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Heritage Railway Opinion - 16 February 2012

The big West Somerset Railway gala in late March is always a great way to kick off the new season proper. The Fab Four gala at Barrow Hill in April, which will feature the long-awaited line-up of an A1, A2, A3 and A4, seems to get better by the week and for LNER fans it is a must visit, as will be the line-up of all six streamlined A4s when (no longer if) it happens, thanks to the perseverance of Steve Davies and colleagues.

Duchess of Sutherland will be unveiled in its new BR Brunswick green livery in early March and we are told that the restoration of Flying Scotsman by Ian Riley is now progressing in leaps and bounds and late spring should see it relaunched into traffic.

Personally, I am looking forward to the Steel, Steam & Stars III gala at Llangollen in late April, full details of which can be found on page 88.

The 6880 Betton Grange project team all but invented the ‘mega gala’ in which they hired as many appropriate locomotives as they could for the first event in the hope that the extra crowds would cover the cost, and made a sizeable profit. As again, variety is the spice of life and we will be able see and photograph Tornado in the magnificent landscape of the Dee Valley for the first time.

Then there is the reopening of the Epping Ongar Railway, now with two ready-to-run GWR locomotives. At long last we have an operational steam railway directly on the doorstep of the capital. Indeed it will be a brilliant year for railway heritage but the aforementioned six A4s line-up apart, will it ever be bettered? Will it ever be as good again?

These splendid galas and other special events are bringing in the crowds and there are many who merely watch from the lineside rather than ride on the trains. For them it is often the greatest free show on earth, although photographers contribute greatly to the movement by sending their pictures to the media and thereby generating free advertising.

We have seen over the past 61 years what heritage railways can do for us. Now more than ever we need to ask ourselves – what can we do for our heritage railways?

Last year, many railways recorded bumper passenger figures, at least partly due to the ‘staycation’ effect, but such statistics serve only to mask soaring costs and overheads.

Every one of them is crying out for volunteers in every department, from the permanent way gang to the ticket office and administrative duties. Even armchair supporters are more than welcome, helping to swell membership ranks.

Buy a meal at the railway rather than in the local pub. If you are looking for railway books or DVDs or a gift for an enthusiast, see if they are available from the station shop – many are remarkably well-stocked and competitively priced. Conversely, if you are pruning your collection of books, models or artefacts, consider donating them to a railway that can turn them into fundraising items.

If you see a railway appeal, such as for the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway landslip repairs or the Loughborough station canopy, at least donate your small change.

I am convinced that there is always something, no matter how small a gesture, that every reader could do. While heritage railways are widely recognised as an essential plank of local economies, there is no guarantee that they will survive in perpetuity if physical support wanes. There are no bankers’ bonuses for failure here: the hard fact of life is that in preservation, it is sleeves rolled up or bust.

Robin Jones
Editor