Steam& Heritage
Heritagelinespreparefor summerreopening,Tyseley seekscomponentsponsorsfor'Bloomer; BarrowHill considers'Terrier'gathering,freshWestSomersetappeal for Prairieoverhaul,work restartson'Patriot'and'P2' post lockdown.
■ Thefirst train on August7 will be for membersonly and pre-bookedon a first-come, first-servedbasis.
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TheNorthNorfolkRailway(NNR) iscurrentlylookingat a resumptionof serviceson July8. It hasdevelopedacomprehensive reopeningplan,which looksat the riskso, pportunitiest,esting regimeso, perationandstaffing requirementsurroundinga returnof steamservices.
Ifthe railwayisgiventhe go-aheadto reopenit will work to atimetableof fourtrainsper day,runningnon-stopbetween Sheringhamand Holt.
A one-hourturnaroundhas beenincludedat Sheringham betweentrainsin orderto allow for cleaninganddisinfectingof the coachingstockto becarried out.
Onlyonetrainsetwill operate initially,madeup of compartment stockT. hesewill bethe line'sLNER 'Quad-Arts' et(28compartments), a BRMk1SuburbanThird(10 compartmentsa) nda Mk1BSK with fourcompartmentsplus accommodatiofnor a wheelchair userg, iving328seatsin total.
Visitorswill beableto book compartmentsratherthan individuasl eatsw, ith a maximum of four peoplepercompartment.
OnceGovernmenat pproval hasbeengivento reopenthe NNRplansto runa testtrain using invitedstaffandvolunteersin orderto trial the socialdistancing in queuingsystemsandpassenger flow at stations.
Howevert,he servicehasbeen designedto requirethe minimum numberof staff/volunteers possiblen, ewsigning-in proceduresbeingimplementedto ensurefitnessto work.
Allticketswill besoldonline, withjourneysbeginningand endingat SheringhamH. olt stationwill beclosedto visitors arrivingby road,andonlyticket holderswill beableto enter Sheringhamstation.Weybourne andKellingHeathstationswill both remainclosedto the public.
All shopsand refreshment facilitieswill beclosedw, ith the exceptionof the Sheringham buffetwhichwill beopenfortake awayfoodanddrinksonly.
The21-acreopenairsite is implementinga seriesof measuretso allowvisitorsto be welcomedsafelyi,ncludinghaving limitednumberson siteat any onetime,and pre-bookedtickets for allottedarrivatl imes.
TheGreaWt esternSocietysite will openinitiallyon weekends andWednesdayfsor what it calls Open-AirDiscoveryDaysw, hich will allowvisitorsto explore the extensiveoutsidedisplays togetherwith the centrepiece 1932-builGt WRengineshed.
One-waysystemswill beinforce in someareas uchasthe carriage andwagondisplayarea,while sociallydistancedwaitingareasfor the museumt,oiletsandgift shop will be in place.
Certainindoorfacilitiesw, here spaceisveryconfineds, uchasthe air-raidshelterw, ill remainclosed initially,andcateringwill be limitedto take-awayonly.
Therewill not beanypassenger ridesto beginwith, but ticketsfor the DiscoveryDayswill alsobe validfor a secondvisiton oneof Didcot'spopularSteamDays.
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Generaml anagerSimonBaggott told TheRMthereiscurrently an upbeatmoodaroundthe WatercresLsine,andthe railway was"cautiouslyoptimistic"about howthe summermight playout.
At the time of writing the Mid-HantsRailwaywaslookingat July11-12for a publicreopening, seeingtrainsdepartingfrom both AlresfordandAlton,with Ropley beingthe ultimatedestinationfor extendedstopswhile locomotives takewaterand run round.
Alltrainswill bepre-book onlyandpassengerwsill have allocatedseatsthroughouttheir journey.Trainswill run at reduced capacityin orderto maintain socialdistancing.
Duringthe weekendof June 20-21threetrainswereoperating overthe railwayaspartof a trainingplanto allowvolunteers to get usedto runninga railway again,whilethefollowing weekendwasexpectedto featurea photographic harterfor members.
"We'regraduallybringing engineeringstaffbackfrom furloughaswe preparethe railwayfor reopening;M' r Baggott confirmed.
