Brown Jonathan - The Railway Preservation Revolution

THE

RAILWAY PRESERVATION REVOLUTION

A HISTORY of BRITAINS HERITAGE RAILWAYS

JONATHAN BROWN

First published in Great Britain in 2017 by

Pen & Sword Transport

An imprint of Pen & Sword Books Ltd

47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire S70 2AS

Copyright Jonathan Brown 2017

The right of Jonathan Brown to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor by way of trade or otherwise shall it be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

ISBN 978 1 47389 117 3

eISBN 978 147389 119 7

Mobi ISBN 978 147389 118 0

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Preservation projects and openings, 1960-1979

Some unsuccessful preservation projects, 1960-1979

Some preserved railways opened, 1979-2000

Extensions, 1979-2000

Heritage railway projects and openings, 2001 onwards

Extensions planned and completed since 2001

Talyllyn Railway traffic figures, 1960-1970

I t was while riding on one of the preserved railways that the thought came: theres already a fifty-year history to these railways that deserves study. On sharing this thought with my wife, she said, That seems like a project for you. Fifty years since the foundation of the first preserved railway became sixty, sixty-five and more, so this book has had a gestation similar in length to most preservation schemes.

There are now several preserved or heritage railways that have been in operation for forty years or more a remarkable achievement in itself but for many the longest period of settled ownership in their history. Its longer than the time they were part of British Railways, and longer than the period of the grouped railways. In the 1950s these preserved railways were curiosities, but now they are part of the fabric of British social and economic life. They are part heritage attraction alongside the stately homes and ancient monuments, part leisure activity, good for a day out with Thomas the Tank Engine, part form of transport, and for some a thriving business, generating millions for the local economy.

These railways are about preserving our history. Yet, characteristically, their own history has had little attention. The exception is the Welsh narrow-gauge railways the pioneers on the Talyllyn and Ffestiniog, for example. The revival of the Welsh Highland Railway was such an epic struggle that already half a dozen books have been written about it. Elsewhere though, coverage is patchy, so I hope my attempt to draw together some of the broad themes of the railway preservation story will stimulate attention.

Theres plenty of scope. I havent covered anything like the range of social and economic aspects alluded to earlier. And this story is drawn almost entirely from the published record, mostly in magazines, with a small amount of oral history mixed into that. The magazines do not give all the story, however, and that includes the journals of the preservation societies.

This story is about the preserved railways as operational entities. It does not detail the locomotives, coaches and other artefacts preserved on the railways, although they enter the story at appropriate points. I also do not cover railway museums and centres, independent workshops and engineering establishments for the preserved railways. Even with such exclusions, theres still some blurring around the edges of defining what is a preserved (or heritage) railway. I have not worried about such things. There are probably slight discrepancies between figures for numbers of railways derived from different sources; otherwise the effect is limited.

My father introduced me to the concept of preserved railways many years ago. He was a great supporter of the Talyllyn Railway in many ways a few of his photographs are included here. As this project got going he did a lot of research, checking references. He died a few years ago, so unfortunately hasnt seen the end result. My brother is among several people who have read drafts of the text, including my wife Patricia and Peter Bosley; he provided photographs as well as helpful comment. I am grateful, too, to Mark Casson, who provided a forum at the Centre for Institutional Performance in the University of Reading, where I presented a paper trying out some of the arguments contained in this book; the comments by members of that conference were further help. John Scott-Morgan has been a stimulating and supportive editor. He came up with the title as well. Peter Waller of the Online Transport Archive was a great help in finding photographs. Finally my thanks go to all those staff and volunteers on the railways I have visited during the course of research and writing, for sharing their enjoyment of working on these lines. In many ways this is their book.