Too much for me!

I had intended going to the Swanage gala last weekend, but the day ticket price of £25 I considered beyond reasonable, I mentioned it to a friend who agreed and quoted West Somerset's price for their 2016 do, again around the £25 mark.

By the time one takes into account cost of getting there, parking and other expenses incurred and no seniors concessions I can see me finding a convenient field or crossing point with my camera or not bothering at all.

Last time I went a couple or three years ago it was only £14 for a day, so £25 is a considerable hike.

Be interesting to see the attendance figures Mike.

I know these events cost a pretty penny to stage but it's a great pity the real enthusiasts are priced out of the game.

I wouldn't mind quite so much if I had been able to get there for a full day, but to arrive around 3pm and be expected to fork out full day price and no senior concessions either … … … … …

Perhaps it's the insurance cost. I heard on the news tonight of a show being cancelled,in Dorset i think, due to the cost of insurance and they mentioned it might be because of the air show disaster a few months ago.If that is the reason i can see a lot of shows biting the dust.

We had a kerfuffel a few years ago, when local disasters sent insurance premiums through the roof.  It meant my old club having to join the NMRA to get coverage as the local exhibition stopped insuring exhibitors.

The club ceased to exist as an entity, but survives today as a Special Interest Group (SIG), of the NMRA.  It means increased membership fees, but it's much cheaper than buying insurance ourselves.

Individual exhibitors are covered by their home and contents insurance, but clubs have to foot the bill themselves.

£25 isn’t too bad for an all day steam gala how much is it to go to a football match £25-45 for 90miniuts to watch 22 men running round a green field after a bag of wind and getting paid way too much too NO THANK YOU

I actually wouldn't pay 25p to go to a football match and totally agree with you about overpaid prima-donnas.

However, for anyone living on just the state pension, finding £25 extra could be difficult I'd guess…………………  Maybe dropping the price wouldn't attract enough extra visitors to cover the price drop, in which case, they've pitched the price right.

The question is, do you "pile 'em high and sell 'em cheap" or "keep it mean to keep 'em keen" ………………….?  :hmm

Seems a shame that they don't do a reduction for OAP's though.Bit tight that.

What is too expensive is relative to each individual's personal circumstances and whims.

For all events there will be some cost element of travel and possibly parking unless within walking distance or one is of an age (and nationality) where one has free bus travel and that is an option.

It's sad to see people apparently being priced out of these events particularly when they are perhaps dedicated and long-time supporters of the cause but heritage railways (there aren't many "steam" railways left - even the Bluebell has given in to the infernal combustion engine) are very far from cheap to run and galas often have the additional costs of bringing in guest locos and returning them afterwards.

The all-day ticket on the Swanage Railway is currently £20 under normal circumstances which offers travel on as many trains as the user cares to ride for the day.  A premium of £5 for a special event with more trains and more locomotives running is quite modest and while the crews may all be volunteers there is more fuel to pay for and notional costs of wear and tear.

The Bluebell Railway charges £17 for a similar ticket over a line of similar length and with a £3 premium of special events (£2 if booked in advance online).  They also charged £20 for the diesel gala when the only public trains were hauled by Deltic class 55 diesels.

That would seem to be the ball-park for commercial pricing in 2015 bearing in mind that these railways seldom receive any form of financial support for providing the service over and above fares income.