Over the last two weekends, I have visited two heritage railways in Devon and Worcestershire - the tiny Plym Valley Railway and the Severn Valley Railway which is one of the biggest. And whilst I enjoyed both days, I'm all the more certain that I'm an enthusiast for rail and other public transport, and I am not a rail enthusiast / train spotter. 

I have great admiration for those who look after and cherish the old trains and buses that bring many of us - myself included - romantic and fond memories but that's not my thing.   I am relieved that I decided not to go on a major heritage train tour over coming weeks, and looking all the more forward to upcoming national and international public transport systems - now and into the future.

Heritage and national public transort provisiders don't really compete. On a technical level, they sometimes share and help with expertise, and on a marketing level they encourage a public interest in one another for the greater good of both.  Sadly, they fail to come together to make best use of common shared infrastucture - the hourly West Midlands train that terminates in Kiddermister does not carry on to Bridgenorth, and in other places with perfectly good if low speed lines, there are not all day, every day passenger services to Swanage, Minehead, Kingswear and Bodmin.  There *are* to Whitby and to Mallaig - it can be done.

What I found interesting on the Severn Valley yesterday, running an intensive service with a train every 35 minutes to Highley with alternate trains extending to Hampton Loade, were:
* The sheer number of staff out these volunteering (a few, I suspect, paid)
* The leisurly schedules - not only slow trains but long waits at loops
* The amount of rolling stock and locos in service and indeed time spend being serviced
* The attitude of some staff - out to enjoy running trains and ignoring those of us paying
* The volume of old railway books an knicknacks on sale to raise money

I conjecture that an hourly service extended from Kiddermister to Bridgenorth, passing the train coming the other way at Arley, could be done in modern terms with 2 dmu units, 2 staff on each, and perhspa a member of staff at Bridgenorth. Just sayin.

I will give the heritage folks a plaudit for their idea of having a counter on a couple of the trains, fixed so that people know where to find it, to serve food and drink.  It beats the wait-for-the-trolley experience. At least on the Severn Valley Railway I was able to go straight up to the counter to learn that they couldn't serve me a coffee because the water wasn't warm enough yet!











and working catering, collected during a 15 minute change at Worcester Foregate Street

Very much so. It was very interesting to see in the old signal box with a working frame and interlocking, lovingly looked after by an ex-signalman who had worked various of the Exeter boxes early in his career.  Clearly thoroughly enjoying being there - and chatting with old mates and professionals to the exclusion of making the visitors feel like ornaments to be tolerated.

There IS - and I have seen it in much wider arenas - a tendency for customer facing staff (for that's what he was) not to provide the slightly different welcome that's often appropriate for the lone visitor, and perhaps there was an element of that again.  Sorry - but staff and other customers on the national rail network were / are naturally much more engaging in general.   Clearly, exceptions all around; I am just talking a tendency.