Bollington: a new era!

[steam for ever]

The whole project is going to be slightly different to other railways.
We are doing this to help the area and hopefully create jobs in the long term.
I am not questioning knowledge, but we are keeping some info secret while bussiness talks are underway, so this way we cannot create false hopes and stop people from stealing credit.

I have mentioned that I am constructing a website and I am due to write to the magazines.
I have not done this already as we did not have enough information to give.
At this stage we were still inspecting the track bed.
Remember this is a trackbed that has had quite a bit of soft landscaping done, so that will take time.
We also need to inspect bollington viaduct, which with its enourmous size, will be a monumental task.

We do not own the trackbed at this stage, so there are some things we cannot do yet.
We may have to stick to council ownership.

It was not my decision to keep some info though, but bussiness advisiors have saaid it is a good idea.
Hope this helps and I will try to answer more questions.

My view is that railway interest should not lie with people who have had past experience and dedicated enthusiasts and I want to give some oprtunities to the wider public that perhaps other railways don't.
I do have some experience and I would not be doing this If I did not have a dedicated interest in railways.

[steam for ever]

Some news.
I am beginning to design a crest as art is a hobby of mine.
I might be able to add it to the gallery in a few weeks or maybe in a shorter time.

[John H-T]

Originally Posted by steam for ever

The whole project is going to be slightly different to other railways.

We do not own the trackbed at this stage, so there are some things we cannot do yet.
We may have to stick to council ownership.

I would be very suprised if you did own the track bed or have an agreement with the council or Network Rail or whoever owns the land. It took us 9 years to achieve that although we were doing it around the time of Rail Privatisation and then the Railtrack fiasco. We eventually bought the line from Network Rail! We were allowed on the line to start clearing trees etc before we took over the line.

Originally Posted by steam for ever

My view is that railway interest should not lie with people who have had past experience and dedicated enthusiasts and I want to give some oprtunities to the wider public that perhaps other railways don't.
I do have some experience and I would not be doing this If I did not have a dedicated interest in railways.

This is all very well but when it comes to the actual work you may well find that the core of your labour force will be railway enthusiasts and if you are lucky retired railway staff. If you put forward a good case to the local community showing how they could benifit you might get their money when you launch a share issue. 50% of the share holders in our Railway live in the Valley.

Best wishes,

John H-T.

[steam for ever]

I did not say that we would do this without proffessionals entirely.
Network rail does not own the trackbed.
It is Cheshire east council.
We hope talks will start soon.

[steam for ever]

For when the website is competed, we are having a video made that will feature me, Lord Millett and other supporters.
It will include a bit of filming of the line and we will explain a bit more about how things are working.
There will be sections of how to join and how to get in touch.
There will also artists impressions of the railway and an area to ask questions.
This will perhaps created a better understanding of what we are doing here.

Something also worth mentioning is the plans for the future.
We will look for partnerships with other railways which we can put into force if and when we need to.
It is hoped that we will we able to hire a few full time staff and perhaps get a few people from the local heritage and railway modelling groups.
I have now finnished the crest and I am now adding colour to it, so I might have it in the gallery before I said I could.

Some things have been delayed, like meeting dates and that, but this is not without reason.
We felt that it was necessary to get a few more things done to strengthen outr case and make more sense.

[62440]

Back in your post No.78, you ask if I have ever been involved in this sort of thing? The answer to that question, Sir, is a most emphatic YES! I joined the Severn Valley Railway in 1970, worked for a short while with the P.Way gang at Bridgnorth. I was then approached by a local chap who asked me to join the society restoring Standard Pacific No.70000 BRITANNIA. This I did, and spent 1972 - 1985 helping with the actual restoration, also fund raising:manning a sales stand in all sorts of places in all weathers, also helping out on the societies local branch committee, organising slide and film shows, coach trips, and anything else we could think of to help raise funds and keep the locos profile in the public eye. In total more than thirteen years of fairly intensive involvement.

[steam for ever]

Oh.
Erm,
well that's me told!

[pre65]

Originally Posted by steam for ever

For when the website is competed, we are having a video made that will feature me, Lord Millett and other supporters.
It will include a bit of filming of the line and we will explain a bit more about how things are working.

I think we would all like to see this when it is finished.

[steam for ever]

Yes it will be about 5- 10 mins long.

[pre65]

Originally Posted by steam for ever

Yes it will be about 5- 10 mins long.

Put it on YouTube !!