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Guest Driver
Testimonials
From: Anthony Broomfield
Sent: 29 October 2005 11:45
To: Roger Dimmick
Subject: Ffestiniog Railway Guest Driver experience!
Dear Roger,
This is a belated message to thank you and the staff of the Railway
- particularly the volunteer driver, fireman and guard - for the
very special day I and members of the family spent with you on 24th
September to celebrate my 70th birthday. As an engine spotter of
boyhood years I had long held a wish to drive a steam train. A
highlight during those early years was a footplate ride on a GWR
2-6-2 tank engine from Reading West to Basingstoke - all unofficial!
My appetite to have hands on the regulator was then wetted and now
at last fulfilled on my "Day out with Blanche"!
I am full of
admiration for the way in which the day was organised and
particularly for the way our tutors instructed and guided our
actions. On the main run to and from Blaenau Ffestiniog the two of
us who shared in this ‘Guest Driver’ experience were both given the
opportunity to make decisions on the actions needed to keep
‘Blanche’ happy in meeting the demands of the route. It was this
light, but ever watchful, guidance of our tutors which gave us the
"space" to feel we had responsibility and made the experience so
especially enjoyable. I congratulate you on the initiative taken to
establish your ‘Guest Driver Programme’.
‘Thank-you’ again for
arranging such a memorable day. I would love to do it all again
Regards
Tony Broomfield.
From: Sarah
Broomfield
Sent: 25 October 2005 21:44
To: Roger Dimmick
Subject: RE: Guest Driver - Tony Broomfield
Dear Roger
I just wanted to express my thanks, on behalf of all my family,
for the ‘Guest Driver’ day you organised for my father recently.
He had a fantastic time and was full of praise for everyone who
worked with him that day. We all had a brilliant time and were
very impressed by everyone's enthusiasm and dedication. I was
delighted it all worked out so well.
Many thanks
Sarah Broomfield
From: Steve Flay
Sent: 04 October 2005 21:02
To: Roger Dimmick
Subject: Guest Drive - Saturday 01/10/05
Dear Roger
Thank you for an unforgettable day on Saturday when I was able
to fulfil a lifetime’s ambition of driving ‘Blanche’ on the
Ffestiniog Railway! The whole day’s experience was absolutely
brilliant. Your organisation of everything was first class; from
your correspondence by e-mail and letter, and even a courtesy
telephone call just a couple of days before I was due to arrive,
ensuring that everything was OK and that I had no last minute
queries.
I had two excellent
experienced enginemen - driver Jon ‘Yorkie’ Walsh and fireman Paul
Turner - to show me what to do. They were very friendly, patient and
informative and I thoroughly enjoyed their company and I would be
grateful if you would pass on my sincere thanks to them both.
On the following day I decided to drive up to Tan-y-Bwlch to video
the run round movement and was able to have a long chat with
‘Yorkie’ and Paul about the day before. I mentioned that I would
love to do it again sometime (as the bug had definitely bit!) and
they were both enthusiastic at trying to persuade me to come up
again as a volunteer and seriously think about becoming a trainee
fireman, especially as I have been a member of the Society for about
8 years now! I would be interested in this of course. Could someone
send me some details of how I might go about this, please?
I trust that
everything goes well in the future, for both yourself and the best
railway in the world - the Ffestiniog.
Many thanks again.
Yours sincerely
Steve Flay
From: Mervyn
Williams
Sent: 28 September 2005 09:03
To: Roger Dimmick
Subject: Guest Driver, Ffestiniog Railway – 24/09/05.
Hi Roger,
Just to let you know that the Guest Driving day last Saturday
was an absolutely splendid affair. Both the firing and the
driving were exhilarating, combined with the good, fine weather
made the day.
My companion - Tony -
was a delight to work with.
I cannot emphasise
enough that the footplate crew did Ffestiniog Railway proud. Both
Ray (driver) and Rob (fireman) were cheerful, friendly excellent
tutors - and patient too.
