railfan99
Established Member
As a foreigner I can't completely eliminate bias, but probably I'm less likely to have a prejudice against various preserved rail operators.
So without claiming it's objective, may I start the ball rolling by suggesting that the East Lancs. Railway (HQ at Bolton) and West Somerset Railway have largely excellent websites?
ELR probably wins because of how it showcases its in-house dining/drinking opportunities. Enjoying a beer at its Bolton, Lancs. establishment sounds like a good idea.
WSR doesn't overtly do this, with finding out about Turntable Cafe at Minehead requiring some time on the site. WSR also features 'getting here by bus' which is fine, as normally there's no connecting trains (yet!) from Taunton, but it should really be 'getting here by public transort' or '...by rail and bus' since to potential visitors unaware of how to travel say from London, there wasn't a link to nationalrail.co.uk's journey planner, a common omission on these preserved railways' sites.
Honourable mentions to Swanage Railway with its large font probably loved by an ageing population, and 'the first preserved railway' in Bluebell even had a link to a National Rail '2 for 1' offer, though strangely no link to the eponymous Joueny Planner.
From a forthcoming trip, I'm not intending to travel on Swanage Railway but its site is good because on the home page, it shows the timetable. However displaying a time such as '11R18' is not in accord with best timetable practice, as the 'R" would usually be a suffix, and at a very quick look, what 'R' means wasn't easy to find. (I assume it's a 'request stop': tell the Guard/travelling ticket examiner, or on the platform wave a provided flag or your arm).
Great Central Railway's site had all the information one needs, but maybe the font was a bit small for 70 year olds with macular degeneration - I'm well under 70 so irrelevant to me. The site looks professional.
Crich Tramway Village's site was excellent except it hasn't fully noted how route 141 local bus has been 'suspended' (cancelled) on all days, not just on Sundays and public holidays. It also lacked a National Rail link.
Ecclesbourne Valley Railway's site was eyecatching and has detail about how to reach it by train as well as the usual 'by car' directions, but is another with no link to the National Rail journey planner.
While not the fault of the website designer, I'd give North Yorkshire Moors Railway a 'fail' because while the timetable is easy enough to find, any explanation about how to travel that takes five lines of text is likely to have many potential visitors' eyes glazing over. They're not like some of us who purchase the excellent European Rail Timetable in print or digital format.
Nene Valley Railway's site was OK except that there was a timetable note about some travel during August 2022 Wednesdays requiring one to delve further into the site. Complex, and perhaps offputting to the average punter. This railway also lacked any discrete mention as to how to reach it by rail, and did not feature a link to nationalrail.co.uk's journey planner. A small minority of passengers would use rail to get to the NVR but this mode of access needs to be encouraged.
Scotland's Strathspey Railway had an easy to find link to its timetable and quite extensive number of running days, but under 'Getting Here', it mentioned Aviemore station but seems to assume every visitor comes by car, whereas I will be coming by train. Again, no link to the National Rail journey planner and mention as to where trains connect from is a big fail.
Keighley and Worth Valley's site was good, as it had a super easy to locate link to timetables and even an extensive mention as to how through ticketing is available from 'the national (rail) network', although again no link to the NR JP was provided.
Kent and East Sussex Railway had a good timetable link, but strangely 'how to find us', which included a link to Southeastern Trains, was buried at the bottom of a page 'about the K & ESR'. Hard for potential travellers to find.
Overall though, considering volunteers have much input into these wonderful railways, the sites are largely informative. The major fail tends to be when the webmasters don't think about 'what information do we need to show so anyone unfamiliar with area can reach us?'
I'd also empathise the catering side more for those railways (and tramway!) that possess cafes and/or hotels. Many make it a day out and want to dine as part of the experience.
But they're only my observations as a foreigner. You locals will have a better idea about which websites are great and which middling at best.
By the way, could I compliment so many forum members on the incredibly high standard of discussion. It's easy to learn as so many of you have top class knowledge, and there seems a lack of backbiting, something not true of some other non-rail transport blogs I've observed outside of the UK, such as some based in USA and Australia.
