What can I do as a volunteer?

150222 · 16 Jan 2012

Hello chaps, I am 15 and a half and would like to know if I can volunteer on a heritige railway. I would like to be something like a guard/ticket checker or seller or a crossing keeper (do they have those?) Obviously they would vary between differant lines however it would have to be one fairly cheap/easy to get to from my house (near Todmorden) so East Lancs or Keighley & Worth Valley are the most obvious (are there any more in the area?). I presume guards are still classed as safety critical just not as strictly. If I can't do any of that stuff yet then can I when I'm 16? What can I do in the meantime?

Any answers appreciated and will be very helpful.
Thanks in anticipation, 150222.

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yorkie · 16 Jan 2012

JamesHorrell is based at Keighley and volunteers at the KWVR, not very far from you and is the same age as you. There are other members who are involved at the KWVR too, such as kwvr45 (if you have travelled by train a lot in West Yorkshire he has probably checked your ticket at some point!).

15 is not too young to volunteer in a role that is not deemed safety critical.
http://www.railforums.co.uk/member.php?u=8643

YorkshireBear · 16 Jan 2012

You can definitely volunteer at the KWVR as yorkie says these two volunteer there, but i would like to be added to the list yorkie

A good amount of young volunteers at KWVR in various jobs there is certainly stuff for you to do!!!! Crossing keeper cant be till your 18 i dont think but thats only 2 and a half years away, you can always still shadow people and train up for next few years. I think JamesHorrell would be best placed to answer queries for younger volunteer.

IF you want to stop overnight on a weekend you need to be 16 (unless accompanied by parent guardian)

Aictos · 16 Jan 2012

To be a trainee guard on the Nene Valley Railway back in 2009, I believe you had to be least 21 due to the safety critical position the role entails.

You might be able to apply for trainee porter though then least you've got a foot in the door and who knows, you might go on to other roles there.

Tomnick · 16 Jan 2012

As far as safety critical work goes, most railways are 18 for Guard, Signalman (and presumably Crossing Keeper for those that need them) and Fireman, then 21 for Driver. Obviously there's plenty of other jobs to be done, and I don't think being under 16 is a bar to many of them.

district · 16 Jan 2012

The way it works on my railway is 18 for those safety critical roles. I start my signalling training course next month (including crossing keeper) and by the time I graduate I will be 18.

There are plenty of younger enthusiasts as well who do other work, for example maintenance, station work ect. I think you can be a TTI (Travelling Ticket Inspector) at an earlier age.

Give your local railway a call and see what they have to say. You won't lose anything by asking!

scotsman · 16 Jan 2012

My railway won't allow anyone under 16 to volunteer officially. However, they were happy to let me start training to be a guard when I turned 16, even though I can't pass out until I'm 18.

I started as a TTI, and I still do it when I'm not with my Inspector, and it was a great help to me. (Apparently the Guards thought I was a great help to them!) If you want to be a Guard, this is probably the best way to start out, as you quickly learn the ticketing as well as about the rolling stock and the Guard's role (even if its simple things like telling if a door's properly shut comes in handy!) - although your railway may have different ideas/policies. If

ralphchadkirk · 16 Jan 2012

That's not true for all railways Scotsman. On mine, theres no profession route from TTI to guard.

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JamesHorrell · 16 Jan 2012

I Hope You Got My Message 150222

Keighley And Worth Valley is The Best Railway for Young Volunter as you can start when you are 13 (I Think) and then once Your 16 you Get to get CRB checked and then Decided what Department you want to go into even though most People when they turn 16 stay with the Youth Group and Become a Mentor for the Group which is good cause to let some one under 16 work somewhere you need someone who is 16+ and CRB Checked like When i Work in Loco At Haworth i go with my Mate who has just turned 16 2 months and ago and now he is a Mentor which looks after me in their etc and i'm going to be doing the Same in May when i turn 16.

But as Said Before they is AGe Restriction on some Jobs on the KWVR.

James

scotsman · 16 Jan 2012

ralphchadkirk said:
That's not true for all railways Scotsman. On mine, theres no profession route from TTI to guard.

Well, there's only two TTIs to my knowledge! One is a former Guard who returned after a long illness, so was easily qualified to do it. And there's me, and I essentially picked it up from "volunteering" aged 14/15ish.

150222 · 16 Jan 2012

scotsman said:
Well, there's only two TTIs to my knowledge! One is a former Guard who returned after a long illness, so was easily qualified to do it. And there's me, and I essentially picked it up from "volunteering" aged 14/15ish.