Both sets of guests
had nothing but praise, not only for the railway staff, but also for
the Railway itself; the scenery was an added bonus.
Regards,
Mervyn Williams.
From: John Coghlan
Sent: 26 September 2005 22:30
To: Roger Dimmick
Subject: Guest Driver Day
Roger
Just a quick note to
say ‘thank-you’ for organising a wonderful day on the ‘Guest Driver
Programme’. I enjoyed every minute... as I told Paul and Peter, as a
boy we would come to Abersoch on holiday and I would nag the family
to take me to the Ffestiniog Railway.
It would have seemed
an impossible dream back then to think that one day I would actually
drive a train out of Porthmadog, along the Cob and up to
Tan-y-Bwlch. Incredible. Back then ‘Taliesin’ was a Double-Fairlie,
which became ‘Earl of Merioneth’ and is now ‘Livingston Thompson’ I
believe. Maybe that's the next step for my driving experience!
A big ‘thank-you’
also, of course, to Paul and Peter who were very helpful, patient
and knowledgeable, and our guard - David.
Best regards to all,
and if I ever bump into any of you in ‘Spooner’s’ - the pints are on
me.
John Coghlan
From: Julian
Packer
Sent: 27 June 2005 18:22
To: Roger Dimmick
Subject: Thanks
Roger
Thank you for organising such a fantastic and memorable day not
just for me but for the family too. Having shown them the video
of the day the elder kids who didn't come are now kicking
themselves! It may be us not reading the documentation properly
but we were staggered to have the train to ourselves.
Thanks again and I look forward to my next encounter with the 1'
11˝"!!
Regards
Julian
From: David Allard
Sent: 23 June 2005 - by post
To: Roger Dimmick
Subject: Guest Driving Day - 11/06/05
Dear Roger
I’m writing to thank
you and your staff for organising such an excellent day of train
driving on Saturday 11th June. My brother Phil had a superb day and
thoroughly enjoyed himself on the footplate of ‘Prince’. We were
blessed with good weather too, which enhanced the whole experience.
I did not realise that
we would have a whole train to ourselves with driver, fireman and
guard. We were VIPs for the day!
Please pass on my
gratitude to all those who made this such a memorable occasion.
Many Thanks.
Yours sincerely,
David Allard
From: Bev Stringer
Sent: 22 April 2005 - by post
To: Roger Dimmick
Subject: Guest Driver - 17/04/05
Dear Roger
A belated but sincere
‘thank-you’ to you and to Roger - the Driver - and to Chris - the
Fireman - for enabling me to have such a wonderful day out on your
railway on Sunday 17th April.
Both the day and the
train flew along, and I have to say how impressed I was with the
professionalism of both Roger and Chris. Clearly, driving a
locomotive and train on the Ffestiniog is a serious business, but at
the same time they were determined that my son, Simon, and I should
enjoy our day on the railway - which we did, handsomely.
My most grateful
thanks to you all.
Kind Regards
Bev Stringer
From: Simon
Stringer
Sent: 18 April 2005 21:30
To: Roger Dimmick
Subject: Guest Driver - 17/04/05
Roger
I just wanted to say
‘thank-you’ for the fantastic day that my father and I had on our
‘Guest Driver’ day last Sunday.
Despite the
authenticity of the weather we had an enjoyable and memorable day.
Roger and Chris provided clear, patient tuition achieving a perfect
balance between the fun and serious nature of the job. They were
great company and superb ambassadors for the railway (although
preaching to the converted). It certainly provided a unique way to
view the line and the operation of the railway.
I still think my
father cannot quite believe what happened - the look on his face was
a picture at times. I too was impressed by how much we could and did
get to try for ourselves - I was particularly proud of my braking
skills approaching Minffordd in the afternoon - even my wife
commented how smoothly we came to a standstill !!
Thanks to you and all
the staff for providing us with such a memorable day. My four year
old daughter Sophie is a convert to the railway and a future
volunteer if I get my way!
