PRESERVATION: THE WAY AHEAD
Now Steam Railway has celebrated its 40th anniversary, THOMAS BRIGHT explores where preservation might be in another 40 years.
What the future holds for Britain’s steam railway movement
Everything is going south from here on?” “Well it is, isn’t it?”
On those unequivocal and ominous final words did outspoken former Severn Valley Railway general manager Michael Draper sign off his interview with Steam Railway’s founding editor David Wilcock in our special 500th edition, in which he tackled the challenges facing preservation today in his characteristic and sometimes controversial style.
The irrepressible Mr Draper, a man known for directly speaking his mind and not pulling punches, gave his forthright views on the looming coal crisis, the difficulties of balancing preservation and commercialism, the increasingly challenging financial climate and the problems of finding – and keeping – the right people with the right skills to keep our railways running safely and in a sustainable manner.
Until now, Britain’s railway preservation scene has largely been an unqualified success story, but as it enters the third decade of the 21st century, it is time to consider where the movement might be in decades to come. As Michael intimated, preservation is on the verge of arguably the most far-ranging changes it has ever seen – changes which could potentially alter the preservation landscape beyond recognition and possibly threaten our movement’s existence.
However, by his own admission, he is ‘yesterday’s man’. Ever self-effacing, he even posed the questions: “What relevance does Michael Draper have as a former manager of a railway? Why should we listen when he speaks? Does he make any sense?”
So, does he? Is everything going south from here on? Or is ‘yesterday’s man’ out of step with the views of preservation’s current leading lights?
To answer these important questions – and discover what we must do to protect what we have already accomplished, and ensure our continued survival – we have called upon some of preservation’s current leading figures to explore the issues in detail and help understand what the future has in store for steam.
WheRe theRe’s smoke…
“The next few years are going to be pivotal and challenging for all heritage railways, and we need to plan for the future and do whatever we can to help each other.”
So says Julian Birley BEM – chairman of the Bala Lake Railway Trust, president of the M&GN Society and the man widely credited for elevating the North Norfolk Railway to the ‘premier league’ status it enjoys today. And he’s not alone in this view.
Perhaps the biggest factor affecting preservation’s future in the next few years is the potential coal crisis.
You will have read a lot about coal and the threat to our future supplies in recent editions of Steam Railway.
We make no apologies for covering it so extensively; the Heritage Railway Association states that the proposal by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs to ban the sale of coal for household use “represents perhaps the biggest threat to steam traction since British Railways’ 1955 Modernisation Plan.”
We have recently explored this issue in detail, so we won’t rake over old ground, but if coal is no longer widely available – either owing to DEFRA’s proposals or a nationwide collapse in demand – and/or if prices rise exorbitantly, it will drastically alter the way in which railways operate, likely resulting in fewer trains to offset higher running costs, a reduction in paid staff, and possibly outright closure of some railways.
Before we get too despondent, the HRA and other organisations are actively working on a way forward to protect our supplies and ability to burn coal freely but, suffice to say, how much we pay for and where we get our coal – a fundamental part of what we do – will be a major determining factor in shaping preservation’s future.
A separate but related issue to consider is preservation’s impact upon the environment. Concern
We will be forced to buy coal abroad, increasing our carbon output significantly as a result chris price, NYMR GENERAL MANAGER
about what effect society at large is having upon our climate has been brought to the forefront of public consciousness recently, and there are fears from the wider enthusiast community that the environmental lobby will see steam railways as ‘polluting for pleasure’, and that it may become harder in future to justify our continued burning of fossil fuels – despite our collectively negligible environmental impact.
As Paul Lewin, general manager of the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways – Britain’s biggest combined preserved railway – says: “We must be in touch with new generations. Remember that all children are now taught about environmental issues at school and coal is described as incredibly bad for the environment.
“When faced with this, we must be patient and explain just how little coal heritage railways use. For example, a week’s use of a steam engine produces about the same amount of carbon as a single long-haul flight, and there are 28,000 aircraft in the world completing 103,000 flights every day. Answers like this, quietly delivered and supported by explanations of the importance of railways to our heritage and culture, really help.”
Ironically, if the Government were to ban the sale of coal, this could actually increase carbon emissions. Chris Price, general manager of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway – the preservation industry’s single biggest coal consumer – says: “We will be forced to buy coal abroad, predominately from Russia, increasing our carbon output significantly as a result of the extra distance to transport the more expensive import.”
There is therefore a very strong environmental argument for continuing to mine coal indigenously. If we can protect Britain’s coal mining industry, it will be a substantial weight lifted from preservation’s shoulders.