"Themessfacilitiesat Ropley havebeendeepcleanedanda one-waysysteminstalleda, nd somerestorationwork has restartedafterlockdown.
"Wewill bringvolunteersback stage-by-stagea,ndwhilethe decisionto returnwill beavery personadl ecisiont,he indications
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At the time of writing the Great CentraRl ailwayconfirmed it waslookingat lateJulyfor a resumptionof passenger operationon the Loughborough to Leicestelrine.
Therailwayhasalready undertakensometestrunning with steam(RMJune),bringing a numberof staffbackfrom furloughto preparefor reopeningI.t hasalsodeveloped a draft recoveryplanand risk assessmentws,hichit was planningto finaliseduringthe last weeksof June.
Asthis issuewent to pressthe targetdatefor the first public serviceswasJuly25,andthe railwaywashopefulit would be ableto reopenitscafesatsome stations.
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Furthernorth,the NorthYorkshire MoorsRailway(NYMRi)shoping to beableto resumelimited operationson August1.
Theaim isto runtwo trainsat eitherendof the line:one running betweenPickeringand Levisham, andthe other betweenGrosmont andGoathland.
Eachtrainwill againcomprise of predominantlycompartment stock,threeof four suchvehicles pertrainsupportedbya number ofTSOswith socialdistancing measuresin placeT. hiswill reduceTSOcapacityfrom 64to a maximumof 16.Passengers will be requestedto wearmasks on boardthe trainsandobserve socialdistancingwherepossible.
Therailwayisbringingbackthe minimumnumberof paidstaff fromfurloughto helprunservices, andtheywill besupportedinthe operationby volunteersasmuch aspossible.
"Thisiswhereour volunteers reallystepup to the plate;'NYMR generalmanagerChrisPricetold TheRM.
"We'llbe relyingheavilyon volunteersto makethiswork,with the appropriateconsiderationfsor their own safetyandwell-being of courseI.t'sa massivechallenge, but an importantoneasit's helpingto secureourfuture.
"Financiallyspeakingthe trains arejust aboutviable,andcosts aregoingto go up considerably, but runningthemwill senda messageto say'we'restillhere; notjust to the publicbut alsoour supporters.
"There'smorethan a thousand volunteersthat wantto come back,andwe want them to know their railwayisrunningandtheir future issecure:'
Oneof the waysin whichthe NYMRmight mitigatethe lossof revenueandrecoupcostsisby runningthroughthe winterand into nextyear.
"Potentiallythis couldbe the startof oneof our longest operatingperiodsto date,andwe arelookingat possiblyremaining openthroughthe normalwinter closureperiod;e' xplainedMr Price. "Weneedto milkourasset, andaslongasthere'sa willing audienceandenoughpeopleto makeit work,we couldrun right though into 2021:•
■ TheSevernValleyRailway(SVRi)s anotherlinehopingto reopento the publicduringAugust.
Therailwayhasstarteda programmeto graduallybring backits 1,800volunteersa, long with certainmembersof its paid staff,95%of whom havebeenon furlough.
"There'stillagreatdeal of uncertaintyaroundhow passengesrerviceswill be managedoncethe railwayhas reopened;'SVgReneralmanager HelenSmithexplained.
"We'reworkingcloselywith the HeritageRailwayAssociatiotno makesurewe get it right when it comesto safetyfor bothvisitors andourvolunteersandstaff.
"Wehaveto wait andsee whetherthe Governmenwt ill reduceitssocialdistancingadvice to one metrefromthe current two metresS. uchachangewould makeit easierto runservicesand allowusto makea profit rather than a loss:'
It isexpectedthat serviceswill run on a reducedtimetable,with potentialvisitorsencouragedto pre-booktheir tickets.
Howeveru, nlikethe NYMRt,he SVRis not expectingpassengers to wearfacecoveringsat the moment.
"Althoughit'sgoingto be compulsoryto wearface coveringson publictransport, we don't believethis will apply to usasa heritageattraction, providedwe canmaintainthe recommendedsocialdistancing guidelines;s' aidMsSmith.
Inthe meantimethe SVRwill be reopeningits pubsat Bridgnorth and Kidderminstefr om July4.
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August15isthe redletterdate for the resumptionof servicesat the GloucestershirWe arwickshire Railway(GWSR).
Volunteersin coredepartments will returnin stagesovercoming