Andrew Barnes
 |
Born in Reigate in Surrey in September 1968, my father is a Chartered Railway Civil Engineer – Head of Bridge Design for BR Southern Region. He was resident engineer for electrifying the Isle of Wight Railway and rebuilding Ryde Pier. This lead to an affection for the Islands’ railways by both of us and we visit when we can.
My father also did drawings for the Ffestiniog Railway deviation and I was a regular visitor and volunteer on the FR with him from a very early age. I got to know many of the early stalwarts of the FR, many of whom are sadly no longer with us. My involvement with the FR was to influence and inspire much of what I later sought to achieve with the Bure Valley railway. I would regularly accompany my father on site visits to BR bridge works where he was working.
Father’s career later moved to National Computer workshop scheduling based at BR Board HQ. This allowed me visits to most of the BR Major Engineering works in my teens. Subsequently he was project manager for the Class 90 and DVT’s and assistant Project Manager for the East Coast Mainline Electrification. This also allowed me close access to developments on the big railway. I did not follow him into the railways but went into banking. I joined Royal Bank of Scotland in 1988, where a colleague was the late Dick Riley.
Working in the investment side of the bank for 12 years as relationship manager for Corporate Pension Funds, in 2000 I moved to the Royal Bank of Canada where I spent 14 years in their investment arm as a Relationship Manager for two major Global Structured Reinsurance clients.
In 1997 I became a director of The Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway after supporting the purchase of Sandy River No.24 from Mike Hart, based at the Bure Valley Railway. At the same time I became a volunteer at the Bure Valley Railway undertaking driving, workshop and administration roles. I quickly became drawn into resolving the financial issues the railway faced.
In 2001 I acquired the majority shareholding in The Bure Valley Railway including the £987k of debt it then carried. I set about making the railway debt free and self-financing. In 2009 I moved from Bedfordshire to Norfolk and my wife, an accountant, started working for the railway full time. I continued to work in London commuting each day.
In 2014 the railway became debt free and I resigned my bank role and became full time at the railway as Managing Director/General Manager.
During my time at the railway I have overseen:
1. The rebuilding of 22 passenger carriages
2. The construction of 4 new wheelchair accessible coaches
3. The rebuilding of 3 steam locomotives
4. Building a new Running Shed and Fabrication shop.
5. Rewiring the entire railway premises
6. Removal of gas from the site and fitting all LED lighting
7. Transforming the railway from a £300k business to a £1.5m business
8. Made the railway debt free and self-financing
9. Ordered a new Battery Electric Locomotive from Clayton Equipment
I am a regular driver on the railway both steam and diesel.
