountered were brilliant, positive people, but none of them have jobs now.
MotorcycleAlan
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How many Flybe staff were volunteers then? How many members paying annual or monthly memberships did Flybe have? How many heritage railways have borrowed huge sums at commercial rates to finance expansion schemes (as Flybe did)?
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Goldfish62
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Cash flow. If the money runs out to pay the bills it's curtains. It doesn't matter how many visitors might be waiting to return once this unbelievably grim period is over.
Flying Phil
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I agree with MotorcycleAlan......and I am making an on-line donation to "my" heritage line each time I am not going. Too many people love and want to support "their" railway for them to fail.
duffield
Established Member
I've heard people saying that in terms of regular running, a lot of railways only barely cover their operating costs, and any profits they make come from e.g. the Santa specials; so maybe shutting down (as opposed to trying to run near-empty services) won't be quite as disastrous as you might think.
Journeyman
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I think you're being a bit naive here. Heritage railways have a lot of regular outgoings and even at the best of times make most of their money from just a few events. Cancel a couple of Thomas days and most of them are screwed.
Goldfish62
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The Spa Valley Railway have said as much.
I doubt it.
43096
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That is certainly how I understand it, and your conclusion is therefore fairly logical.
If they're not running they're not incurring fuel costs, and there's obviously not much in the way of labour costs on many railways, so in some ways preserved railways may be more resilient than the likes of bars and restaurants.
I rather suspect that keeping a railway running from A to B for the pleasure of enthusiasts will be a pretty low priority for the Lottery post-Corvid19.
I agree. It’s probably the railways that have stretched themselves out with loans to do large projects that are the most worried at the moment.
I can think of a few of them unfortunately.
fireftrm
Member
Interesting how few people have considered the human impact - people whose jobs and income are going........
then there’s the moderators of this site sending messages to me for posting as I did ‘you need to specifically state what the link is about’ - for god’s sake people are looking at losing their jobs, doesn’t the link say enough? These are very terrible and unprecedented times. Comparing how long people have taken to restore a locomotive with how long some can survive without an income...... is this really where we’re at?
then there’s the moderators of this site sending messages to me for posting as I did ‘you need to specifically state what the link is about’ - for god’s sake people are looking at losing their jobs, doesn’t the link say enough? These are very terrible and unprecedented times. Comparing how long people have taken to restore a locomotive with how long some can survive without an income...... is this really where we’re at?
We’re all only too aware of what this situation means to people and their livelihoods. But this thread is about how this situation will affect heritage railways in particular.
You would not believe the amount of traffic the forum is dealing with regarding Coronavirus at the moment as there are countless threads in many different sections about it.
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