Heritage Rail Companion
An event companion app for UK heritage railway enthusiasts — a calendar of upcoming galas and steam events with confirmed locomotive line-ups, ticket booking, an in-app spotting guide for the locos running, a weather-aware day planner, and family-friendly filters.
UK heritage railway enthusiasts and families planning a heritage railway day out
- Calendar of upcoming galas with confirmed locomotive line-ups (e.g. the West Lancashire Summer Gala)
- Locomotive spotting guide with history, dimensions, and 'where to stand for the best photo' tips
- Weather-aware day planner with food-and-drink stall info and accessibility notes
- Ticket booking integration with major heritage railways
Heritage railway galas are a recurring summer draw in the UK; enthusiasts currently juggle Facebook groups, individual railway websites, and weather forecasts to plan a day out.
Niche but proven: HRA represents 173 railways, 22,000 volunteers and 4,000 paid staff (560 miles of track), with active Steam/Diesel gala circuit confirmed across multiple 2026 events; however the Heritage Railway Enthusiasts Facebook page only has ~1,282 likes, signalling a small enthusiast addressable market.HRA resources | Heritage Railway Association ↗Heritage Railway Enthusiasts - Facebook ↗
Almost no whitespace: Raildays is a near-identical live iOS/Android app covering 150+ UK heritage railways with events calendar, plus RailAdvent, Trecanrail and heritage-railways.com already serve the gala-listing and lineup-announcement use cases.Home - Raildays ↗RailAdvent ↗Gala Calendar (All) | Trecanrail ↗
Weak: Raildays (the direct competitor) is free with no visible premium tier, enthusiast Facebook group is tiny, and gala tickets (typically £20-40+) go to the railways themselves rather than to a third-party companion app; limited evidence of willingness to pay.Home - Raildays ↗Autumn Steam Gala - tickets.gcrailway.co.uk ↗
Strong: heritage rail is a long-established UK institution with 173 operational lines, 100+ supporting societies, and recurring annual galas — the sector has multi-decade stability and seasonal predictability.HRA resources | Heritage Railway Association ↗HRA events | Heritage Railway Association ↗
Buildable but maintenance-heavy: standard mobile app with events/weather is straightforward, but reliable lineup data requires ongoing curation/scraping across 150+ venues each operating their own booking system.Home - Raildays ↗