RailRiders

[HawkeyeTheNoo]

Was anyone else here a member of "The Happiest Club in the Land" way back in the early 80's? I joined at the St Rollox open day and apart from seeing the APT for the first time this was the highlight of my day. I remember using up most of my travel discount vouchers over the two years I was a member and trying to get stamps or was it stickers at participating attractions! Was real chuffed to get the badge again along with my purchase of the Bachmann Class 47 named after the club! Brought back loads of memories!

 

[Masboroughlad]

I was a member in the late 70s/early 80s. I have lots of happy memories about being a RailRider (previously The Great Railway Club???).

Remember having a poem about a Deltic in the magazine having had my first trip behind one!! I won a pack of pens if I remember correctly

Pity it closed really. Is there anything similar for kids today provided by ATOC or National Rail or is it down to individual TOCs.

Was 47 406 (???) the loco?

 

[HawkeyeTheNoo]

Indeed it was 47406! I don't think there is anything similar for kids nowadays provided by any of the TOC's which is a real shame as it would promote an interest in rail travel.

 

[flymo]

RailRiders was advertised in the pages of the timetables of this time, as can seen in the attached photo from page 317 of the 1984/85 timetable. I hope this can qualify for a fair use excerpt of the timetable. I've edited out the address just in case it is still active.

Hope this brings back some more happy memories Hawkeye...

 

[ainsworth74]

I don't think there is anything similar for kids nowadays provided by any of the ATOC's which is a real shame as it would promote an interest in rail travel.

[Pedant] There is only one ATOC (Association of Train Operating Companies), but many TOCs (Train Operating Companies) [/Pendant]

It is a shame that nothing like this exists, but it's a symptom of a larger problem in the railway today and that is there is no single voice from within the industry that is getting out there and promoting the railways to the public. Even when the media snipes at the railways the ATOCs reaction always seems to be to stick its head in the sand and pretend nothing is wrong. It's something that really needs fixing.

 

[4SRKT]

I think it's also that while during the 1980s being a railway enthusiast was a perfectly normal and respectable pastime, and bashing something close to a mass movement, something nasty has shifted in the nation's consciousness since then and we've become the butt of lots of 'jokes' etc. I doubt the TOCs particularly want to be associated with that image.

My Three Thousandth post BTW!

 

[Matt Taylor]

My dad was the top dog in the company that did the PR for Rail Riders, as a result I access to many many books of vouchers.

Not that I ever passed them around among my mates and used them for hoover bashing.

Must have been someone else that did that.

 

[Mvann]

I was a member of rail riders. I still have the posters with the stickers I collected on them.

 

[4SRKT]

Well I wasn't a member of Rail Riders because I had privs. Otherwise I probably would have been. And living in York 47406 was quite possibly the most boring loco on the network, along with any other GD based 47/4.

 

[Masboroughlad]

He he. Boring 47s - they were the days! We wish it was like that now!

 

[4SRKT]

He he. Boring 47s - they were the days! We wish it was like that now!

Well quite.

 

[Electrostar]

I was a member too but despaired of the non-railway pages in the mag. I remember pictures of 47406 in blue and then the news that it had bee
Repainted into InterCity colours and a logo accompanying its nameplate. The logo at the time was an illustration of the APT but this later changed to a generic blue-ish train if memory serves possibly based on the 91 "Electra". I remember a back-page feature on the launch of the Sprinter and the IC service through Kensington Olympia. There were daft hats and t-shirts to collect in addition to the discounts and entry stamps. And of course RailRiders World in York.

 

[rail-britain]

I used to go through books of the vouchers
Even though you had to buy them, if you used them all up it was quite a saving
It certainly paid for many longer trips, typically Glasgow - Carlisle, Glasgow - Newcastle, and one Darlington - York

However, one station manager refused to accept the voucher once as he had never seen them and thought they looked home made!
Paid my full fare and then discussed at Glasgow Central with the Station Manager, who apologised and phoned the numpty, never had a problem again

 

[4SRKT]

What were the names of the other named Generators? IIRR the first 6 machines were named, and I can only remember 406 being Rail Riders and 402 Gateshead.

 

[flymo]

What were the names of the other named Generators? IIRR the first 6 machines were named, and I can only remember 406 being Rail Riders and 402 Gateshead.

47401 North Eastern
47402 Gateshead
47403 The Geordie
47404 Hadrian
47405 Northumbria
47406 Rail Riders
47407 Aycliffe
47408 Finsbury Park
47409 David Lloyd George

I think...

 

[Mysterium]

I too was in Rail Riders, and remember visting Rail Riders world in York, and also collecting the stickers from 'Casey Jones' burger joints.
I remember Keith Chegwin enticing me to join with the promise of "travel, action and fun!"

The name will always be synonymous with 47406 but it was also carried by 47488.

