15/11/2023
We're Taking That..... Break
In 2020 during the pandemic changed our lives forever. For the Entertainments industry it meant the complete shutdown of the industry, during this time and an idea was born, and with the help of Train Sim World 2, a plan to use compartment stock to operates a santa train to keep soical distancing as well as creating a very different environment to those seen on other heritage line's
the show was pitched to several heritage railways with little success as many didnt know if operating would even be possible that year, And the East Midlands Today ran a story on Compartment Coaches being used at ecclesbourne valley railway,
Within days of meeting with the team there "The Train Through Christmas Countryside" was born.
This show would become the railways top selling event, and ran when all the 'major players' had cancelled, the show launched to rave reviews, and record passenger numbers, over 2021 we carried on trying to build on the success of the show. Lockdown forced us to make " The Train Through Easter Countryside'' A virtual show was filmed on a closed set at Wirksworth then shown on social media for free, then came out summer blockbuster "The Train Through Legendary Countryside" a show that really pushed the limits to what could be done on a train and again had rave reviews,
Halloween soon followed and then we had our second year of Christmas. Complete with Vlad the Security Guard …
The Train Through Christmas Countryside was a Christmas tradition and for me personally this was the most fun id ever had performing, but then came christmas eve 2021, following the shows i met with some school friends to celebrate the end of the run and the start of the christmas period, whilst walking home I was attacked from behind and left with a brain injury. I was found 2 hours later and was rushed to hospital where i was in a coma for most of christmas day, When I first woke i was determined to get better and get back to performing my shows and making you all smile. A Lot of people doubted if i would ever return to work again (some openly wished I wouldn't) and I pushed on to proved the doubters wrong. So I continued to work through it with no help from my doctors or the venue we worked with.
We managed to make a much bigger and better Halloween show and managed to perform more Christmas shows than ever before making all 3 top selling events in company history The Train Through Christmas Countryside, However as time has gone on i began to developed PTSD and christmas had become a trigger for that. During the run of shows last year i had little to no support from the venue and As 2023 began it became clear that alot had changed. Alot of the people who helped get the shows launch had moved on from the railway and this meant we pretty much were starting the whole thing again,
and put short what they wanted to offer was simply not what The Train Through Christmas Countryside is and what we know you all enjoyed for 3 years. We want our show to be affordable for everyone and not a "max profit minimum effort"
After a few months of looking into other options i have come to the decision to not run The Train Through Christmas Countryside in 2023,
Last years story called "Together" told the story of Prez and Mr Tickets being Reunited with their families. This was a story that I wrote based off my own experience of the previous Christmas as I had spent most days working and not seeing my family and friends. And then on Christmas Day itself was in a coma. So this Christmas myself. Prez (Zach) and Mr Tickets (Mark) will be Spending the festive season with our loved ones. We are so grateful for your support over the yes, and would like to thank all of the actors who helped bring amazing characters to life aboard a magical Train, and a massive thank you to all the volunteers who made the shows possible.
But don't worry, this isn't the end.
Whilst we are taking a break for 2023 we plan on returning bigger and better than ever before. Making TTCC more affordable and accessible than ever before. And we hope to talk more about that throughout 2024.
We understand this News is very disappointing to a lot of you, but we would like to assure you that we will be back and we would like to once again. Thank you for your continued support.
Enjoy wherever you had to see Santa this. Yeah, and don't forget to make a wish and hold on time.
Prez the Porter over and out
