Heritage Railway Volunteers
Stephenson Steam Railway
Volunteers are needed to help maintain and operate our heritage railway, the North Tyneside Steam Railway, based at Stephenson Steam Railway in North Shields, which runs passenger trains on selected days during the year.
We are always looking for interested people who can spare some time. There are a wide range of volunteering opportunities available, covering virtually every aspect of the Railway’s activities. Whilst some roles require a significant time commitment and training, others do not. If you want to get your hands dirty, there are plenty of opportunities, but if manual work is not for you, there is also a wide range of choices.
Volunteering presents you with the opportunity to meet new people, from all walks of life, gain worthwhile skills and results in a real sense of achievement. Working groups are usually held on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 9.30am - 2.00pm with train operations and running days on Sundays, Bank Holidays and Thursdays during school holidays from Easter to November.
Tasks include: Railway Operational staff including guards, operations controllers, ticket inspectors, footplate crew; steam and engineering maintenance, track maintenance; painting and gardening, site tidying.
Personal qualities required/preferred: Volunteers are constantly under the public gaze, so personal appearance is important. As well as having significant safety responsibilities, you must also have good communications and personal skills, both for dealing with colleagues and the general public.
Training of volunteers: Training is available for all of these jobs; some training may take hours, for others years are required.
Thank you to Hodgson Sayers who sponsor our Young People's programme.
Find out more about opportunities
Due to the high number of applications we have received recently, we are temporarily closed to new volunteer applications.
We will review the situation in late November 2024, and update this page accordingly.
In the meantime, for other enquiries relating to volunteering please contact: volunteering@twmuseums.org.uk.
For other enquiries relating to railway operations, please call David Grindley, Engineering and Railway Operations Manager, for an informal chat on (0191) 277 7135 or email: david.grindley@twmuseums.org.uk.
