Swaine Geoff - A Pageant of British Steam

BR No. 34092 West Country Pacific City of Wells at Rawtenstall, the northern end of the East Lancs Railway. Pacific is the name given to any locomotive with a 4-6-2 wheel arrangement.

T he preserved railways of Britain have risen in half a century to become an industrial wonder of the world. After the Second World War, Britain continued with steam power for railways because the nation was literally bankrupt and could not afford the cost of importing diesel fuel. An abundant supply of coal was still there to be mined, so the government decreed that the country should advance forward with steam power. This was unlike other nations of Europe who had their railway systems virtually wiped out. For them, almost a complete rebuild was necessary, which would go forward with diesel and electric traction. To support the decision to proceed with steam, the British Government ordered twelve classes of new locomotives of which 999 were built.

The continuing of steam through the 1950s led to a whole new pastime evolving trainspotting. The lads had their Ian Allan spotters books which listed every single locomotive, giving their wheel arrangement, power rating and even their shed allocation. The wonder of all this was to come to an end though; in 1955, the British Transport Commission issued a document stating that within a decade all steam power would be removed from the railways, to be replaced by diesel and electric traction.

This operation proceeded in a confused manner, for while the Commission attempted to remove steam, British Railways were still building their range of Standard Class steam locomotives, a situation which carried on right up to 1960.

To speed up the railway rationalisation, an industrialist was employed to oversee the Modernisation Plan and make some recommendations. His name was Dr Richard Beeching, who issued his report in 1963. This report showed, that in his opinion, 5,000 miles of railway lines should be removed, 2,000 stations shut down and all steam power removed, taking with it all the sheds and paraphernalia which supported the steam industry. Oh, and also thousands of rail jobs would go, leaving many men who had family traditions in the railways without employment. As could be imagined, the name Beeching became notorious in a nation who loved industry and steam power. The Beeching Plan was put into operation, with his full closure plan being achieved by 1973.

It is true that Britain had too many railway lines. In Victorian times, the railway mania was being led by private industrialists, whose only thoughts were in capital gain. The government and population of the day were all caught up in the wonder of the new transport system and how for the first time the ordinary person could travel beyond the confines of their own town or village. Rail lines went to the coast, thereby making holidays available for the first time. At the time all those coastal places were just little villages and hamlets. Once the railways arrived they grew to become the resorts they are today.

Likewise, industry was caught up in it all. Cotton could be delivered in hours to the inland mills rather than days by canal. Coal could be delivered to all the industry which needed it. The residents of inland towns could eat fresh fish for the first time with the product reaching them the same day it arrived in the ports.

The fast and almost uncontrolled expansion of the railways in the 1800s led to many routes being duplicated, with many towns being served by more than one private railway company. This didnt happen in the other countries of Europe, as those systems were generally government planned, whereby the end product was ordered and methodically produced. A century later, the duplication of lines in Britain did prove to have an advantage because in wartime, when the railways were targeted by bombs, it often turned out that there was an alternative route not very far away.