Non enthusiast N Ireland preservation viewpoint

[102 fan]

A friend today had visited the Downpatrick railway at the weekend

http://www.downrail.co.uk/index.htm

He said to me today 'the trip is only 10 minutes!'

I told him that considering in 1985 the site was empty, everything has had to have been brought in, and that all the work is voluntary they have done spectacularly well to get this far.

 

[MK Tom]

I still get angry thinking about when I was volunteering at the Northampton and Lamport Railway many years back, somebody asked me how much a ticket to ride on the train was, I told them £5, and they said "What, are they meant to be 100 years old or something?!?" Sadly this is a rather common attitude among the less history-conscious.

 

[CarltonA]

I overheard someone at the Chinnor & Princes Risborough saying "it's just a big trainset really". But that is how they saw it, a line with one station - what's the point? A volunteer at the East Somerset a few years ago went along the train saying "nothing much here, Mendip Vale, a platform in the middle of nowhere". And to someone with no interest that would be true. But then they are only "normal" people, glad I'm not one of them.

 

[PFX]

I told him that considering in 1985 the site was empty, everything has had to have been brought in, and that all the work is voluntary they have done spectacularly well to get this far.

It's always encouraging to read something positive being said about the work of volunteers, even more so when it's about the line you volunteer at. I'm more used to people telling us how it should be done.

 

[Amy Worrall]

I overheard someone at the Chinnor & Princes Risborough saying "it's just a big trainset really". But that is how they saw it, a line with one station - what's the point? A volunteer at the East Somerset a few years ago went along the train saying "nothing much here, Mendip Vale, a platform in the middle of nowhere". And to someone with no interest that would be true. But then they are only "normal" people, glad I'm not one of them.

I once spent a lovely Sunday afternoon on the Chinnor railway, sipping beer and playing cards with some friends. I agree that "It's just a big trainset really" -- I just don't think that that is a bad thing!

If they could finish the Princes Risborough station link, then suddenly it'd gain a practical use. I often have to get back from Chinnor to Coventry by public transport, and the bus to Princes Risborough station doesn't run on Sundays.

Amy

 

[CarltonA]

Yes, roll on Princes Risborough. The line could do with a boost, they had no steam loco earlier this year and some potential passengers were put off by this and went home without travelling.

 

[102 fan]

On another occasion I recall a person being very discriminatory towards an enthusiast, purely for being an enthusiast and a volunteer at a preserved railway. If the recipient had of been coloured it would have been percieved as racism. The person giving the discrimination was asked later what they were doing at the weekend.

'Taking the kids to the Santa train', the train run by the very same railway the the bile was being poured on!

 

[Cyberbeagle]

LOLs, indeed. The 10-minute journey comments are an annoyance. Usually from people who wouldn't lift a finger to help. And we all have to start somewhere!

I have a feeling that in Northern Ireland there's an attitude that "they" will do something about it. Yet never quite understanding who "they" are... (usually Stormont I suppose though...)

 

[4SRKT]

LOLs, indeed. The 10-minute journey comments are an annoyance. Usually from people who wouldn't lift a finger to help. And we all have to start somewhere!

I have a feeling that in Northern Ireland there's an attitude that "they" will do something about it. Yet never quite understanding who "they" are... (usually Stormont I suppose though...)

'They' are a mysterious force doing stuff (or not) behind the scenes everywhere, not just Northern Ireland.

 

[102 fan]

LOLs, indeed. The 10-minute journey comments are an annoyance. Usually from people who wouldn't lift a finger to help. And we all have to start somewhere!

I have a feeling that in Northern Ireland there's an attitude that "they" will do something about it. Yet never quite understanding who "they" are... (usually Stormont I suppose though...)

i know what you mean about the 10 minute comment. I think the railway is being wrongly compared to the likes of the Severn Vallet and Keighley. They were fortunate to have all the infrastructure already in place, a large population to volunteer and visit. I try to point out so the detractors that all the DCDR had was a trackbed - EVERYTHING has had to have been brought from elsewhere. It is a credit to the DCDR that people think the station building is an original.