 

[RPM]

I was member in the early 80s. Never managed to see 47406 until well after I'd left though. I've still got the magazines in the attic. I used to love the illustrated centrefolds, most of which were pulled out and stuck all over my bedroom wall.

 

[scotsman]

He he. Boring 47s - they were the days! We wish it was like that now!

Sorry, but I grew up when locos had just gone and I find 47s boring on the whole! Even if they haul a tour I'm Stewarding I rarely pay attention to them, unless it's a particularly fine speciemen anyway...
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I remember Keith Chegwin enticing me to join with the promise of "travel, action and fun!"

sounds like the Army!

 

[Greetlander]

A post on another forum about Railriders vouchers got me in the memory mood. I loved Railriders, and my mum even knitted me the jumper from the free pattern. The highpoint of my young life however came when 47406 roared into Man Vic one night when we were waiting for a connecting train home to Halifax.
Does anyone else remember the religious fervour caused by their own encounter with this miraculous apparition, and perhaps more importantly is there anyone out there still scarred by never encountering this mythical beast?

 

[Cowley]

I wasn’t in Railriders but a friend of mine was.
Did manage a couple of runs behind 47406 but it was a bit of a rare beast down our way because I think it was generally used on the Trans Pennines with the other Generators (47401 - 47420).
A seem to remember that the 47 bashers didn’t rate it that highly saying that it wasn’t the best of that batch. My favourite generator was 47411 which hung around in Devon for a couple of weeks in the summer of 1988 and was an absolute beast .
That didn’t stop me buying this limited edition Bachmann model of 47406 a few years ago though...
Two photos of 47406 model looking slightly dusty.

 

[GusB]

I only had Railriders membership for a year, and I believe it was free with the purchase of a book (The Official British Rail Book of Trains for Young People by Michael Bowler). Sadly I was too young to be let loose on the rails on my own at that time, so my vouchers went unused. I liked their magazine, though.

I thought I recalled reading an article about 47406 being named, but having looked the loco up om class47.co.uk, it says

A crest representing the Rail Riders club badge was added on November 12th 1985 to celebrate a 4-fold increase in Rail Riders club membership

This must be what I remembered.

The cycnic in me wonders whether the 4-fold increase in membership was down to sales of the book

 

[fowler9]

Saw 47406 very frequently with it being used on the Liverpool to Newcastle's. Does anyone remember a class 86 called Velocity after a Blue Peter competition?

 

[Cowley]

Saw 47406 very frequently with it being used on the Liverpool to Newcastle's. Does anyone remember a class 86 called Velocity after a Blue Peter competition?

I remember Velocity (it was actually 87023). Didn’t realise that Blue Peter were involved. Interestingly it’s carrying the name again now while based in Bulgaria.
On the subject of 47406 I think it was only the second 47 to carry Intercity executive livery (47487 was the first).

 

[quarella]

A post on another forum about Railriders vouchers got me in the memory mood. I loved Railriders, and my mum even knitted me the jumper from the free pattern. ?

The jumper as knitted by a great aunt of mine.

 

[Cowley]

The jumper as knitted by a great aunt of mine.

Now that is impressive!

 

[Bald Rick]

I had a railriders bag as my school bag. I also wrote in to say I had seen 47406, and got my name in the next mag, with a badge or some vouchers or some sort of prize.

Is now the right time to confess that I’m not actually sure if I did see it?

 

[Cowley]

I had a railriders bag as my school bag. I also wrote in to say I had seen 47406, and got my name in the next mag, with a badge or some vouchers or some sort of prize.

Is now the right time to confess that I’m not actually sure if I did see it?

 

[Condor7]

My son was in Railriders I seem to remember he had to collect stickers or badges from certain locations.
I think it would be a good thing to bring Railriders back!

 

[AndrewE]

railriders... vouchers:

Membership (£5?) gave 10 travel vouchers, I think, plus discounted entry into various tourist things. Obviously a bribe to get accompanying adults to buy tickets for journeys they wouldn't otherwise have made. My boys were members because at the time children's priv fares were 25% of half the full ordinary single or return fare - usually a lot more than 50p. It saved us quite a bit of money.

 

[Bald Rick]

Membership (£5?) gave 10 travel vouchers, I think, plus discounted entry into various tourist things. Obviously a bribe to get accompanying adults to buy tickets for journeys they wouldn't otherwise have made. My boys were members because at the time children's priv fares were 25% of half the full ordinary single or return fare - usually a lot more than 50p. It saved us quite a bit of money.

It was £5, and you got £5 of vouchers (2 x £1, and the rest in 50p). I think the club was marketed to family railcard holders, with the £1 vouchers essentially meaning kids went free on family trips.

One thing I could never get was that members were encouraged to log their mileage, and there was a competition each year for the highest. The winners clocked something like 40k miles or more! Never understood how a kid could do that.