The nene valley railway is a seven and a half mile long railway which is in need of help as it is on the risk of shutting down if a dlc was added for it. It would most likely attract guests to the line providing them help also it will be a lovely heritage railway for everyone and it won’t be as long as the west Somerset railway. Kind regards Harry a volunteer at the NVR
And 25MPH speed limits… Wasn’t aware the NVR was in a perilous state but I guess given costs are rising everywhere probably not the only heritage railway suffering. While a noble idea, if their finances are that bad, in all honesty a few £100 royalties from a licensed DLC are not likely to make much difference.
This is my 'local' heritage line and so wouldn't be against seeing it at all, especially seeing as they have a 45/0 which could be adjusted to be fit for PFR. They do have their foreign stock as well, some of which looks nice others quite worn, I believe recently their youth group actually restored one of the foreign coaches, so imagine that looks flash still. Apart from that it is a slow, flat line through rather dull countryside and then into the depressing city of Peterborough. Wouldn't even be the added interest of a steam loco to play about with. Yes I have heard they aren't financially great, but not surprising really and I have been predicting it for years to be honest and the cancellation of their TPO thing the other week says a lot. They have had a few hits, including a signal box being set a on fire, but there are many other railways which face similar vandalism. Quite frankly though who in their right mind would choose the NVR for a proper day out over the likes of the GCR which for many isn't much further, only an hour from me (NVR being 30-40mins) or personally I am happy to drive the 2 hours to the NNR at Sheringham. Both of these much more operationally interesting/scenically interesting/got more to do/various other reasons. Of course would love to see it stay but can see why they're struggling.
Well they do have Helga which is quite fierce. Actually travelled on one of those in Sweden back in the mid eighties, quite rare even then as most had been replaced by the Fiat built Y1 railcars.
Funny anecdote about that. It was on the Nene Valley that I got to drive 45041. When I got there, I was unaware that they have all this mainland stock. You can imagine my surprise when I saw a friend from home, a German Köf of all things, there. It was quite fascinating to see stock from all over Europe there.
It would be better to have a sort of preservation pack with 3 preserved routes maybe the Nene valley, Great central and Mid Norfolk on the dlc, just having one wouldn't be satisfying unless it was a long route like the NYMR.
Generally with heritage routes I think shorter is better. Trundling along at 35 25 MPH is very tedious.
Oh that peak is a lovely loco to drive, great day I'd imagine! I think they are the only line in Britain who have gone with the bigger loading gauge so definitely not a common thing, must have been quite a shock! Where is that, Ferry Meadows?
I have seen their appeal, looking to raise £300k but only a fraction so far (think about £23k). Problem while I sympathise with the situation and appeal there’s no guarantee if you put money in (and the minimum donation seems to be a fairly steep £10), unless they can overcome the underlying issues and become viable it will be money down the drain when they are back in the hole in a few months or couple of years. Heritage railways generally are a fairly expensive day out. Even our local Swindon and Cricklade Railway wants £10 for a 2 mile each way round trip from nowhere to nowhere, with the train spending more time at stations and running round than actually moving.
It sure was an amazing day, Matt. The Peak was lovely - pure pleasure to drive. The kind people organising the event were eager to tell me about their German steam loco they had as well. The smaller loading gauge bridges apparently still always caused trouble I seem to recall. Seeing the Köf was quite a shock - even after I had seen other mainland stock in the yard (the Köf was in a siding out along the track), I didn’t expect anything German and certainly not a Köf of all things.
