‘THE POLAR EXPRESS’
Why big events can be major money-spinners for railways
There are two aspects of running a steam railway that always seem to rise to the surface – how to balance the books, and how to engage with families and a younger generation in a way that is relevant to them.
The reality of running a heritage attraction is that many of our visitors don’t know or care that our organisation is maintained and operated by a team of volunteers. Our visitors’ main concern is that they have an enjoyable day out in a clean, safe and engaging environment that provides perceived value for money. In the early years of preservation, a large percentage of our visitors had lived with working steam, and so were buying into the nostalgia of their youth – but those days are now behind us. It is now a fact that many of our visitors may never have even travelled on a train, let alone one hauled by a steam locomotive.
Many of our younger visitors may only be aware of steam railways from seeing them on TV or in films, or maybe during a visit to a preserved line as a child. How do we attract generations of people who know little about what we do? Theatre and telling stories, immersing our guests in a time, place, film or story is a great way to connect with them, and many will leave with a better understanding of the heritage attraction, which also helps the venue fulfil its educational aims.
Modern-day visitors also have much higher expectations than those of only a few years ago, and they are only getting higher. A bouncy castle and a face painter is not an event any more, while ‘meet and greets’ with the latest children’s TV characters can also have little relevance to our attraction and leave guests a little flat, wanting more.
Many railways run small events through the season and then go all out with Santa Specials in December, often dragging out the same decorations that have been used for many a year, while a volunteer puts on the red suit and a cotton wool beard, and some poor youngsters or members of the office staff get dragged in to be elves.
LARGE SCALE
PNP Events has been set up by a team of railway enthusiasts who also have considerable experience in running large scale events in the type of environments that would have most event companies running for the hills! Initially, the team has been concentrating on running the hugely successful ‘Polar Express’ train ride at the Wensleydale Railway which, in its first year of running, has become the largest event of its kind in the UK.
PNP Events appreciates the benefits of running an event of this magnitude, but also realises that many preserved railways lack the requisite skills to successfully deliver complex events such as the ‘Polar Express’ by themselves. Many railways lack the complete skill set for running large scale or creative events, in either skills or number of volunteers, and it is exactly these railways that would benefit most from hosting large and immersive family-oriented events. The benefits are immense, but so is the effort required to manage an event for upwards of 20,000 visitors, and the attendant risk if it doesn’t succeed.
Having invested a considerable amount of time for free to run the ‘Polar Express’ event for three years as volunteers at the Telford Steam Railway, and being commercially involved with the Mid Norfolk Railway’s ‘Polar Express’, we realised there was an opportunity to help other railways accomplish their fundraising and marketing aims.
PNP Events is planning a programme of events and experiences centred around heritage venues, which, in partnership with these attractions, will allow the benefits of running immersive theatrical events, while removing the work required to run the event and allowing them to concentrate on managing the venue. Many of these planned events will attract guests who would not normally look at a railway as a place to visit.
If the heritage industry is to survive, it must learn to live up to the expectations and be relevant to its visitors. During the year, visitors are getting more choosy about where they spend their money but, more importantly, they are willing to pay a good price for attractions and leisure, provided the venue delivers on its side of the deal. Gone are the days when just turning up at a railway and going for a ride on a train was seen as a good day out. Public perception is that the whole venue should be maintained to a high standard, that public areas should be tidy and well maintained, toilets clean and warm, and a café or restaurant be serving high quality food. Hiring specialists in to manage events is no different to
sub-contracting engineering works
MANY OF THESE PLANNED EVENTS WILL ATTRACT GUESTS WHO WOULD NOT NORMALLY LOOK AT A RAILWAY AS A PLACE TO VISIT
out to specialists, or bringing permanent way contractors in to manage track.
NEW DEMOGRAPHIC
For many years, our traditional Santa specials have been the backbone of the winter income. The Santa specials were highly rated by visitors, but it was becoming clear that parents were looking for more than just a train ride, refreshments and the chance for their children to discuss with Santa their hopes and dreams for Christmas Day.
Securing the partnership with PNP Events is a major step forward in the development of the Wensleydale Railway. The key measure is the generation of much greater profit than a traditional Santa special. Additionally, the experience at other railways demonstrates that the ‘Polar Express’ reaches a demographic that doesn’t normally visit heritage lines. This means that there is a traditionally untapped pool of visitors who now know about the railway when they perhaps didn’t even realise it existed before. Ridership through the season generally improves by a factor of 20-30% and there is a lot more interest in other events during the year.
The local community also sees the railway in a different light; local hotels and restaurants should see an increase in visitors in a usually quiet period of the year, and local councils may be more inclined to look favourably on any plans we have. The Wensleydale set off with the vision of being a community railway – and this is a great example of the railway truly integrating and benefitting the local community.
We are under no illusions that this will be easy. We need to bring our Mk 2 rolling stock fleet up to a better level of comfort and reliability. Our rolling stock appeal is live, and is now critical to provide key equipment to improve the coaches. The operation requires excellent lighting and heating with windows that excited families can see out of.
One of the highlights of our traditional Santa specials was the opportunity for our volunteers to engage with each other and the public at a joyful time of year. The ‘Polar Express’ will be no different and we will be encouraging more volunteers to join the railway to support the venture in addition to the core of full-time staff.
●● Anyone wishing to volunteer at the Wensleydale Railway will be made very welcome and should contact Helen Ashworth at volunteer@wensleydalerailway.com