I had an excellent visit to the railway today for the Flying Scotsman. Parking was easy and we were able to enjoy the very quiet Black 5 hauled shuttle to Whitby comprising only 3 carriages, which were virtually empty, although this was very enjoyable. The Flying Scotsman services were a different story of course. Interestingly, The Flying Scotsman on load 8 was banked by the 9F out of Grosmont as far as Goathland which was a great experience. I thought the day was good value for money too. The friendliness and good humour of the volunteers added to the experience. I would say that as an enthusiast I found the Black 5 and 9F far more entertaining than the Flying Scotsman though…
Firstly, excellent photos, I too had a look at the footplate of the 9f when I went there back in September.
Whilst yes, the virtually empty part for a heritage railway isn't ideal, however, it is not great to deal with toddlers screaming or loud conversations in an open Mk1, so that does sound good that you basically had the train to yourself. I too was surprised as to how few coaches are on that shuttle, but its definitely a highlight of visiting the NYMR.
I also agree, the NYMR is easily one of the friendliest railways I have visited around the UK, as for the locos part, I also can get behind that, though Scotsman isn't necessarily a bad loco, it's just unfortunately the only Gresley A3 we have left so it's hard to appreciate it with a crowd of 20 people blocking your view.
Possibly. But given that the train will run to Grosmont anyway, people will still drive there to see it.
I suspect that a lot of the issue is, as usual, tightwad entitled car drivers not wanting to pay to use the very large National Park car park adjacent to the station, but instead parking on the main road: the road is always jammed with parked cars even when there are lots of spaces in the car park.
I believe the capacity of that car park is 100 cars, with a further 40 spaces in the station car park. At 4 people per car (almost certainly an over-estimate), that's 580 people. O believe the Flying Scotsman services run at 8 carriages. Assuming 7 TSOs and a brake, that's 480 seats per working. With two round trip loads (one returning, one departing), that implies a shortfall of 100 parking spaces if everyone came by car. And then there are staff & volunteers, plus on some days those associated with the diner.
I'm sure there are some tightwads who insist on street parking, but I very much doubt that's the whole story.
Granted, most will drive to the NYMR anyway, but it doesn't help how bad the Esk Valley service is. Granted, if you plan correctly and make the most of it such as going round the town of Whitby until the train turns up. Although it's fair to say the train around 7PM-ish to Middlesbrough on a Saturday was not a fun experience with a 2-car train.
(different note: it's nice that most restaurants/takeaways, including the Domino's at Whitby, have at least somewhere to sit down and eat in)
Anyway, back to the main point, most enthusiasts/general public will most likely drive there, and if it includes the price of expensive parking, such as at the National trust, then people will naturally try and park somewhere cheaper, albeit in this case, rather informally and blocking roads.
If the Esk valley had some better services, perhaps this might have been reduced slightly?