That’s not to say the problem is solved, however; national demand for coal is rapidly falling, and by 2050, both the steel and cement-making industries – Britain’s biggest coal consumers after the power generation sector, which itself will have stopped buying coal by 2025 – aim to have completely decarbonised. After that, the level of demand for coal is anybody’s guess.
Substantial challenges remain therefore, but as long as there is coal being produced somewhere in the world, we can get it and use it. How good it will be, how much it
will cost – and whether preservation at large will be able to afford it – is another matter altogether.
YouR RAIlwAYs Need You
Another pivotal factor in preservation’s future is volunteers – or rather the lack of them.
Julian says: “Up until now, we have been incredibly fortunate in having professional railwayman who helped get the movement off the ground, using their experience and skills to help get heritage railways established. Following on from them were enthusiastic volunteers who could take early retirement and had sufficient energy and determination to continue this work.
“Now, all railways really have to work hard to recruit and retain volunteers as people have to work much longer to afford to retire and also there are so many attractions and organisations vying for volunteers’ time.
“Heritage railways depend on those volunteers and I fear we are sleepwalking towards a major problem.”
It is no secret that preservation is suffering from a national volunteer shortage and a number of railways have had to either cancel individual services or even a whole day’s worth of trains outright owing to a lack of available crews in recent years. In turn, this has led many railways to reconsider the extent of their operations, with many cutting back on uneconomic services or reducing the number of annual running days altogether.
So, how do we recruit more volunteers? The answer, as far as Paul Lewin sees it, is to make volunteering more attractive. He says: “We must always remember that volunteering is expensive and that volunteers must perceive that they have gained sufficient satisfaction from spending their hard-earned cash to be at their railway. This means that, having attracted good quality, competent people, expecting them to spend protracted periods proving themselves with menial tasks means those volunteers will spend their leisure time elsewhere.
“The big challenge with volunteers is making best use of skills and abilities. Railways often have an incredible pool of talent that is available to them. Matching that resource to the tasks that need tackling is key.
“Having said this, on the flip side of the coin, developing and maintaining competency in skills specific to heritage operations is a growing concern. In the 1950s, centre lathe turners and locomotive firemen for example could be found on almost every street. These skills simply no longer exist in mainstream life.”
Chris Price adds: “The volunteer shortage will only be addressed by initiative and engagement. Railways can no longer treat this recourse for granted and need to start treating the recruitment of volunteers as seriously as the raising of the required funds.
“If the change of demographic means we see fewer volunteers then railways will obviously be faced with a stark choice: either employment – which could lead to a railway questioning its viability – or changing their business and running fewer trains but of higher quality.”
This growing volunteer shortage, if left unchecked, will undoubtedly see a marked change in the way railways operate and do business, primarily because volunteers are hugely beneficial to railways’ finances.
Paul explains: “There is practically no residual life left in old railways and rolling stock. This means we have to pay for the wear and tear and renewals.
“However, the costs of engineering have risen, particularly where mainstream industry cannot supply equipment through the modern-day supply chain. Hand-crafting small batches of supplies and specialist conservation work takes up lots of expensive man hours.
“All this means incredibly high costs. A good quality new sleeper, for example, costs £100. Just think how many of those there are on a typical railway.
“Volunteers continue to provide an all-important relief from the full burden of these costs.”
wAshINg ouR FAces
This leads on to the next point, which is that, if there are insufficient numbers of volunteers, railways will
We have to look at these railways in the harder light of pure commercialism and entertainment Julian Birley Bem
therefore have to change the way they operate to offset increased staff and engineering costs – and that inevitably means increased commercialism.
Finances might sound boring, but a strong economic base is vital for every railway’s future. A number of ‘premier league’ railways – such as the Bluebell, Llangollen and West Somerset railways – have posted multiple-hundred thousand-pound losses during 2018 alone, and while such losses are nothing new in preservation, they appear at least to be happening more frequently.
Julian, Chris and Paul believe it is vital, therefore, that preservationists take off their rose-tinted spectacles and view railways as the businesses they are, if they are to continue as going concerns.
Julian says: “For the last 65 years or so, railway preservation has been underpinned largely by emotion and a real love for railways that echo a time past for which people maintained fond memories. As time has moved on and those with first-hand memories go to the great railway in the sky, so that emotion begins to diminish, and we have to look at these railways in the harder light of pure commercialism and entertainment.
“Today’s generation enjoys the novelty and relaxation of a steam train ride but are coming to expect more in the way of being entertained. This is not always railwayrelated in the way of steam and diesel galas, and such things as demonstration freights.”