So without claiming it's objective, may I start the ball rolling by suggesting that the East Lancs. Railway (HQ at Bolton) and West Somerset Railway have largely excellent websites?
ELR probably wins because of how it showcases its in-house dining/drinking opportunities. Enjoying a beer at its Bolton, Lancs. establishment sounds like a good idea.
WSR doesn't overtly do this, with finding out about Turntable Cafe at Minehead requiring some time on the site. WSR also features 'getting here by bus' which is fine, as normally there's no connecting trains (yet!) from Taunton, but it should really be 'getting here by public transort' or '...by rail and bus' since to potential visitors unaware of how to travel say from London, there wasn't a link to nationalrail.co.uk's journey planner, a common omission on these preserved railways' sites.
Honourable mentions to Swanage Railway with its large font probably loved by an ageing population, and 'the first preserved railway' in Bluebell even had a link to a National Rail '2 for 1' offer, though strangely no link to the eponymous Joueny Planner.
From a forthcoming trip, I'm not intending to travel on Swanage Railway but its site is good because on the home page, it shows the timetable. However displaying a time such as '11R18' is not in accord with best timetable practice, as the 'R" would usually be a suffix, and at a very quick look, what 'R' means wasn't easy to find. (I assume it's a 'request stop': tell the Guard/travelling ticket examiner, or on the platform wave a provided flag or your arm).
Great Central Railway's site had all the information one needs, but maybe the font was a bit small for 70 year olds with macular degeneration - I'm well under 70 so irrelevant to me. The site looks professional.
Crich Tramway Village's site was excellent except it hasn't fully noted how route 141 local bus has been 'suspended' (cancelled) on all days, not just on Sundays and public holidays. It also lacked a National Rail link.
Ecclesbourne Valley Railway's site was eyecatching and has detail about how to reach it by train as well as the usual 'by car' directions, but is another with no link to the National Rail journey planner.
While not the fault of the website designer, I'd give North Yorkshire Moors Railway a 'fail' because while the timetable is easy enough to find, any explanation about how to travel that takes five lines of text is likely to have many potential visitors' eyes glazing over. They're not like some of us who purchase the excellent European Rail Timetable in print or digital format.
Nene Valley Railway's site was OK except that there was a timetable note about some travel during August 2022 Wednesdays requiring one to delve further into the site. Complex, and perhaps offputting to the average punter. This railway also lacked any discrete mention as to how to reach it by rail, and did not feature a link to nationalrail.co.uk's journey planner. A small minority of passengers would use rail to get to the NVR but this mode of access needs to be encouraged.
Scotland's Strathspey Railway had an easy to find link to its timetable and quite extensive number of running days, but under 'Getting Here', it mentioned Aviemore station but seems to assume every visitor comes by car, whereas I will be coming by train. Again, no link to the National Rail journey planner and mention as to where trains connect from is a big fail.
Keighley and Worth Valley's site was good, as it had a super easy to locate link to timetables and even an extensive mention as to how through ticketing is available from 'the national (rail) network', although again no link to the NR JP was provided.
Kent and East Sussex Railway had a good timetable link, but strangely 'how to find us', which included a link to Southeastern Trains, was buried at the bottom of a page 'about the K & ESR'. Hard for potential travellers to find.
Overall though, considering volunteers have much input into these wonderful railways, the sites are largely informative. The major fail tends to be when the webmasters don't think about 'what information do we need to show so anyone unfamiliar with area can reach us?'
I'd also empathise the catering side more for those railways (and tramway!) that possess cafes and/or hotels. Many make it a day out and want to dine as part of the experience.
But they're only my observations as a foreigner. You locals will have a better idea about which websites are great and which middling at best.
By the way, could I compliment so many forum members on the incredibly high standard of discussion. It's easy to learn as so many of you have top class knowledge, and there seems a lack of backbiting, something not true of some other non-rail transport blogs I've observed outside of the UK, such as some based in USA and Australia.
