Heritage Railways - Making a Success of a Main Line Connection

[wce]

Weren't there also some activities in connection with GW185? Including the broad gauge Iron Duke replica arriving on a well wagon.


It certainly has plenty of demand commercially though.


I remember the steam railmotor used the B&W for stabling/servicing when it worked the Liskeard-Looe line on November Sundays. I think that there were about three Sundays worked in total (one of which was rearranged after the WCRC diesel booked to haul the positioning move failed)

Indeed the GW150 Exhibition train did visit along with Iron Duke although by then the connection at Middle Forge was in place and 5541 did the honours of hauling the train up from Lydney.

 

[Gooner18]

Does the North Yorkshire Railway have any connection with mainline and/or bus route via a main line ? Really fancy going on Sir Nigel however it looks a bit of pain to get to if not driving

 

[Krokodil]

Does the North Yorkshire Railway have any connection with mainline and/or bus route via a main line ? Really fancy going on Sir Nigel however it looks a bit of pain to get to if not driving

Grosmont station is an interchange with Northern's Esk Valley Line. Pickering has some bus services from Malton which is served by TPE's services to Scarborough

 

[railfan99]

Its difficult to see how either the SVR or WSR could operate on a similar basis without facing the same issues that were encountered at Wareham.

While there would be many difficulties - acquiring route knowledge, safety matters, having sufficient volunteers on the preserved railway to allow constant weekday operation, insurance, accreditation - at least during the English summer surely Minehead is sufficiently popular with Brits who don't go to the Canary Islands for hols to see at least one daily return GWR trip operated.

Some visitors must lack private transport. Maybe the Taunton-Minehead bus operator would also need to be even more subsidised apart from the GBP3 maximum fare, assuming there wasn't some arcane law or regulation preventing resumption of rail passenger services.

In October 2024 I visited Skegness: my three car train at about 1130 hours from Grantham had numerous standees, and like Minehead, Skegness is what demographers might call a 'declining' seaside resort.

 

[billio]

Grosmont station is an interchange with Northern's Esk Valley Line. Pickering has some bus services from Malton which is served by TPE's services to Scarborough

Search for the Transdev Coastliner for bus services to get to Pickering, Goathland and Whitby from Leeds, York, Malton and Scarborough.

 

[Merthyr Imp]

The West Somerset saw 'The Butlins Express' during the summer of 2007 at least. Can't remember if it ran the following year.

Operated by Victa Westlink Rail it ran from Bristol Temple Meads to Minehead, calling at Taunton. Can't remember, again, how many days a week it operated or how many round trips per day.

Travelling from Merthyr Tydfil that year for a holiday in Butlins we would have used it but preferred the connecting bus from Taunton which went right into the 'camp' rather than have to carry our luggage from the station.

My then young son and I did have a round trip on it from Minehead, dep. 1110, to Taunton, arrived 1345. Returned from Taunton at 1442, arr. Minehead 1625. 31452 seen here at Minehead 4 August 2007. It was 'top and tailed' with another 31 and coaches were Mk 2f complete with buffet car.

 

[Solent&Wessex]

One of the big problems with any special trains or services that provide through trains on or off the mainline, or even entirely on the mainline such as the Settle Carlisle Covid services, is that unless the tickets are on sale via Trainline then average Joe Normal won't know about them or book tickets for them.

People simply don't look at posters, leaflets, or individual websites enough to book tickets in sufficient quantities. If you want to run a 'normal' service aimed at more than the rail tour / train spotter market then you have to find a way to get it on Trainline.

The main exception to this has been the NYMR to Whitby, but that operation is fairly unique in more ways than one. Whitby became the main destination of the NYMR, not just an add on extra.

 

[Trainlog]

People simply don't look at posters, leaflets, or individual websites enough to book tickets in sufficient quantities. If you want to run a 'normal' service aimed at more than the rail tour / train spotter market then you have to find a way to get it on Trainline.

I think the main problem is that heritage railways don't do enough posters to attract a neutral audience owing to the costs of doing so these days. It would be nice to see more of these posters out and about, I was quite glad when I saw the KESR 50 anniversary gala ones on arrivas buses last year. Lines typically make the most of social media these days to promote their railways and it's completely understandable if its a cost effective way to do so.

