The Swanage Railway Trust

General Notes

As we approach the start of the busiest part of the summer season could I thank all staff for the efforts that have been put into making the year so far such a success. Over the past weeks there have been a number of things that have meant that the Railway has had to ask people to go the extra mile and I am very grateful for those who have willingly given a little more than they may have expected.

I write this with the incident at Quarr Farm Crossing, the subsequent strain placed on staffing, quickly followed by the preparations for the 40th Anniversary event particularly in mind. We have developed an enviable record in customer service and this has recently been recognised by the award of Jurassic Coast Quality Business status to the Railway – congratulations to all involved – in all departments and whether they realise it or not!
 

Working Parties

Herston Halt & Infrastructure Support Group (ISG)

Details vary. Contact Frank Roberts (07703 566941).

Carriage and Wagon

Meet Saturdays and Sundays from 9am in the Swanage Goods Shed. Contact Jeremy Weller.

Heritage Coaches

Meet Third Weekend in the month from 9am in the Swanage Goods Shed. Contact Jeremy Weller.

Carriage Cleaning

Selected Thursdays 9am at Swanage Station. Contact Martin Trott (07921 726659)

Permanent Way Work

Meets Monday to Thursday at 8:30am. Please check location with Tony Andrews (07798 743016).

Signal and Telegraph Wednesday Gang

Meets Wednesdays at 9am, usually starting at Corfe Castle. Contact: Dave Cobb (07790 205454).

Swanage Station

Selected Tuesdays 9am at Swanage Station. Contact: Steve Whittingstall.
 

Vacancies

Contact name person (via Station House) for more information:

General manager

The Swanage Railway has a vacancy for a General Manager to be responsible for the daily management of the railway on behalf of the Board and Council of Management of the governing parent charity, the Swanage Railway Trust.

This position reflects the continued growth and success of the Swanage Railway in recent years.

The smooth and sage running of the Swanage Railway is primarily dependent on “hands on” management of a large paid and volunteer work force and tight financial control.

In addition to a strong proven record in those areas of management, evidence of commitment as a volunteer is required, ideally to a heritage railway.

The future challenges will probably be in the commercial and marketing activities of the Swanage Railway together with the re-linking of the railway to the National Rail network at Wareham.

Salary is negotiable but likely to be circa £30,000 p.a.

Full details of the position are now available in pdf format, together with details of how to apply, by clicking here

Applications should be made in writing to: Keith Gooding, Company Secretary

Home address:
138a Wareham Road,
Corfe Mullen,
Dorset.
BH21 3LJ

Email: keith.gooding1@btinternet.com
Tel 01202-605173 m 07710-483161

Motive Power

Assitant to the Operations Manager – To assist the Operations Manager with the supervision of staff within the Motive Power Department and take a leading role in the day-to-day management of the operational Railway. Contact Nick Brown.

Loco Cleaners - are required to help with preparation of locomotives for daily service and for selection for training as firemen for footplate duties. Contact Steve Dyer.

Traffic

Ticket Inspectors and Booking Clerks – are required to help man Swanage and other Booking Offices on a daily basis. Contact Martin Trott.
 

Training Courses

Training courses for staff working towards parts of the SRVQ are held as listed below. The bracketed numbers refer to the NEW SRVQ Unit that they cover – please see the Safety Management System (General Instruction 17) for more information.

Next Courses are in September

For details of additional courses please contact the person responsible as follows:

• SR PTS - Mike Standhaft
• NR PTS - Nick Brown
• Signalling Rules - Mike Whitwam
• First Aid - Adam Trott

Notes from the Board Meeting on 30th June

Health and Safety

A report was circulated at the meeting and the following issues discussed:

• The problems that had arisen with children on the footplate were discussed and it was hoped that these could be resolved as soon as possible. It was noted that the liability issues that have led to this review need to be kept separate from the more widely reported (outside the Railway) issues resulting from the recent incident at MHR.
• The matter of ambulance access at stations was raised. Past understandings need to be refreshed.
• Lighting around Swanage loco shed was raised as an issue. Investigation into problem and solution needed.
• It was agreed that the authorised uses for crossings would be added to the agenda for a future meeting with PDC planners.
• A letter would also be sent to all crossing users about correct procedures.

It was noted that the Water Extraction Project should be placed within the main Project System and Dave Cobb was going to talk to Malcolm Munro about this.
 

Finance

Good financial performance to the end of May was reported. It was also noted that we had avoided using a bank overdraft this winter/spring thanks to a loan (at commercial rates) from SRT.

It was noted that whilst the Beer Festival and Diesel Gala had been profitable it was expected that the 40th Anniversary event in July would make a loss. In past discussions this had been deemed acceptable as a one-off promotional activity. It was agreed that a simple system would be introduced to try and ensure that special event planning and overall budgeting move in line for future events.

Reported problems with PDQ transactions would be investigated by the Finance Review Team.

