Its not just about a train....
We are a small, public owned, heritage railway - the only one in South Yorkshire. We offer Yorkshire heritage - Yorkshire hospitality. We are 100% volunteer run with the charitable objects of heritage preservation and education. We run from Elsecar to Cortonwood in a rural area that was previously the heart of the South Yorkshire coalfield and is still recovering from the decline of heavy industry. We are a visitor attraction that focuses on delivering trains and events to the local community as well as, through our steam engine training, reaching a global audience. We love to share our railway with people and encourage our visitors to engage up close with travel of a bygone age, having both an entertaining and fun time, but a learning experience too.
It is not all about trains though. We have a strong community of volunteers, especially older men (some have been coming over 20 years now) and younger people with social engagement needs and we help provide a home that is engaging and comfortable for them. We help with skills training, especially relating to the rail industry, engineering and special needs, plus diverse business needs like customer service, events management and finance. We are part of the Heritage Action Zone for Elsecar/Dearne Valley and as we grow we provide a vital link that bounds the valley and brings in essential income from the tourist industry. We work incredibly hard to preserve amazing machines and to increase our visitor proposition and all mainly from the resources we generate as a not-for-profit business.
The railway is an engaging passion, for volunteers and visitors alike. You do not have to be a railway fanatic, to know the ins and outs of every engine or number, or how a railway is run. We are a community, with a passion for welcoming people to enjoy what we do. We are a business which struggles its way through the challenges that all business face, like governance, strategy, plan, legislation, finance, cash flow, marketing, product, customer care, team, recruitment, retention....
We have a bold vision to more than double in size, in terms of track, engines, stations, visitor attraction, interpretation and museum services. Of course, this brings the growth challenges of project management, finance, people, skills, risk ...
We need help. People passionate about community, skills and knowledge transfer, making things happen, generating funding and revenue and getting involved in a not-for-profit with exciting, radical and different plans. Of course, if you like the sight, sound, smells and heat of a steam engine that's fun too!