After enjoying its biggest and most successful Polar Express season ever, the Mid Norfolk Railway has announced a significant development behind the scenes by restructuring the railway's management for 2023.
Behind this restructuring is the realisation by the Railway's Trust Council that as the railway has grown and expanded into a multi-million-pound business, with several hundred staff, some paid, but mainly volunteers, it has outgrown its existing management structure.
A new management structure is therefore being created which the railway hopes will be better positioned to take it forward, building on the past 25 years and looking forward to the next 25. A significant change is the abolition of the General Manager position, which has been replaced by a new range of posts, some paid and some volunteer, to carry out all of the previous General Manager's roles.
Speaking about the changes, Charlie Robinson, the Chairman of the Mid Norfolk Railway Preservation Trust, said: “I would like to take this opportunity to announce that I will be stepping down as Chairman at the next AGM. I will remain a Trust Council member and will now focus on the organisation of future Polar Expresses and the railway's ‘Wedding Specials', both of which will be more than enough to keep me extremely busy”.
This year, over 40,000 passengers enjoyed the full Polar Express experience on a ten-coach train of former Greater Anglia Mk.3 carriages. A pre-journey stage show preceded the journey to the North Pole, during which the Conductor and Chefs entertained the passengers, who enjoyed hot chocolate and cookies before receiving their first gift of Christmas from Santa Claus himself.
Charlie Robinson commented: “The Polar Express is the culmination of our running season and I would like to thank all the team who have worked so hard to put on the show. To see the enjoyment and smiles on the faces of everyone makes it all worthwhile.”
Paul Andrew Goldsmith, the Mid Norfolk Railway's Theatrical director, said: “This was the biggest year of the production yet, and we are delighted by the fantastic cast team, the volunteers and staff of the MNR, for the incredible efforts made by all to make it such a magical and memorable experience for our audience”.
Although the primary attention recently has been on the Polar Express, work has been going on behind the scenes at both ends of the line. At County School, improvements are continuing to prepare the ground for when trains eventually return to the station. Also at County School, the now-resident North Norfolk Model Engineering Society is continuing to expand its own running line, which means that although they aren't full size, trains have now returned to the station..
At Wymondham, the former Spooner Row signal box is being refurbished ready for when the railway's S&T Department can start resignalling that end of the line. They have nearly completed the signalling at Thuxton and Dereham, so it won't be long before the railway has three fully working signal boxes controlling the line between Wymondham and Dereham.
At Dereham, work by the C&W Dept on Mk.1 FCK carriage M 13225 is nearly complete after the most-extensive rebuild that the railway has ever attempted. On the motive power side, several of the resident owners group locomotives including Class 31 31255, Class 118, 51412, and Class 50, 50019 Ramillies are all progressing well.
