SWITCHING TRACKS
OUR INDUSTRY INSIDER SIGNS OFF WITH SOME ADVICE TO THE HERITAGE SECTOR
EVERYTHING COMES to an end, and this is the last Stop and Examine I will write before I move off to pastures new at a certain tank museum in Dorset. I am no longer an industry insider, but I am still a very interested and engaged industry outsider. The last two sentences should identify me to most, but if you haven’t guessed by now, I write this article as the outgoing CEO of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, Chris Price. The last few years writing this article for Steam Railway have allowed me the privilege to write things I couldn’t always say officially, and it has afforded me a certain freedom. I must thank Chris and the team at Steam Railway for letting me do that. Some will have been upset and annoyed with some of the things that I’ve said, and for that, I apologise. However, if just one person did something positive after reading these articles it would all be worthwhile.
So, how do I sign off? Well, I think my first plea will be to ask the heritage railway sector to be much nicer than it currently is. Not a single person (in whatever capacity) works in this sector to make things worse. It may not be how you envisage something should happen, but that does not make another path automatically wrong. However, one gets the feeling that the phrase “be reasonable, see it my way” is a mantra many within this sector feel is a guiding principle. Social media and message boards now give everybody an international platform to be critical from the comfort of their living rooms. However, what that does is make us say things we wouldn’t say to someone’s face. In all the time I have worked in this sector, not a single enthusiast or volunteer has walked up to me on the platform and said “The way you run the NYMR is crap”, yet I’ve read phrases to that effect on many internet platforms, and so have many other people who carry the burden of management within this sector. Being a heritage railway manager is becoming more like managing a football team, and if we are to continue to bring talent into this sector, it must stop. By all means, be that critic, but do it respectfully and give counter views equal respect. Preservation will be all the better for it.
So how hard is it to please all the people while running a heritage railway? The answer to that is easy: it’s impossible. Too many people have differing views of what good is, and the guy who takes the role will automatically be assigned the ownership of all that happens by these many people. However, this is a completely wrong view. The chief exec is simply one employee in a governance tree that has countless people within it. The vision and execution of that duty is only influenced by the person who fills the role. There are board members and sub‑committees who have to be satisfied, and these people also have a diverse set of views. The end product is an amalgam of many people’s inputs. No single chief exec in this sector has the power to simply do what they want and say ‘to hell with the consequences’. Therefore, the influence of people on message boards is negligible and never has any influence on any outcomes. It’s wasted keyboard time that could be better spent getting involved and pushing forward the sector that makes us buy this magazine. Maybe we should just be more about the trains and let the managers get on with their jobs, knowing that all they are doing is spinning the plates required to keep the train running.
The vast majority of people in this sector are good people who love the locomotives, coaches and infrastructure. I applaud you good people and thank you for the support you give this sector. It’s you who makes it all worthwhile and why I have loved my job on three railways spanning the last 30 years. However, if you’re just a spoiler who wants to get your point across on an internet platform, and never mind those who doesn’t like it, then please go away so the good people can get on with it. It’ll be a nicer and more sustainable heritage railway world without you.
Remember it’s really all about the trains...
HOW HARD IS IT TO PLEASE ALL THE PEOPLE WHILE RUNNING A HERITAGE RAILWAY? THE ANSWER TO THAT IS EASY: IT’S IMPOSSIBLE