Monday, September 12, 2011

Full steam on the prom?

A suggestion arrives from Doctor Grigor:

Dear Gurners,
as you aware most seaside resorsts have various attratctions to bring folk in e.g sealife centres, etc. But Nairn sems to be lacking in such things . So I have come up with an idea of which I have been thinking of for many a year .What a prime location nairn would be for a miniature railway, perhaps along the seafront . Running perhaps from the harbour to the Links or perhaps a little bit further, what a super attraction that would be for the town. taking in such wondertfull views as the train heads along the seafront! I know a project like this would not be cheap but I am sure there are lottery grants etc and a bit of fundraising would help, any views please ?

15 comments:

Haymarket last stop said...

What a good idea. I understand Edinburgh has started a similar scheme, something to do with trams :-)

Anonymous said...

Oh my God what a horrible thought...I hope its a wind up!
and no- I don't mean the train.
That would ruin Nairn forever and spoil a beautiful area of the town.

Anonymous said...

People can walk or cycle to take in the view, wihout noise of a steam train chugging along.

Anonymous said...

Some people may go off the rails, others may be chuffed by this idea
then again it might be on the right track or would it signal a disaster, drop us a line please.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like someone is steaming, this would give the wrong signals for Nairn, we need a more permanent way forward out of the mess.

Anonymous said...

The biggest laugh on this site for a long time. The just thought of the idea is so ridiculous!
Only in Nairn could some individual who obviously still lives in the last century, come up with the idea. Made me laugh SO much.
Other towns and cities come up with 21st century tourism policies, so should Nairn and not get stuck in the Victorian age.

Anonymous said...

i find it hard to beleive that some folk are very quick to diss ideas that some folk put forward but dont seem to put forward any ideas of there own.
when most holiday makers go on a holiday especially to a seaside resort they expect to find some form of attraction that they can talk about when they get home and what does nairn have ?????? What a perfect location for a small 7 1/2 gauge ( electric , not steam)miniature railway a quote from anonymous "
Other towns and cities come up with 21st century tourism policies, so should Nairn and not get stuck in the Victorian age"............... and when is this likely to happen then ? i amongst plenty others i have spoken to doesnt think there is a far more better location than for this ....Watch this space

Nairnite said...

"I must tell you about my holiday, it had this miniature railway, you must visit'

Hmm, somehow I think the appeal might be very limited to trainspotters and their ilk (nothing wrong with train spotting)

It's hard to believe but many folk who both live and visit Nairn appreciate it for what it is. Not a seaside resort full of arcades and attractions. Our caravan site Parkdean sees a lot of visitors, many of the who like the fact that they are beside a beach and it's free for the kids to play there. Not everyone needs to spend money to have fun, some folk just can't afford it. Look what a few rides on the showies cost if you're a family

I'm sure Nairn will continue to attract visitors who will walk along the bankie and enjoy the views with out the aid of a kiss me quick hat or a ride in a miniature train, and will return home full of happy memories of a beautiful place

I can only think that someone has a train going cheap and that's why they're trying to flog the idea?

Graisg said...

re comments not published:

The Gurn welcomes comments, contributions, articles, pictures etc but sometimes we don't use material. That's just the way it is and we don't enter into correspondence if something doesn't go up.
We're not gatekeepers to digital publishing locally however, and if anyone feels that the Gurn is holding them back why not state your views somewhere else like Facebook, Twitter, on a blog or even start your online newspaper with that new gizmo that we've linked to in a post above?

Anonymous said...

I was just about to book two weeks at Disneyland Florida, when I heard about the Nairn miniature steam railway. I'm now changing my plans, as I must spend two weeks in Nairn now.

Boy am I glad they built a miniature steam railway, as Disneyland has nothing in comparison now!

Anonymous said...

Why does everything that happens in Nairn be about bringing people here, surely we want to discourage that and keep this beautiful place for ourselves!
Not everyone is in the tourist trade or a shopkeeper.

Jim said...

Err, I don't want to discourage anyone, but I have an interest in the 2-foot ex-slate industry narrow gauge railways of North Wales, and would point out that the 'Elf and Safety people have a great deal to say about such things.

If passengers are to be carried, the legislation to be complies with is enormous - including human-proof line fencing = and steam locomotives with high pressure boilers require inspection and maintenance by qualified staff.

The North Wales lines run with more than 50% of the staff being volunteers (suitably trained and qualified, of course).

It's all a questiom of tourist numbers, really. Nairn needs the heck of a lot more attractions to bring them to the town in sufficient volume to make a new-start-up venture like this viable.

But good luck anyway. Did you know that the Toronsay Castle 2-foot railway on the Isle of Mull closed this month? Maybe the track, locos and rolling stock might be looking for a home.

Anonymous said...

Does this mean I'll have to re-book my two weeks in Disneyland?

Anonymous said...

Paris has the Eiffel tower. Blackpool has a miniature version of the Eiffel tower on its seafront. Maybe Nairn should get a miniature, miniature version of the Eiffel tower on its seafront - maybe at the railway termination point?
Imagine the postcards being sent home by tourists proudly saying they'd been up the 8 foot high Nairn Tower!

Jane Harkiss said...

Hey, I'm definately not Victorian and I love it. Particularly the suggestion (my own) that it has cute men on it selling snax & pop.