STRATHSPEY EXPRESS

SPRING HAS SPRUNG – AND WE ARE BACK ON THE MOVE! - These notes are being written on a sunny day in Aviemore at the end of March; as the Responsible Officer for the railway, I’ve been here over the weekend helping to ensure that a charter train package based itself at the railway for the Easter Weekend ran to and from the network as smoothly as possible, as well as overseeing the safe operation of our service trains. Work is progressing in the locomotive and carriage maintenance sheds. The P Way has been busy relaying the north end of Broomhill Loop and the connection to the extension out to Dulnain Bridge, so physical signs of progress are visible all along our line. Behind the scenes, I think it is fair to say that there has also been a significant amount of work taking place, largely unseen, to move things forward. The greatest example of this is the appointment of our General Manager.

Gordon Kirk comes to us from a significant period of time working in the Middle East, managing high-end visitor attractions. He has hit the ground running, taking some of his own time to start getting up to speed with the operation of the railway and the challenges associated with Heritage Railway operation. The SRC Board will work hard to integrate Gordon into his new role, and I am sure he will soon become a common sight around the railway.

You may have seen that we have released an initial timetable for the year; it’s based on what we believe we can staff at present. The more volunteers that we get the more trains we can run, so if you have operational railway skills and feel that you have time available, please don’t hesitate to contact us either through the office at Aviemore, or via volunteer@strathspeyrailwayassociation.co.uk, stating which Departments you would be interested in working in. Your contribution is invaluable and will help to keep our railway viable and vibrant.

Our ‘Survive to Thrive’ appeal, over and above donations in association with your subscription renewal, is live. Whilst we will be working on getting this out to a wider audience in the coming weeks and months, I would ask you, if you feel able, to support this appeal, which if successful really has the potential to transform the sustainability of our railway. If you feel friends or colleagues might also be able to assist, please mention it to them. A key element of the appeal is the Just Giving webpage: https://justgiving.com/campaign/sra-survivetothrive which is now active and open for donations. Thank you.

As we head towards late Spring and Summer, we hope to get busier as visitor numbers increase in Strathspey (do they ever subside completely?), and irrespective of the rights or wrongs of the situation with our near neighbours in Fort William, the delay in running the Jacobite steam services from the Fort to Mallaig and back can only be seen as a potential business opportunity for the Strathspey. Let’s hope that this sees an uplift in visitors and takings as we progress through the year, and hopefully, a few more people who have fallen in love with a railway in our part of the Highlands – you never know, it might also bring with it an increase in Association members and volunteers – we can certainly hope! Here's to a long and successful season…

Talking of long periods of time, come the SRA AGM in November, I shall be stepping down as your Chairman. By the time the AGM arrives, I shall have served in the role for 12 years, and I feel that it’s time for a fresh pair of eyes and a fresh mind to take up the mantle. It has been an honour to serve you and the members for this period of time, and I hope that you all feel that we have helped the railway in the manner that you yourselves would wish. I’m not leaving the railway, however, nor indeed will my name completely disappear from the Express (no doubt there will be some people – possibly the Editors – who will be less than pleased about this…) as I will still be producing the Mess Van Chronicles, updates in relation to the running shed and other articles that may be required. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the Directors (now Trustees) that I have served alongside for their wise counsel and advice through those 12 years, and the Finance Directors and Secretaries who have made my life easy. You know who you are – Thank You!