Paul concurs: “We cannot take for granted enthusiasm for railways based on nostalgia. Largely, nostalgia is currently rooted in thoughts of a golden era just beyond that which most people can actually remember. The good news is that heritage railways have done well in creating interest not solely based on nostalgia but by delivering memorable leisure time experiences that are remembered.”
In other words, commercialism is already a cornerstone of railways’ business. That does not mean, however, that we cannot go further down this road.
Julian says: “We have to look at using the railway as a background theme and promote events like dining trains, murder mystery evenings, weddings, wartime weekends, car shows, gin trains, beer festivals and any other commercial venture that will encourage visitors. This is all in addition to what we do at the moment, like the traditional Easter egg hunts, Santa specials, Polar Express events and, of course, the inevitable Thomas days.”
Although many enthusiasts will undoubtedly decry such moves, are they necessarily a bad thing? As Chris Price points out, the NYMR’s modus operandi is “commercialism in support of preservation”. Basically, if a railway is to survive and continue funding what is – let’s be honest – an expensive and generally unremunerative pastime, then it has to broaden its business.
Paul Lewin says: “The answer to all this is to ensure that for every mile that a train runs it earns a solid income. In order for a typical standard gauge railway, supported heavily by volunteer labour, to wash its face and cover day-to-day operating costs, the train will need to earn between £60 and £70 per mile.
“Running too many trains reduces income per mile, incurring wear and tear beyond the income generated. With no prospect of avoiding increasing costs, careful consideration has to be given to ensuring every train pays its way, or finding other sources of income to cover operating costs. Even given these levels of income, heavy renewals and capital investment will always require funding separately.”
One of the biggest challenges facing preservation is the growing gulf between revenue and operating costs. A number of railways have operated at a loss for years, but are effectively subsidised by their supporting charities, which make up the shortfall. But, as infrastructure and rolling stock wears out and requires more extensive (and expensive) renewal, meeting these costs is becoming more problematic.
Therefore, to ensure that “every train pays its way”, as Paul says, the services railways provide will inevitably have to change to minimise loss-making activities.
Paul says: “Looking to the future, it is highly likely that ‘turn up and go’ services will become a thing of the past. Such services lead to trains running with excess capacity.
“We can expect pre-booking so that operators know that the train will be sufficiently booked to cover costs before it actually sets out for the day. We already see moves in this direction with pre-booked dining trains and so on. We can also expect technology to help to manage pricing and capacity.
“We anticipate that customers will be less forgiving in the future. Genuine experiences and quality will come to the fore, and tolerance of poor quality offers will continue to decrease.”
Chris adds: “It is common knowledge that the millennial generation will be worse off than the preceding generation, and one can’t help but feel that
this will eventually have a knock-on effect. People are becoming more discerning and careful about how they spend money, so if we don’t offer value for money then I feel the sector will suffer – and who knows what the Brexit effect will have?
“I think the fascination with steam and railways is increasing. However, I do think the public wants more access and better quality. We can either address this or wither on the vine.”
Paul also believes that the movement may have to make certain sacrifices – both in terms of ambitions and pet projects – if it is to ensure critical, long-term sustainability.
“Our heritage can only be protected through having a strong and commercially viable offering,” he says. “Growth will increasingly need to come from an improved and varied offering that appeals to different audiences. With the odd exception, there is little to be gained from extending route mileages simply to briefly gain an uplift in traffic. These are typically short-lived and win traffic from other heritage lines. But, with such a large population in the UK there are many opportunities to attract large additional customer groups.
“We should now be beyond sacrificing heritage to make a quick buck; equally, there is clearly not the funding to support every heritage asset that exists and that probably does mean we will lose some artefacts and rolling stock.
“This leads to the important point that, once something has been saved/restored, then the railway that gains that asset is expected to maintain it. Following a golden era in the first two decades of this century, the number of heritage assets now exceeds the funds available to support them and this means we will see an increasing number of previously restored items (including buildings and infrastructure) withdrawn from service waiting their turn in a growing maintenance queue.
“Thinking about sustainability should be high on the agenda of all preserved railways and that means making some tough decisions.”
Chris adds: “Forget railways for a moment and think about this: no medium-sized business – which is what railways are – is making significant capital investments at the moment, owing to uncertainty surrounding Brexit or whatever, and yet what are railways doing? They’re making huge capital investments – in extensions and things like that – when what they should be doing is protecting and consolidating their businesses.”
The question as to whether everything that has been saved can or will be restored will be debated in a future edition of Steam Railway, but with funds, resources and volunteers already stretched thinly across the movement, it seems inevitable that some ‘tough decisions’ will have to be made sooner or later.
