When the Ratty was put up for sale by auction in 1960, Doug brought his friend Guy Moser into the short but intensive campaign to secure the future of the line. Moser did all the legal work when
it was bought by the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway Preservation Society supported by Colin Gilbert and Sir Wavell Wakefield, who then appointed Ferreira as the new general manager, because of his experience gained as a volunteer on the newly reopened Festiniog Railway.
During Ferreira's era, many changes occurred on the railway including the arrival of new locomotives - River Mite, Northern Rock, Royal Anchor, Shelagh of Eskdale, Lady Wakefield and Bonnie Dundee. Many saloon coaches appeared, and two locomotives based on 'Northern Rock', 'Northern Rock II' and 'Cumbria' were constructed for export to Japan.
Ferreira was able to think laterally, and he came up with many pioneering ideas, able to solve problems. Many other railways benefited from his work on the Ratty and his efforts to turn the Minor Railways Association into the heritage railways movement. High among many things was the complete relaying of the R&ER track, using hardwood sleepers and rail of a uniform heavy weight.
In 1975, the Ratty faced a problem - there was need to operate one train in section, as opposed to a time interval system. As conventional train staff and ticket was not practical, Uwe Jens Jansen a friend of Ferreira helped him introduce a new radio control and train order system based on European practice, which Jansen had taken from Hamburg to the Zillertalbahn in Austria.
In 1994, Ferreira retired as general manager, and the following year was awarded an O.B.E. for his services to tourism.[1] In his retirement, he continued with his interest in the Ratty, and also worked as a consultant on railway projects worldwide from the Darjeeling Himalaya to Syria.
