THE OFFICIAL VOICE OF PRESERVATION
HERITAGE RAILWAY ASSOCIATION CHIEF EXEC STEVE OATES TACKLES STEAM’S BURNING ISSUES
WHAT’S THE ideal length for a heritage railway? Which is the ‘perfect’ locomotive? Where’s the ideal location? Is main line better than branch line, or two foot better than 15in? And which of these determines how successful your railway is?
Clearly, if you’re running a 40-mile heritage line with a stock consisting only of coal-hungry ‘Pacifics’ in the wilds of Northumberland then you might need your own definition of ‘success’. But the harsh truth is that unless you’re a true outlier in your location, motive power or length, probably none of those factors are actually a true determiner of whether or not a heritage railway will be successful.
The key factor is people. Yes, it could be argued that’s not quite as good when it comes to fodder for a decent pub conversation. But perhaps it’s the one you should be having.
Think about it. If a railway doesn’t have the people on hand who can interpret and implement the required standards needed to build and maintain the track and other infrastructure, success isn’t likely. Gone are the days when you could inherit a railway, do some weedkilling and start running trains.
The same goes for locomotives and rolling stock. The Office of Rail and Road pulls no punches in expecting to see a 21st-century attitude to safety. So, if you don’t have someone who knows what a ‘P1’ tyre profile looks like, or how to employ good safety standards in a workshop, long-term success will be elusive.
Perhaps all of that is really obvious… but what about the ‘softer’ skills, as we often hear them called?
Can every railway identify someone who can really work with a Safety Management System; not just to write one, but to implement it and keep it relevant to all parts of the railway? Even on a moderately sized railway it’s no mean feat. What about another largely unseen aspect of the mix – competence management? There’s a phrase I’m confident wasn’t on anyone’s lips when the Talyllyn ran its first trains in 1951. Training, retraining, refreshing and managing competency of the people actually operating your railway can be, frankly, a thankless task.
Nor is there a queue of people wanting to do these sorts of tasks, let alone who have the requisite skills ready to go. People might be queuing up to drive trains, but these invisible back-office roles require dedication.
Then there’s financial management. Long gone are the days when the odd raffle, collecting tin and a letter in the local papers could bring in sufficient cash to keep things running. Even our smaller railways have financial commitments and pressures that require levels of financial acumen and agility most can’t even imagine.
What about PR and marketing expertise? People don’t just stumble upon heritage railways for a day out. If your website isn’t up to scratch, your social media presence isn’t reaching the right people and your PR isn’t getting you noticed then, yet again, you’re going to struggle.
Safely running the locomotives you love, on good-quality track through beautifully restored stations, requires skilled, competent and, often, qualified people – and in pretty much every area of the operation from the boardroom to the workshops to the cafés.
So next time you’re discussing an ‘ideal’ railway, or a ‘successful’ railway, stop for a second and switch it around. Because actually it’s very simple. It’s all about the people.
THE OFFICE OF RAIL AND ROAD PULLS NO PUNCHES IN EXPECTING TO SEE A 21ST‑CENTURY ATTITUDE TO SAFETY, REGARDLESS OF THE AGE OR PROVENANCE OF THE HERITAGE STOCK YOU’RE OPERATING