Seize the moment
Little can be achieved in preservation without goodwill and mutual respect. It is this happy trait that continually pulses through the veins of the steam movement, and helped bring about the magical events of February 14-16 - when a Darlington ‘Pacific’ took over some of the passenger services from Northern Rail’s DMU fleet. We covered the first hours of the three-day event last issue, but since we last went to press the full extent of the benefits that ‘Plandampf’ brought has become fully apparent. It was little surprise that we, as an enthusiast community, caught the bug. But that the general public at large - and the modern railway industry - embraced the ‘I LOVE S&C’ showpiece so warmly is what makes it worthy of greater attention now, as you’ll see across several pages in this issue. Because the event transcended to the wider consciousness so successfully, we cannot allow the concept to now meekly drift away. But for there to be more, we must now formulate a solid business case. Yet, so long as there are justifiable and robust reasons, Steam Railway urges the ‘big railway’ to perpetuate February’s leap of imagination. Network Rail and the train operating companies will achieve so much if it does. Steam already has important modern industry allies, exemplified when Transport for London succeeded in its bold ambition to run a Victorian train on the Underground four years ago, and then repeated it in 2014. The sight of ‘E’ 0-4-4T ‘Met 1’ and its train of wooden-bodied carriages was a thrilling spectacle for those who saw it - especially unsuspecting tourists, who would have been rubbing their eyes at the apparition! In this context, it’s encouraging that TfL’s former chief Executive Sir Peter Hendy CBE, who pushed for steam on the Circle Line and saw the benefits first-hand, is now chairman of NR.
Mr Hendy recognises the need for the modern railway to be supportive of the wider community, while at the same time not doing anything that might be construed as gratuitously ‘playing trains’. This was apparent when the corridors of power within NR ensured that Flying Scotsman would go over the Forth Bridge last May, at extremely short notice, when all seemed lost. This year, NR was core to the partnership that put another East Coast ‘Pacific’ onto the beleaguered S&C, and to great effect. Both events drew the kind of positive national headlines that we all want to see. But unlike steam on the Underground, or ‘Scotsman’ in Scotland, the S&C ‘Plandampf’ was open to all. Kids could travel on main line steam for less than a tenner, and railcards were accepted. Goodwill all round. The message is that with the modern industry on board, we can achieve even more great things and ensure that the ‘Plandampf’ doesn’t become a ‘wasn’t it good when…’