Two new apprentices join up to Moorsline’s funded scheme

THE North Yorkshire Moors Railway has taken on two new apprentices as part of its Yorkshire’s Magnificent Journey (YMJ) Project, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Cameron Ross and Jacob Swinburn, both aged 19, have joined the NYMR team as mechanical engineering apprentices – the third intake on the scheme that has been running for the last three years.

A combination of theory and handson experience sees the apprentices going to college one day a week and then having the opportunity to put this theory into practice for four days a week at the heritage line.

A NYMR junior volunteer since he was 13, Finn Allen was the first YMJ apprentice. He is about to complete the programme and will now go on to work in the diesel department at the NYMR.

Motive power department manager Nick Simpson said: “We are really excited about this new intake of apprentices.

“This is an incredible opportunity for anyone willing to get stuck in. With the right enthusiasm and willingness to learn, you can really progress into a fantastic career here.

“I’m proof of that, having started out as an apprentice myself and now, 17 years later, I manage the whole shed.

“During this programme, Cameron and Jacob will learn heritage skills you can’t pick up in the outside world, such as Imperial measurements. They will start by visiting and learning from all of the departments at the NYMR and get to work on everything, from the diesels to the boiler shop and steam engines, and eventually go onto fabrication, carriages, wagons and everything in between. It’s a proper apprenticeship.”

More details of the programme can be found at www.nymr.co.uk/ apprenticeship-schemes