Neil C Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 I'd be very interested to get some thoughts on which preservation groups are using the internet particularly well. I've been very much enjoying Beamish's Transport News blog (http://beamishtransport.blogspot.com/) - it does a good job of showing what's going on behind the scenes that you wouldn't necessarily know about unless you were involved on site, and gives a lot of context as to what they're working on, and why. (In a similar vein, Tanfield have recently started a daily photoblog which I think is a sensible development: http://www.tanfield-railway.blogspot.com/). It strikes me that the web offers a great opportunity for preservation groups to engage a far-flung audience by telling the story of what they're doing behind the scenes, and shedding light on the difficult decision and prioritisations that must inevitably be made. Allowing people this kind of insight, and the pleasure of watching a particular project take shape, can only help their causes. So, which sites do you turn to regularly, and why? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Bluebell Id say, its regularly updated. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torn-on-the-platform Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 The Bluebell's website is fantastic. It is easy to navigate, clean and simple, with regular updates. I'm not sure its ever really had an 'overhaul' except for the new more commercial sister site, but why would it? It doesn't need one! All the information an enthusiast could need is available on the enthusiast side of the site, though some of the more recently overhauled loco's could do with an updated photo, such as the C class and Bluebell. Whilst Bluebell photos are easy to find on the web, it would be good if the railway had its own galleries of their loco's, rather than just a couple of photos of each, as the Bulleid society's site does, with photos spanning the loco's BR and preservation careers. This leads me onto the Bulleid society's site. They used to have problems with borders, atleast on my small screen, but these issues seem to have been sorted. There is great detail about their 3 locos with reasonably regular updates to let you know the state of play for each loco. There are lots of gems to be found! The Watercress Line has always had a reasonably good website, though its recent update has brought it up to a fantastic standard, especially now they have a list of their locos with technical details, something which was avoided before as they used to have loco's visiting for short-medium lengths of time, such as those having a short break from mainline duty, and the webmaster didn't want to have to keep updating the page. The new site has regular blog entries from various volunteer groups, covering all aspects of the railway. The South Devon Railway has a good website, with plenty of info, but if you want the latest news and photo galleries, the unofficial SDR-online is fantastic. There are a few websites that used to be regularly updated but have let their standards slip somewhat in recent years, but these are not what this thread is about! There are others that have never lived up to their potential. The web is a great tool to advertise our hobby and I think that all preserved railways should try to make the most of it. www.bluebell-railway.co.uk www.bulleidsociety.org www.watercressline.co.uk www.sdronline.co.uk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty-a7x Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 Stainmore railway for me http://www.kirkbystepheneast.co.uk/. Updates on a very regular basis and always good to see what progress is been made on site. Matt Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.A.C Martin Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 Absolutely no contest. The best website by a country mile is the Mid Hants. Easy to navigate, well designed, all the information is there, and to cap it all off it looks the part too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir douglas Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 elsecar heritage railway http://www.elsecarrailway.co.uk/News.htm Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil C Posted July 30, 2011 Author Share Posted July 30, 2011 Thanks for all your suggestions: they've given me some interesting new reading material! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Neal Ball Posted August 7, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 7, 2011 Bluebell Id say, its regularly updated. The Bluebell's website is fantastic. It is easy to navigate, clean and simple, with regular updates.......... www.bluebell-railway.co.uk ......... Agreed the Bluebell's websites are probably the best around. Its a real shame that some other societies do not take a leaf out of the Bluebell's internet pages! I suspect though the the success of the Bluebell websites are down to the huge amount of work that Richard Salmon puts into it. Regards, Neal www.nealball.co.uk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfsup Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 I Think that one of the best preserved railway websites around is also the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's website - Smart, informative, news pages are updated fairly regulary - And includes a Loco Roster and current fleet status http://www.gwsr.com/home.aspx Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Colin_McLeod Posted August 7, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 7, 2011 Railway Preservation Society of Ireland. aka RPSI Always up to date complete with news, archives, tour booking, appeals, sales, photographs and videos. RPSI Web site J15 No 186 at Antrim. 4th December 2005 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ess1uk Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 http://www.nlr.org.uk/ as i'm a share holder Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
55017 Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Bluebell for me, very informative with regular updates, Glos Warks a close second.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bike2steam Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 Sorry, so far all those mentioned fall short of the best;- http://www.swanagerailway.co.uk/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torn-on-the-platform Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 Sorry, so far all those mentioned fall short of the best;-http://www.swanagerailway.co.uk/ This used to be a very good website, and it still is for the non-enthusiast. I nearly put it on my list. It is also good for seeing several photos of an event but I find that the updates have decreased considerably in quantity and don't contain much information for the enthusiast any more, with captions often being repeated. The info on the stock is also a little bit lacking. Edit: Having said this, there seems to be a flurry of activity in the last couple of weeks! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmnp Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 http://www.nlr.org.uk/ as i'm a share holder I'm not familiar with this particular railway and I'm sure it's very good. But dealing with just the web site, while it is content rich, I find the visual style of the site a real turn off. It's very cluttered, lots of flashing images and I think it really looks dated as well as amateurish. The sort of thing I would expect to see 10 years ago. I agree with S.A.C Martin, the Mid Hants site is an example of a really well designed and visually appealing web site. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonhall Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 http://www.nlr.org.uk/ as i'm a share holder the latest news seems to date from 2008 - the most interesting websites manage almost daily, although I'll accept the at smaller concerns may only make measurable progress on a monthly basis. Jon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted August 18, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 18, 2011 We all have favourite protoypes and preserved lines, they all deserve all the support we can muster, and I will not claim that my choice is "best" but it may be unusual in not being the official site for the railway in question. http://www.isengard.co.uk/#News gives the unofficial lowdown on the Welsh Highland Railway, which I regard as the most remarkable piece of new private railway in my lifetime. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bike2steam Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 This used to be a very good website, and it still is for the non-enthusiast. Edit: Having said this, there seems to be a flurry of activity in the last couple of weeks! Well said, you hit the nail on the head, as enthusiasts only make up a minority of the actual, and potential customers in such a monumentally popular holiday part of the country. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ess1uk Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 I'm not familiar with this particular railway and I'm sure it's very good. But dealing with just the web site, while it is content rich, I find the visual style of the site a real turn off. It's very cluttered, lots of flashing images and I think it really looks dated as well as amateurish. The sort of thing I would expect to see 10 years ago. the latest news seems to date from 2008 - the most interesting websites manage almost daily, although I'll accept the at smaller concerns may only make measurable progress on a monthly basis. Jon just found out today they have a new web master, so expect to see some new content soon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ess1uk Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 http://pitsford.railhost.org.uk/railblog/ new NLR site Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shed Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 The NLR site is ok. Nene Valley is good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold DaveF Posted September 27, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 27, 2012 Like the original poster - Neil C I most often look on the web at sites covering Beamish and Tanfield - though that may be because they are both only just over 30 minutes drive from home. I always enjoy looking at the Bluebell site - even though I haven't been there for over 30 years!. David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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