A bit of Sulzer thrash as Class 26 No. 26007 works past Newton-le-
Willows on its way to Leyburn on July 16, 2016.NIGEL COCKBURN
The Wensleydale was visited by an MOD train on March 21, working as 6N08 04.23 Doncaster Down Decoy Yard-Redmire Sidings, and believed to have originated from
Biscester MOD the previous evening. The train was top-and-tailed by GBRf Class 66 Nos. 66776Joanneand 66741Swanage Railwayon the rear. It was conveying Land Rover
Huskies, which were then taken to nearby Catterick Garrison. The train is pictured having cleared Fox Park user-worked crossing at Newton-le-Willows.NIGEL COCKBURN
different scenery, all have different aspects, they all
concentrate on different things.
“We’re seeing more and more come in and
we’re actually less reliant on coach parties than
we were three or four years ago. We’d like many
more and part of that is the visibility.
“One of the challenges is how to do that on
a very limited budget. We don’t have the budget
some of the big railways have. We have to try to
get as much publicity as we can for as little money
as possible.”
“That is a challenge,” acknowledges theWR’s marketing manager Rebekah Jerram, who
explains that building interest in the railway
through online means such as Facebook has been
significant in raising its profile.
“We are very lucky that we have a very large
social media following. I think it’s just keeping
that up-to-date, keeping our followers interested
with what we’re doing, what we’re posting.
“We have just hit over 10,000 followers and
this time last year we were on about 7,300 so
that’s not bad for a little heritage railway. It’s just
playing with the tools that we’ve got that are
free. It’s encouraging our followers who are very
passionate about the railway and want to see us
succeed to help us by sharing and liking, which is
absolutely brilliant.”Non-stop steam
The visit of the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust’s
No. 60163Tornadoin February provided a major
social media opportunity thanks to the flypast of
three RAF Tornados above the locomotive as part
their farewell tour of the UK. The resulting video
footage went viral and was watched by more than
100,000 people.
Of course it is translating at least some of that
interest into actual visits to the line which is the
bigger task. From May 18 to June 4, No. 60163
returned for a further 12 days in service at the
railway, with special events, including hauling thefirst non-stop steam journey over the line since it
reopened under WR operation in 2003. Rebekah
says special events are helping the railway to
broaden its appeal: “I think you can tap a different
market with the events, and it can bring people in
that wouldn’t necessarily just come for a train ride,
but once they visit us they discover more about us
and then that could lead to them coming back.”
“I always like to think of events as the cream
on top,” adds Richard. “You want your big events
to make that extra revenue that over time you can
then start investing into increasing events.
“Eventually, the events themselves should be
able to help provide things like new track, new
sheds rather than just continually ploughing it
straight back into keeping the railway going.
Your day-to-day running just keeps things
ticking over, pays for your fuel
costs, your building costs.
That’s a goal that we would
aim to look at.” ■HERITAGELINEPROFILE