General Manager's Report

Passenger figures

The May Bank Holiday Weekend showed good traffic figures.

The Beer Festival and Diesel Gala was an extremely successful weekend with smooth operation and great public relations. Subject to final invoices coming in it is anticipated that this event will have made a good contribution in terms of increased profit.

Whilst affected by bad weather the Spring Bank Holiday Weekend was steady with the following half-term week proving extremely busy at times. To the end of May overall passenger figures showed a 2.4% increase on 2006. I will present a full report on the first half of the year (Jan. to June) at the August Board Meeting.

Jurassic Coast Quality Business Award

We have been assessed for this award and are awaiting final confirmation that we have achieved the required standard. Feedback from the assessment was positive. If we subsequently wish to use the Jurassic Coast branding in our advertising we need to find some way of participating in the Payback Scheme – I will bring further details of this to the Marketing Group when they are available.

Durlston Castle Project

I attended a presentation about this project which aims to develop Durlston Castle as the centrepiece of a major attraction at the eastern end of the Jurassic Coast. As a result of this meeting we undertook an assessment and have been awarded Quality Business status under the Jurassic Coast QBS.

Purbeck District Council Planning Consultation

With Keith Gooding, I met Planning Officers from PDC to further discuss our planning strategy (as outlined in the Planning Consultation Document) and the exact situation regarding Permitted Development Rights. They will provide notes of the meeting which can further inform our project planning. The essence of the meeting was that, in return for the input we make to the area, a certain amount of development is necessary. Development should have a reciprocal planning gain that counters any increase in scale of scope of the development. All projects requiring planning permission should have a clear and well-developed rationale that must address matters of scale, scope, function and design as well as the legal matters of environmental impact. Of immediate impact is the need to ensure that full Environmental Impact assessments are undertaken prior to submitting Planning Applications for the Harmans Cross and Herston Bank projects. The Officers also suggested that a Pre-Application Meeting be held prior to submission to ensure that we meet the requirements. To assist in future project planning Andrew Wright has produced line survey videos for 2003 and 2007 to show changes in the intervening time.

Purbeck Rail Partnership

A meeting was held at County Hall to discuss the future direction and management of this project. Overall agreement was in line with recent SR discussions and a summary of the meeting is attached. In addition I attended a meeting with a Parliamentary Agent to discuss the need for a TWA Order relating to the Worgret to Motala section of line if it is transferred from Network Rail ownership. Keith Gooding and Mick Stone also attended.

Matters Requiring Comment from the Directors

2008 Timetable

The proposals were accepted, in outline, as proposed by both the Traffic Committee and Marketing Group.

Update to the Strategic Plan

I have received no comments on the 2007 Update document and would like to publish this in the next Newsletter (August 2007) – together with a Project Wareham Update.

SLL contracts

It was agreed that the Railway would seek to arrange a meeting with SLL to review the contractual agreements with the aim of having new agreements in place for the Standard Tanks by the time their current contract expires and a new agreement for 34028 for 2008.

Smoking Ban

Following debate over the past few weeks on this matter and advice from other Railways, ATOC, HRA and the local enforcement authority it was decided that the a change in the Railway’s policy was unavoidable.

Overall consensus appears to be that the law is very difficult to implement in any way on a railway – let alone a heritage railway. The easiest offences to prove under the 2006 Health Act are those of inadequate signage and for this reason all the railways canvassed have gone for a complete ban across their sites. The alternative is to have signage at the entry to every enclosed space – including canopies which, as well as being difficult to undertake in practice, would go a long way to destroying the atmosphere of any heritage railway. This is aside from the requirement to sign all vehicles.

This does, however, lead to the problem of enforcing an overall ban and, again, consensus is that reasonable efforts should be made but that staff should be advised not to develop any situation into a confrontation – both from a PR and personal safety point of view. Offences of non-enforcement would seem far harder to prove.

Progress Reports

Keith Gooding made a short presentation about various planning and PRP issues.

Projects for Consideration

Harmans Cross Bramley Gates - Approved subject to HMRI approval process
 

Magazine Editorial dates

10th Sept. for publication in 1st week of November
 

Future Meetings

• Traffic Meeting, 10am 3rd July, Rutland Room
• Commercial Meeting, 2:30pm 11th July, On Train
• Traffic Meeting, 10am 17th July, Rutland Room
• Manager’s Meeting, 3:30pm 26th July, Bar Car
• Board Meeting, 9:30am 28th July, Rectory Classroom
• SRT AGM, 2pm 28th July, Rectory Classroom
• Traffic Meeting, 10am 31st July, Rutland Room

Nick Brown
General Manager
Swanage Station
Tel: 01929 475213
Email: generalmanager@swanage-railway.co.uk

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Photographs

All photographs on this page by and copyright Andrew P.M. Wright,
Swanage Railway official photographer