The trainline app does sound like a good idea, especially if it can be an incentive for those using public transport to have integrated tickets and to expose heratige railways to a new audience.

I have always thought that a good method that heratige railways could use is to the next national rail map update, such as the network Southeast map is to add a small steam locomotive icon next to the heritage railway name and line. This would help make the line standout more than a blunt black line with red text which is easy for the public to not notice on the map, plus by using an icon it can allow for the map to take into account heratige rail centers such as Didcot.

 

[9007pinza]

I believe there will eventually be a connection onto the Darlington to Bishop Auckland line, near to North Road Station for the Darlington Locomotive Works. Presently building the P2.

 

[TrainTraveler]

“Does the North Yorkshire Railway have any connection with mainline?”

Yes, however the infrequent National Rail service to Grosmont makes it a bit of a trip.

It is, however, a super ride even before you get to the NYMR.

When I did it, my NYMR ride was supposed to return me to Grosmont from Whitby to catch the train to Middlesbrough but the National Rail train prevented the late running NYMR train from doing so.

I offered the National Rail guard payment for the Whitby to Grosmont journey (I had the Grosmont to Middlesbrough ticket) and he very kindly said the NYMR ticket would suffice.

 

[Tetragon213]

There's an image of the K&WVR playing the role of a gigantic siding/storage for about 20-or-30-odd Pacers during the pandemic, around the time when everything was shut down. Apparently Northern paid a fair bit to them for the privilege, as Northern were obviously running a massively reduced service during those months.

It's not exactly a glamorous use for a heritage line, but during that time period, any money was good money.

 

[Flying Phil]

The GCR hopes to make a success of its main line connection when the Gap is bridged to the Northern section. They (GCR(N) ) had used the chord line to the Midland Main line to run gypsum trains but the closure of coal fired power stations has reduced demand for such traffic.

 

[duffield]

The GCR hopes to make a success of its main line connection when the Gap is bridged to the Northern section. They (GCR(N) ) had used the chord line to the Midland Main line to run gypsum trains but the closure of coal fired power stations has reduced demand for such traffic.

Has the connection been used at all for any purpose since the A60 bridge was replaced?

 

[Flying Phil]

Has the connection been used at all for any purpose since the A60 bridge was replaced?

There was a tamper which went along the line last year which I think went via the chord line to the MML.

 

[railfan99]

I have always thought that a good method that heratige railways could use is to the next national rail map update, such as the network Southeast map is to add a small steam locomotive icon next to the heritage railway name and line.

A good idea, and similar to what the European Rail Timetable compilers' Rail Map of Europe has included for years.

 

[Gwr12345]

A good idea, and similar to what the European Rail Timetable compilers' Rail Map of Europe has included for years.

Heritage railways used to be included in BR timetables! I suppose current service patterns on heritage lines makes that impossible though.

 

[A S Leib]

Heritage railways used to be included in BR timetables! I suppose current service patterns on heritage lines makes that impossible though.

Apart from NYMR and Swanage, do any appear on realtimetrains etc.? I think at least a few (Bluebell Railway or Vale of Rheidol?) have times in Google Maps, which probably makes them more well known known as people using RTT are probably likelier to already know about heritage railways.

 

[37114]

The WSR did alright in the late 90s with their Mainline connection as they had a number of trains use the line to take stone for seawall repairs at Minehead. The road network is very narrow down there so the last thing you need is loads of 32t Tipper lorries using the roads so the railway was perfectly placed to help.

 

[Trainlog]

A good idea, and similar to what the European Rail Timetable compilers' Rail Map of Europe has included for years.

Thank you. Seeing as maps such as the Network Southeast ones get updated at national rail stations all the time, it's an easy fix to the maps that can help improve the visibility of heritage railways on the national network, rather than just being a blunt black line with red text for the name of the line.

I really don't see why it can't be done. There are already symbols on the modern maps for example the cable car on the TFL map gets symbols, so do ferry links and airports. There have historically been old GWR and LNER maps with golf courses.The GWR even did one showing Castles and Cathedrals.

They will probably need to implement new symbols onto the Network Southeast map soon anyway for international services, if a rival to Eurostar actually runs. If they are able to show heritage railways on the map currently with no issues, then I don't see why adding a steam loco symbol next to them would be a problem.