Why all the skepticism? This isn't exactly a new idea. Driver experience courses provide a large portion of the revenue stream for many British operations. In fact, the current issue of Steam Railway magazine lists no fewer than 43 preserved railways and steam centres marketing these courses.
Packages offered range from nothing more than a casual ride in the driver's seat to multi-day courses structured to produce qualified steam drivers. It is not uncommon for packages to include a number of guests riding behind the locomotive and participating in a lunch provided for participants and guests.
And lest you think that these largely-volunteer operations do these for fun, let me assure you it is big business for them. In fact, it is not unusual for railways involved in these courses to report the revenue from them as their second or third largest chunk of income, often ahead of gift shop and food services, the latter being a very large portion of the operation at many preserved railways.
The driving courses are often operated on off- days but it is not unusal for them to be scheduled during regular operations, either being restricted to yard trackage or, in some cases, actually interspersed with service trains.
While the argument can be made that the British market is much bigger than the North American one, (Interestingly, the Severn Valley Railway --16 miles of track, often 10 steam locomotives serviceable, some 225,000 customers last year-- has found less than 10% of its customers admitting to being railfans which somewhat shatters the illusion of the Britain as a railfan haven.) many of the customers for these courses are not fans. And with very few North American tourist lines in this market, there should be a lucrative market available for the C&TS. With the virtually unqiue attributes the railway has to offer, there should be plenty of interest.
The packages need to be tailored to attract the general public as well as fans (perhaps including accommodation and meals at local establishments) and priced to give a good (at least double the direct costs) return. Then the only real financial risk will be the staff time to develop the packages and advertising.
Tom Henry
