Heritage Railway – August 01, 2019

52 Heritagerailway.co.uk

Aboveleft: Youth

Groupvolunteersare

continually improving

thepublicareasof

Overton station,

helpingtomakeitan

evenmoreattractive

destination for

visitorstoexplore.

MARTINVOS/NVR

Above: Weldingis

amongtheskills

whichyoung

volunteers can

acquireat theNVR.

MARTINVOS/NVR

Left:Paintingis an

essentialskill for

restoration and

maintenance.MARTIN

VOS/NVR

becometoo focused on theone thing–and
they canmissthe bigger picture. Iput it to
parentsthatwhenthe servicetrain comes
into thestation,the last thingwewantthe
youngsters doingisr unning up to take aphoto
of thelocomotive.
“It’seffectively aformofworkexperience,
not ayouthclub. We have youngpeoplefrom
arange of backgrounds –fromthe public
OundleSchool toourstate-fundedlocal
secondary, Nene ParkAcademy.Theyall mix
in together.

LNERfunding
“The grantisahugeboost for us,”saidPhil.
“Toprove to alarge commercial organisation
that we’reworth investinginfinancially is quite
something–it meansarespectedexternalbody
is seeingthe benefitofwhatwedo. Four of our
youngsters nowworkfor LNER on stations and
as guards.”
Thegrant hascomefromLNER’sCustomer
andCommunity Investment Fund (CCIF),
whichallowsthe firm to workinpartn ership
withcharities, cu stomersand thecommunities
locatedalong theEastCoast route. Funding
of up to £100,000 is available forindividual
projects from an overallfundof£500,000 and
theminim um fundingamountis£ 1000.
Outoft he NVR’s£24,0 00 allocation,£14,000
is to provid eaccessible andinclusive facilities
–which includes theinstallation of newtoilets
andimproved locker rooms.
£4000 is for publicity–whichincludesthe
production of aleaflet andwebpa ges.
“Wewantaleaflet we canput into schools,
enablingthe pupi ls,studentsand parentsto
read aboutexamplesofpeoplewho’vebeento
ourYGand what they’redoing now,” said Phil.

“It’sawayofgetting them tounderstandthat

actually,the rail industry is agood career.A

very good wayofgetting into that is to come to

ourYGand actually gain some expe rience of

it andunderstandwhatthe industry is about–

andapply with thebenefit of areferen ce from

theNVR.

“Wewantto spread themessage.Itwill

benefityoung people ,the rail industry at large

andthe NVR.

“We’ re also developingour websitewith

thehelpofthatfundi ng.We’re getting our

youngsters involvedwiththattoo.”

£1000 is to be spentontrainin gfor thegroup

leaders –ensurin gall thoseinvolvedinthe

group’ smanagementare upto speed withwhat

they should andshould notbedoing.

Thebalance is to be spentontools and

equipment, includingoverallswiththe new

youthgroup logo.

Projects

Thegroup first began workingonrolling

stock when it startedtohelpkeepthe NVR’s

travellingpostoffices operatio nal, whichbuilt

up thegroup’sskillsbase.

Amore ambitiousproject followed –the

restoratio nof1939-builtDanishstate railways

(DSB)carriageNo. 476.

“Itwas in poorconditi on –the floorwas

rotten.The pigeonsusedtonestitinasthey

couldfly in throughthe hole s,”recalledPhil.

“I puttogetherapaper to my fellow directors

explaining that thecoach wasessential for our

Santaoperation.Isuggestedwecould restoreit

for£25,000,which wouldpayfor it self with in

ayear. We actually broughtinanaddition al

£70,000 as aresultofhavingthe coach!

“Itwas afirst thirdcomposite.Wedecided

thethird class area wasnolongerrequired,

so replaced that withakitchen/serving

area,which we installed. Thefirst class

compartments were re storedtotheir original

condition, completewithwalnutveneered

panels. We salvaged theoriginaluphol sterytoo.

We also fitted agener ator underthe vehicle. We

turneditr ound in sixmonths.”

Thesecondvehicle was1963-builtDSB brake

No.475,which wasinpoorshape,the floor

having givenway.Restoredoverafour-month

period,the vehiclereturned to traf ficintime

forthe 2018 Santatrains.

Therefore, having builtupconfidence

roundbeingable totran sformbasketcases

into working coaches,the group turnedits

attentionstorestoring1929-builtWagon-

Lits restaurant carNo. 2975,which hadbeen

storedout ofusesince theyear2000.

“Theydon’t come anybiggerthanthat,”

said Phil.“That coachweighs 55 tons.We’ve

targetedourselveswithturning it round

with in twoyears,working to abudgetof

£80,000 from NVRfunds.We’ll conserve

thewonderful interior as much as possible

–including thepantry, completewithits

distinct ivewinecellar. When thevehicle

crossedaborder,customs wouldfit lo ckson

onecupboardand breakthe locksonthe other

–sosomewines were only available in certain

countr ies. However, thefood preparationarea,

whichwas partiallyremovedseveral yearsago,

will be refitted as amodernkitchen tomeet

modern standards.

“The heatingsystem remainsachallengefor

us. Interestingly, thesevehicle swereactually

entirely self-contained.Theyheatedtheir own

water andhad an independentheating system.

We will be fittingagene ratorunderneat hthe

cartopower it,however.”

AccordingtoPhil, No.2975will further

enhancethe group’s skillsset:“Theteaching

from this vehicleisparti cularlyextensive.

We’vegot fabricat ionskills; carpentry;

upholstery; andunlessit’ssafety-critic al

work,everythingwill be done byvolunteers

–the majority of whichwill be done by

YG members.

“Whenit’scompleted ,YGmembers will be

manningit–wewantthemtotakeownership

during theSanta trains.I’llbethe le ad on the

on-trainstaff.There fore, YG memberswill

gain experience of twomonthsofcustomer-

facing work, giving them avaluablefeelfor the

operation oftherailway.

Skillsandexperiences

“Wewanttot each youngyoungsters

worthwhilethingstodo–andassuch, we

“Toprovetoalargecommercial organisationthatwe’re

worthinvestinginfinancially is quitesomething–it

meansarespectedexternalbodyisseeingthebenefitof

what wedo.Fourofouryoungsters nowworkforLNERon

stationsandasguards.”