Kind regards
Simon
From: Colin Sagar
Sent: 23 September 2004 20:49
To: Roger Dimmick
Subject: Guest Driver
Roger
I have just completed a Guest Day driving on the FR and would
like to thank you and all the others involved for a wonderful
experience, I was made to feel most welcome. The experience was
even better than I had hoped.
The whole experience of being on the footplate - driving and
firing along the whole length of the line - to the opportunity
to see from the footplate the skill of the original engineers in
fitting the line into the contours of the valley, exploring the
works and observing the quality of the work being undertaken
highlighted the special place the FR has.
A really super day. Again ‘thank-you’ to the team for making it
possible.
Colin Sagar
From: Idris Jones
Sent: 26 June 2004 17:17
To: Roger Dimmick
Subject: Ffestiniog Railway Guest Driver Programme
Roger
Just a brief note to thank you for a terrific day as a Guest
Driver last Saturday. It was superb experience, which I enjoyed
very much and will treasure for years to come.
Would you please convey my appreciation to the driver and the
fireman on ‘Linda’ [I believe they were Paul Martin and Pete
Freestone] for their attention and patience and for helping to
make it such an enjoyable event.
Many thanks and every good wish to the Ffestiniog Railway.
Idris
From: Jerry and
Sonia Oakey
Sent: 21 May 2004 16:57
To: Roger Dimmick
Subject: Thank you
Hi Roger
Please pass our thanks to Peter and Paul who looked after us so
patiently and Richard the Guard who looked after the guests. We
had a splendid day and are now trying to decide what to do next.
I will certainly try and arrange a week next summer once I go
back to sea and have a longer leave to fit in some footplate
volunteering.
Thanks again
Jerry and Sonia Oakey
From: David
Edwards
Sent: 19 April 2004 15:05
To: Roger Dimmick
Subject: Guest driver event
Roger
Simply a note to thank all concerned for a most enjoyable and
enlightening experience on Saturday. It was done in a very
professionally yet friendly and supportive way - congratulations
and ‘thank-you’.
By the way, I think you undersell the event (though as I didn’t
make the booking I may have missed out on some of the info). One
of the things that made the event particularly special was that
'we had our own train'. It wasn't (as I'd assumed it would be) a
question of being on the footplate of a timetabled service: it
was just there for us and our families, and all the more special
because of it!
Regards
David Edwards
From: Roger Van
Praet
Sent: 06 April 2004 21:08
To: Roger Dimmick
Subject: FR Guest Driver Programme
Hi Roger,
Good to meet you on Saturday & 'put a face to a name’!
Please pass on my thanks and appreciation to Tony & Chris for
their patience and expert advice on Saturday - once again a
hugely enjoyable day.
I am keen to get more involved - cleaning, polishing,
de-greasing, fetching & carrying, making the tea - who should I
speak to?
Look forward to hearing from you.
Best wishes,
Roger
[NOTE - Roger Van Praet is now a fully-qualified FR Fireman]
From: Gordon Webb
Sent: 05 April 2004 15:52
To: Roger Dimmick
Subject: Guest Driving Day.
Dear Mr. Dimmick,
I would just like to thank you for arranging such an enjoyable
day for my father and myself on Saturday 27th March 2004. We had
a really wonderful time. Please pass on our thanks to Ray and
John for making the day such a good one. Also could you pass on
our thanks to David, the Guard, for looking after our guests so
well, and the catering staff for preparing such delicious
lunches for us all.
We hope to see you again sometime.
Many thanks and best wishes to you all.
Gordon Webb
From: Chris Farrar
Sent: 22 September 2003 19:27
To: Roger Dimmick
Subject: Guest driver
Hi Roger
Many thanks for
organising the Guest Driver day last Saturday, it was like having
all your Christmas's and birthdays on one day!!!!
The train crew were brilliant giving good instruction and showing
plenty of patience. The only way to improve the day is to make it a
weekend!
Once again thanks for a memorable day.
Chris Farrar
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