SUSTAINABLE STEAM
Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway General Manager Paul Lewin on securing preservation’s future
BEING MORE COMMERCIAL CAN CHANGE THE NATURE OF OUR RAILWAYS, BUT IT NEEDS CAREFUL PLANNING AND A BALANCED APPROACH
From humble beginnings, driven by passion for railways, Britain’s myriad preserved lines have grown far beyond the wildest dreams of the preservation pioneers to become substantial concerns. If measured by financial turnover alone, only the largest half-dozen would be considered to be medium-sized businesses. But if you measure them by their contribution to the nation’s heritage, impact on local communities and the economy, we have quite a different story. And it’s in this context that the subject of sustainability is so important. So what is sustainability all about, and why should it matter so much right now? For many years, it has been argued that the preservation bubble would one day burst and that surely there would not be the appetite for yet another preserved railway. Yet still they came.
GOLDEN ERA
It could be argued that we have now reached a turning point. This change is not a dramatic ‘big bang’ event but rather a gentle shifting of emphasis; only in years to come will we look back and recognise that we are living in a golden era of steam railway preservation. How can we tell, you might reasonably ask, and what do we need to do? Tracking the number of preserved steam locomotives is one indicator. Or, perhaps, tracking the number of preserved locomotives that have once run in preservation, but now sit in queues awaiting an expensive overhaul, is the flip side of the same coin. Similarly, how many railways are running carriages with wheelsets on their last tyres, with no provision to replace them, and facing the prospect of withdrawal from traffic? How much track on preserved lines is now very close to the end of its operational life? Sustainability is about facing up to these issues and making the right decisions now to give the longest possible future for our railways. The Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways have made some great strides towards sustainability and are now halfway through a programme announced to members and supporters as the ‘sustainable railway’. Although some of the work required doesn’t quite have the cachet of the newly launched main line express locomotive or exquisitely restored station building, work on sustainability brings a very positive tone to an organisation and the sense of hope for the future. Here are some examples of things that are making a difference, and the challenges we face.
FIX YOUR WAGONS
The Ffestiniog Railway gravity train is an incredible part of the success of the railway. Volunteers restored over 60 wagons and now run them on special occasions by gravity, just as they would have been operated in years gone by. This bulk overhaul was a great achievement, and around 50 are operational at present. The challenge now has become one of maintenance, and these wagons, stored outside, need constant
attention. This workload alone would take up all the current team’s efforts indefinitely – to move forward, either the wagons needed to be stored under cover or more volunteers recruited to keep up with the never-ending task of maintenance. Finding more volunteers is a tough task that all railways appreciate, so the team decided to raise money to build a shed to house all 200 historic original wagons that the railway owns. The cost to the team was a couple of years of effort to build the shed, instead of restoring wagons, along with more than £100,000 enthusiastically raised and generously given. Now, however, they know that once a wagon is put back into good shape the chances are it will stay that way for a long time, allowing the team to conserve and renovate much more of the fleet. Another example is our railway workshops. We are, of course, very proud of them and their 200-year history. The problem is that our staff are human beings, and want to work in reasonable conditions. If we fail to reach a decent standard, not only does productivity plummet but it also becomes increasingly difficult to recruit new people. For a long time the prospect of rebuilding the workshops was so daunting that it kept getting put off. For the last few winters we have tackled some fundamental issues, none of which are particularly glamorous, but their impact is already being felt. The works pre-dates motor vehicles by a hundred years, and wasn’t built with road access in mind; the small cart track used over the years for deliveries was atop a crumbling embankment. Delivery drivers would refuse to use the track and dump deliveries out on the road or, on one notable occasion, right in the middle of the booking office at Porthmadog.
DIVIDENDS
Investing tens of thousands of pounds in a new access road seemed like a very heavy sum to pay but it’s already paying off – deliveries can be taken to the door of the workshops, including things like steel plate and bulk timber, saving many hours each week as it’s no longer necessary to stop work to move deliveries from one place to another. Also at Boston Lodge, the seemingly small but very important matter of having modern effective waste water treatment systems in place has also been tackled. Living in the heart of Snowdonia in a Site of Special Scientific Interest means that not complying with environmental legislation could stop us in our tracks – literally. These kinds of projects drive sustainability and make sure effort can be concentrated where it is needed to ensure the railway is properly looked after. Perhaps of greatest importance in years to come will be the need to underpin our railways with a strong commercial business plan that delivers profits and ensures we can maintain a sound infrastructure. The generation of volunteers that worked so hard to save our railways are the same people who raised and donated funds that allowed miracles to happen. Their legacies are providing tremendous support for our railways too, again making seemingly insurmountable objectives achievable.
COMMERCIAL APPEAL
Our challenge is to make sure we invest in ways that will keep our business strong. This may seem like an anathema to organisations with roots in voluntary effort and a make-do-and-mend approach, and while that spirit must live on it must be balanced with commercial drive that ensures the railways’ appeal to a wider audience. It is notable that the most profitable activities of most preserved railways are special events and galas. The events that sell best seem to be those which have a wider appeal, such as 1940s events and beer festivals – events where the railway is the frame and not the picture, as it were. These events are perhaps simpler to sell and easier for our customers to understand than our day-to-day offering; every railway should consider what will entice the most visitors. The National Trust is very good at this, and it says that a day spent on an NT site is ‘time well spent’. The simple message is that visitors can be sure that their precious time with friends and family will be worthwhile. As we look to 2018 and beyond, perhaps we should take a leaf out of the NT’s book and think carefully about attracting a wider audience, ensuring our railways deliver an experience that visitors will then recommend to others. Being more commercial can change the nature of our railways, but it needs careful planning and a balanced approach. However, the sustainability and, therefore, the future of our railways is best served by building strong commercial income streams.