magnifying glass

Commentary

Alisdair McNicol

Journal 118 (WWW Edition)

Operating Season's Greetings

Gadzooks! Another season is upon usl Those who remember that part of the philosophy of acquiring the site at Porthmadog was to demonstrate that the company could competently run a regular service, (and thereby prove its eligibility to run a somewhat larger railway), will perhaps permit themselves a slightly resigned roll of the eyeballs to the heavens before preparing for another lap of the Walls of Jericho. Not withstanding the inconvenient fact that none has yet done any better, one question that must be addressed is why should anyone with an interest in Welsh Highland affairs continue to support this company and help to run the day to day service. The answer is, of course, plenty of reasons. For the purposes of renewing one's faith, however, it would be appropriate to run through them.

Firstly, it was established specifically for the particular job of rebuilding the Welsh Highland Railway. As such, the company is an independent organisation. It does not have to worry about the problems arising with any parent organisation, nor to mind its p's & q's when wishing to offer constructive criticism. Secondly, it is owned by its members who have the right to decide who it is who represents them. Thirdly, it has prided itself on building community links and working with the local residents and their political representatives. Fourthly we have established a valuable foot in the door at the southern end of the trackbed, creating a viable terminus site and valuable workshop facilities. Thus, we are not some nebulous group of "supporters", but operators of a successful tourist related business.

And finally, should someone drop the ball, we will be there to pick it up

Never Mind The Quality...........

Avid readers of the Railway Press (Including the Journal!-Ed.) will doubtless have gleaned that the Welsh Highland Railway did not do terribly well in the gradings of preserved railways which a certain publication takes it upon itself to proclaim.

An entirely valid line of enquiry would be to try to establish exactly how the judgments are reached, and who reaches them. Can a railway plunge from Premier Division to the unclassified zone if the station cat pees on the boots of the relevant inspector, for instance? When are the inspections made, and who actually makes them? I think we should be told, if only for the knowledge of how to improve.

By way of contrast, there is an objective, and independently assessed, quality assurance scheme which we pass with flying colours. This scheme, run by Antur Dywydd, is for all tourist attractions in the area and intended, therefore, for the 90% of our market who are not necessarily railway enthusiasts. For this scheme one is supplied with a list of matters on which the attraction will be marked. The (independent) inspector also makes himself known to the staff on site when he or she arrives to conduct the inspection.

Subsequently one receives a "score sheet" showing exactly where one is doing well and where some improvement is needed. Thus, one is not left wondering such things as:-"Were we actually open when they called?", or, "who was crewing that day?", or, "are they talking about the same place?"

Refreshingly different, isn't it?

Tin Hats Time

At the risk of giving undue prominence to the writings of others, wasn't it interesting to see that so prominent and well informed a commentator as Ian Allan should be casting doubts on the viability of the "Snowdonia circle" concept being promoted by the FR, with through trains from Blaenau to Caernarfon. Prepare yourself for announcements that the Southern end of the Welsh Highland is, all of a sudden, "not viable", not practical, could have been done if everyone had pulled together, but... you know the sort of thing.

Incidentally let us just remind ourselves about what we are doing to help matters along. Apart from making public our wholehearted support for the whole railway, we have offered to build at our expense the two miles of railway from Porthmadog to Pont Croesor and hand it over to the FR when they link up from the north. This offer remains on the table, not having been taken up by the FR (The offer was made in August 1995.) We have offered a heritage role, including fielding our own vintage Welsh Highland transit, we have agreed a memorandum of understanding. We have offered support for rebuilding the northern end. All this, and more, has been offered. What is preventing the FR from just saying "yes?"

Major Improvement Department

The "Northern Gateway" sponsored scheme to improve our car park and frontage should be completed by the time you read this. This year's visitors will see some very tangible improvement to the "front of house". Continuous improvement should be any business's motto, and there is still much more to do, but how nice to see some real improvement where it counts most. Who knows, if we improve our toilet facilities next, maybe even Mr Ian Allan may have a kind word for us.

The new signal box, built by Peter Booth, now completed. As well as being a superb sight for our visitors, it will also prove itself invaluable for the operating crews, given Porthmadog's often less than desirable weather.
Photo : Geoff Jenkins