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Heritage Railway Opinion - 5 August

Again, the massive public support shown for this project, based around the concept of creating a national memorial engine, is making it Britain’s fastest standard gauge new-build project; and as with Tornado, kudos will snowball further every time a major component like this appears.

A big thank you therefore to everyone who has helped make this stage of the project possible, and also to those readers who have contributed to the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway’s planned landslip appeal. Since we reported it in our last issue, £60,000 has been donated – even though the appeal has not been officially launched yet.

Elsewhere, it has been an absolutely brilliant month for milestones both big and small: the completion of the overhaul of the T9 ‘Greyhound’ in time for the Bodmin & Wenford Railway’s unique LSWR gala on 2-5 September; the reassembly of King Edward II, another one they said couldn’t be done; and the entry into passenger traffic of one of preservation’s longest-running restoration schemes, Churchward heavy freight 2-8-0 No 2807, which began in 1981.

Then there was the triumphant return, and departure, of steam from Birmingham New Street, courtesy of ‘Lizzie'.

Railway heritage, however, is not just about the big-name locomotives, as we have strived to highlight from our very first issue. It is often the smaller venues that set the pace.

I was delighted to see the return to action of a steam crane tank at the Foxfield Railway. Fringe interest maybe, and Flying Scotsman it certainly isn’t, but its presence adds another dimension to the heritage portfolio.

The less well-known venues like Northamptonshire’s Wicksteed Park Railway occasionally come into their own, with the recent gala featuring three Kerr Stuart Wrens in steam on a line so long dependent on internal combustion locomotives. If you want to see a different combination of three Wrens, try the Devon Railway Centre’s 14/15 August gala.

For me, a splendid initiative is the establishment of what is hoped will be the start of a national museum of miniature railways next to the Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway. They have often sat awkwardly on the fringe of the preservation sector, yet just like their full-size counterparts, they have a big story to tell.

Many readers will have fond memories of travelling on one as a youngster: many of the steam locomotives that have survived are now much older than the BR Standards that run on our heritage lines. The development of the seaside holiday is a huge piece of 20th-century social history, and these miniature railways were so often a major focal point of happy times by the coast. It is easy to dismiss them as models, in some cases clumsy-looking freelance petrol-engined representations of the ‘real thing’, yet unlike models, they were fully-fledged revenue-earning operations.

The museum organisers now want to hear from anyone who has photographs or other memorabilia of seaside miniature railways which can form part of the museum collection. They also want to hear from owners of locomotives and rolling stock who might be prepared to loan them for display at the new indoor premises. This venture deserves maximum support; anyone who might be willing to help out should contact the museum directly or the Heritage Railway editorial office.

Its emergence shows that there are still many aspects of railway history on which we could do more. Industrial narrow gauge may not be to everyone’s taste, and that is exactly why ventures like the Moseley Railway Trust’s splendid new line and museum at Apedale Country Park near Stoke-on-Trent is priceless. Again, it is too easy to concentrate on the glamorous aspect of the ‘big’ railway and forget the treasures that lie on the fringe of the popular subject.

Our Premier League railways are the envy of many other tourism-related businesses.

But while they concentrate on running well-filled passenger trains, they do not always have the resources to devote attention to detail. A rotting boxvan may be bonfire material to a big line, whereas a volunteer at a smaller venue may take it on as a personal project and produce a gem after a few years of spare-time work. The message is – everyone and everything has a place and a part to play.

Robin Jones
Editor