"How refreshing to visit somewhere like this - excellent value for money. My boy loved it".
Two girls aged about 5 said "the smell and atmosphere" was the best thing about the day.
For lots of children it was clearly their first railway experience.
We donated £8,358 to the Railway Children Charity.
Estimated attendance 6,000 people.
4136 paying adults came through the gate plus a significant number of children and also London Midland families.
We undertook a customer feedback survey of the public reaction to our Centenary Open weekend.
Over 95% of visitors surveyed rated the event good value for money.
Whilst inevitably the majority of visitors were from the Midlands, it was astonishing how far people had travelled, with a record from Aberdeen (by overnight sleeper)!
A significant number of visitors travelled by train using the London Midland and Chiltern train services which stopped specially at Tyseley station on both days.
The turntable "theatre" and the high level of steam engine activity surrounding it were the aspects most visitors particularly enjoyed, followed by Puffing Billy rides and access to footplates. Visitors really enjoyed the railway context - getting close up to steam engines on shed. |
