Charity Work at the Railway
Every year we give the Railway over to a charity day. We run trains and our chosen charity invite guests who pay in order to ride on the trains all afternoon.
The picture shows three trains filling every platform at Spinney station during the 2007 day held to support the charity "Heartline" which tries to make life that bit easier for families with a youngster suffering from serious heart disease.
There are lots of passengers and they seem to be enjoying themselves!
Organising the day is quite a challenge both for the Railway team and the team of stewards the charity must provide. About 10 stewards are needed from the charity team to organise car parking, man the entry gate and regulate queues for trains plus organise any added attractions they may wish to provide on the large house lawn: for example Bouncy Castle, Refreshments; Face Painting; Croquet; the inevitable raffle, they are limited only by their imagination.
The charity organisers will usually visit during a normal running day beforehand to appreciate the Railway in operation and the opportunities and limitations of the site.
On the day itself everyone comes early, the railway team to ready the Railway so we are seen at our best and the charity team to prepare their added attractions and set up queuing areas at the stations. Typically the Railway opens to paying guests from 2pm and trains run continuously until 5pm or until everyone has had enough! On a busy charity day we can just about cope with 200 visitors.
A few lucky people can make an extra donation and have the opportunity to drive one of our locomotives. The picture shows just such a young man concentrating on the job with his instructor riding behind. He must keep the water level up in the boiler and of course keep stoking the fire so it stays bright. To run out of steam would be most embarrassing! Sometimes (quite often) dads have a go too, but Mike Collins, who usually instructs, especially welcomes pretty lady learners!
Steam engines are hot and heavy so little people may prefer to try a drive on our electric loco. Even the youngest can have a go here!
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We also get would be signalmen on charity days; Geoff Bailey, in the background below is keeping a careful eye on a guest pulling a lever.
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If you know of a charity that we could support and they have a team who would advertise, promote and organise the visitor side of the day then you may like to contact Alan Ainslie the owner of the railway and put forward your suggestion.
Its a lot of work and by no means easy money but it is a different day and the faces of the children in these photos show how much they enjoy it. (and I think the engine drivers enjoy it too.)