HeAds IN tHe sANd
“Having focused on the development of the commercial aspect, we have to look at another equally concerning factor: governance,” says Julian.
The responsibility for making those aforementioned ‘tough decisions’ and ensuring sustainability will fall on railway managers’ shoulders. But ensuring the right decisions are made means finding – and retaining – the right people with the right skills.
Julian says: “Many heritage railways are big businesses, in some cases with multi-million-pound turnovers, and it is getting harder and harder to attract people with the appropriate management skills and financial skills required for such businesses and who are kind enough or foolish enough to do it for nothing.
“Many railways have had the same people in positions of responsibility for perhaps longer than they should have been, and are unable to adapt, maintain and grow their businesses. In difficult times, hard decisions have to be made but I have seen on more than one occasion heads being stuck in the sand and people hoping that the problems will go away.”
Chris adds: “The problem is not that there are too many railways, but that there are not enough competent people running them. The preservation
Thinking about sustainability should be high on the agenda of all preserved railways Paul Lewin, General Manager, F&whr
bubble hasn’t burst, as it continues to grow, but the governance bubble has. Poor management is killing a lot of railways.
“The NYMR is not run by Chris Price alone. It’s run well by a group of people to whom I listen and respect.”
One problem that will not go away is safety. Ever since high-profile incidents such as Wootton Bassett and the South Devon Railway’s missing toilet floor, the Office of Rail and Road has been paying closer attention to preserved railways and their safety practices. Indeed, two organisations – the Rushden Historical Transport Museum and Yeovil Railway Centre – have been issued with prohibition notices from the ORR over concerns about the suitability of their Safety Management Systems, staff competencies and standard of rolling stock and infrastructure (SR496).
Health and safety might be anathema to many enthusiasts, but protecting the safety of passengers and volunteers alike is crucial for railways’ continued survival.
Chris Price says: “If we are honest with ourselves, we have, to a certain extent, been paying lip service to health and safety for too long. The eyes of the ORR are upon us and we need to step up to the plate.”
This cannot continue, particularly in view of the major challenges facing preservation on the horizon. Failure to address these issues could be the death knell of many a railway, and as we have already highlighted, a number of major players in the preservation scene are in difficult financial straits – a situation which worries Julian.
He says: “I have been very concerned that some railways have been experiencing major financial issues – lines that have been established for many years in areas where tourism is strong and where, with the right management, the market is there to be had. If they can’t make it work, we really do have a problem.”
Julian is concerned that, if major, established and popular railways cannot make ends meet, this will have a knock-on effect with a consequence that could grossly affect our ability to secure (often necessary) external funding for major development or investment projects.
“Another issue I am concerned about is that all of us must help each other to prevent one of our fellow railways going to the wall,” he says. “The reasons are twofold: Firstly, the grant bodies. Over the years, preserved railways have benefited from huge sums of money being injected into our industry in the form of different grants. This has been safe in the knowledge that these are popular attractions that benefit local communities.
“When one railway fails (which I really fear will happen very soon) then those grant bodies are going to look at us all with much greater scrutiny either with new applications or safeguarding existing investment.”
Paul Lewin, on the other hand, is more optimistic. “Will railways fail and go out of business? I remember reading articles years ago in Steam Railway about when the bubble might burst. Well, it never did burst, and we went on to have a boom and a golden era for steam in the first part of the 21st century. So what comes next?
“While lines with low patronage that have been little developed might close outright, they will be few and far between. It is unlikely that a major line will close down, the scrap man and auctioneers be called, and assets dispersed.
“Rather, what will happen is that railways will retrench, reduce staff and operate at lower levels. They will find a level which matches their income and if there is a downward trend then it will be played out over many years.
“In some respects, as long as the assets are kept secure then it keeps options open for the future.”
Chris Price agrees: “Only the available market will dictate if there are too many railways or not. If a railway does not deliver what the passengers want, then they will go to the one that does. Likewise, funding will always go to the railway that delivers. It’s quite simple: railways that are complacent about their existence are the ones that are at risk.”
The wAY AheAd
We spoke to Chris, Julian and Paul prior to David Wilcock’s interview with Michael Draper. It is revealing that the views of ‘yesterday’s man’ correspond almost exactly with those of today’s leading lights. They might hail from different generations, but both former and current managers see the same – or at least similar – challenges on the horizon.
This is not necessarily a bad thing. As Paul says: “Personally, I believe that future generations of managers and leaders will deliver some creative thinking that will make heritage railways very much part of the UK cultural landscape for many decades to come.”
Let’s hope so. There is a future for steam, but it is largely up to us to decide what that future looks like and ensure how long that future lasts.