STRIKING A DELICATE BALANCE
How does a declared newcomer cope with running a major steam railway? Kevin Gooding, General Manager of the Llangollen Railway, admits that he learned the hard way.
This will come as no surprise to anyone who knows me, but I am not an enthusiast in the true sense. So, how did I become general manager of North Wales’ premier standard gauge railway, and how does it affect my decisions? The answer is ‘not at all’, because this is a serious enterprise, demanding sound business decisions, as well as taking into account the delicate balance of tourism and a significant volunteer force. My background is not untypical of many who work for preserved railways. All my career, I had worked in administrative and finance management, starting in 1970 with the Royal Air Force. Eight years ago, I was made redundant. It’s an all-too-familiar scenario, as companies restructure or relocate their premises. I chose to become a teaching assistant in a comprehensive school, as opposed to going on the dole. I’m always on the lookout for a new opportunity. It was during this search that I saw an advertisement for office manager at the Llangollen Railway. Born and bred in the area, I initially wondered why the job even existed, as, surely, it was only a little ‘train set’. How naïve I was. Just minutes into studying the website, I realised it was a big operation. Taking my two sons during their toddler years to ‘Thomas’ events and ‘Santa Specials’ was, at the time, just a train ride, with little understanding of how it all worked. A more in-depth study whetted my appetite to apply for the job, as I considered myself to hold the necessary skills and experience, and the interview went well. It was a cold, dark, and dank January morning in 2009 when I arrived. The station was desolate and the office was manned by a single admin clerk (the other one failed to return from Christmas holidays, and has not been seen since!). My induction comprised of a brief conversation with a director, which went something like: “We are a trust and we are a plc, the trust does this, the plc does that. Welcome to the railway, now get on with it”. Is it any surprise that it wasn’t long before the question of locomotives came up? Vice-presidents and directors flocked to the office to meet the new office manager and give their opinions on the whys and wherefores of the railway, often with motive power on their minds. At that time, I had little knowledge or appreciation of the value of volunteers. The culture of predominantly unpaid staff was so far removed from my previous job. To demonstrate my initial ignorance, and at the risk of embarrassing myself in front of Steam Railway readers, I vividly remember a conversation with Dave Owen, our chief mechanical engineer at the time, who visited the office to introduce himself. A locomotive, in light steam, was running after a recent repair, and I quite innocently asked Dave: “What train is that?”. This was a big mistake - and I mean big. Dave could go quite a crimson colour and I believe I hold the record for causing him to achieve the brightest shade. His response was along the lines of “That’s not a ******* train, it’s a locomotive” to which he then instructed and educated me in locomotives, diesels, railcars, and marshalling coaches to form a rake. To this day, I have never forgotten that conversation. The start of the new season soon arrived, and so commenced my practical apprenticeship. The administrative component of my role was simple, and the assimilation and transition was fairly painless. However, I then encountered the volunteers. Out of the woodwork came guards, Travelling Ticket Inspectors (TTIs), station staff, footplate crews and the group members who looked after the steam, diesel and railcar fleets. As I mentioned earlier, opinions differed widely depending on the particular interest or volunteer vocation, but one thing was evident from the very beginning - they all had a common goal in that they all worked for the benefit of the railway. But why? That was my biggest question. Why do employed people give up their spare time to come here and work for no money? Why do retirees come here to volunteer? What is the magic that attracts them? Why do individuals or groups spend tens of thousands of pounds on their beloved motive power (be it steam, diesel or DMU)? The simple answer is because they want to. They want to preserve something from the past, be part of a revival of history, and offer something special to the general public. And in return, it gives them masses of enjoyment. My education was greatly enhanced through talking to these people, listening to their stories, their experiences, their desires, and all the while admiring their enthusiasm. But there is a downside. Like most big families, there
has been some disharmony among Llangollen members. Sometimes it’s steam versus diesels or steam versus DMUs, and even diesel versus DMUs. Whereas experience has taught me that steam is predominantly the favourite motive power for visitors, there is still a niche for modern traction. Over the years as office manager, I listened and learned, yet I could not quite attain the level of enthusiasm that many had. This quite suited me in my position, as there were times when common sense had to prevail and a voice of reason needed to be heard. At times, I became the voice of reason (or tried to be, anyway). My knowledge increased, and my appreciation of all things preserved railways grew, along with my admiration for the volunteers who made it all possible, irrespective of their particular interests. On April 1 2014 (a date which has some significance, but for some strange reason, eludes me), the board of directors, in their wisdom, appointed me as general manager. Me? Responsible for a magical ten miles of railway, winding its way through the beautiful Dee Valley? How idyllic. How fortunate. How apprehensive. How would I do? If hindsight has taught me anything, it is that my early education should have included time with a circus, training to be a juggler. We have a large engineering works, a developing carriage and wagon department, and permanent way, signal and telegraph sections. Heads of all other departments would now have a focal point for reporting. What I learned in my five years as an office manager pales into insignificance with what a GM needs to know, do, say, sort, organise, change. Like volunteers who turn up religiously, week in week out to feed their enthusiasm, I now do something similar, just with a different type of enthusiasm - mine being more general. Now I understand. The Llangollen Railway has to get to Corwen Town which, as Steam Railway readers will have read over the years, is a formidable challenge. There are so many things to do before it can reach fruition people to see, money to raise, the juggling to continue. North Wales’ premier standard gauge railway stands still for no-one. It’s onwards and upwards with optimism, positivity and, above all, the thing that once puzzled me so much - enthusiasm.
The culture of predominantly unpaid staff was so far removed from my previous job