So I could be a travelling ticket inspector? No? I'd rather do something in the public eye (as opposed to gardening, cleaning e.t.c). Does anyone have any info on the East Lancs railway? As always any answers are helpful.
Thanks in anticipation.

scotsman · 16 Jan 2012

150222 said:
So I could be a travelling ticket inspector? No? I'd rather do something in the public eye (as opposed to gardening, cleaning e.t.c). Does anyone have any info on the East Lancs railway? As always any answers are helpful.
Thanks in anticipation.

I did it before they were much more strict about it, you might - I don't know the KWVR or the ELR.

Cleaning? You'll find you do that no matter what!

150222 · 16 Jan 2012

scotsman said:
I did it before they were much more strict about it, you might - I don't know the KWVR or the ELR.

Cleaning? You'll find you do that no matter what!

I meant heavy cleaning of the trains. Thank you for your reply.

Jonfun · 17 Jan 2012

150222 said:
So I could be a travelling ticket inspector? No? I'd rather do something in the public eye (as opposed to gardening, cleaning e.t.c). Does anyone have any info on the East Lancs railway? As always any answers are helpful.
Thanks in anticipation.

Hello!

RE: East Lancs - unfortunately as it stands you wouldn't be able to volunteer until you're 16.
However, when you are, you'd be more than welcome to work within the stations department and (I believe) buffets. If you're interested in the more "manual labour" sort of work S&T *might* allow under 18s although don't take my word as gospel.
Within the stations department you could train as platform staff, travelling ticket inspector or booking clerk, all of which are key roles in keeping the railway running, in terms of safety, and bringing in revenue. As it stands as of January, it's booking clerks which are most needed but naturally there's always the option of joining the TTIs (although it is getting a bit crowded in the subdepartment now for the first time in years

).
You wouldn't be able to do any lone working until you're 18, and as such you wouldn't be able to join any of the departments like Guards, Signalling or Loco depts until around then.
It's a great railway to volunteer at and I'd imagine you'd get a great deal of satisfaction from it - If you've got any more questions just drop us a message here or PM me.

Cheers

Jon

rmt-driver · 17 Jan 2012

They probably always need people to make the tea!

PUFFINGBILLY · 17 Jan 2012

rmt-driver said:
They probably always need people to make the tea!

I hope you are pulling our young posters leg and not being patronising.
That said at 65+years my first task while doing a one day winter work experience as a porter prior to commencing guide duties later in the year, was to make tea for the station master. That was after sweeping the platforsm i should explain. Seeing as how there was only two of us on a 5 platform station with just 4 trains during the day I could hardly expect him to make tea for me.
Welcome to all young people who have regard for our history and are prepared to give before receiving.

Tomnick · 17 Jan 2012

PUFFINGBILLY said:
Welcome to all young people who ... are prepared to give before receiving.

That's an important thing to remember. I suspect many potential volunteers are only interested in those roles in the public eye. A significant few, though, have no interest in 'being seen', and this minority carries out much of the essential restoration and maintenance work behind the scenes (and often without thanks). I'd urge 150222 to consider this, and perhaps show an interest in supporting this work as well as carrying out a public-facing role - by putting more into the organisation, I'm sure he'll take more out of it too.

rmt-driver · 17 Jan 2012

Of course the first thing I learnt on the railway, was it runs on tea! And the junior boys make it for the old boys..

Dave A · 17 Jan 2012

Haha. Not anymore! There's a lovely gent who has been at Vic for over 20 years & makes a smashing cuppa, complete with biscuits! That's best left to the pro's now...

AlexS · 17 Jan 2012

Plus you tend to find on preserved lines that the tables can turn with age and seniority - I'm 22, my trainee in my signalbox on Sunday was over 60 :P However in the interest of getting people up to speed in their 'new job' in as little time as possible, bearing in mind you're not exactly there 5 days a week, I always insist on my trainees working the job to whatever their capability level is from the beginning, while I do the cleaning and make the tea/cook us both a full english or similar.

Then when they're getting good, I tend to take the frame back for a little bit to get them used to the cleaning

Despite rumours to the contrary, there are always openings for young people, they can just take a little time to develop. The time spent sweeping the platform or making the tea is definately valuable in the grand scheme of things. This from someone who was so worn out after his first platform turn at 17 he actually asked a driver for a bucket of steam, having had the suggestion made by a bugger of a chef. 5.5 years down the line at 22 things are unrecognisable.

Steven1054 · 18 Jan 2012

I would suggest the KWVR, i have been volunteering there since last December and its been amazing. The line isn't very big but its not too small, plus there is lots of different jobs to do.

What can I do as a volunteer?

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