50 YEARS ON – HAS THE PASSION GONE?
This year will be the 50th anniversary of the famous end-of-steam ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’. So why is nobody excited?
Do anniversaries no longer matter? I ask because perhaps the biggest anniversary of all is about to pass us by without the kind of celebrations we’ve seen in the past. And nobody seems too bothered.
Some 25 years ago, Steam Railway initially ridiculed a planned 1993 celebration of 1968’s ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’ as the ‘Fifteen Guinea Fiasco’*, against a background of just one of the original engines being available and chunks of the route being out of bounds too. After initial high hopes, the train effectively ended up as a glorified ‘Cumbrian Mountain Express’, employing Duchess of Hamilton northbound over Ais Gill and ‘Black Five’ No. 44871 (the only 1968 engine to take part) plus ‘Jubilee’ No. 45596 Bahamas for the return.
The slightly disturbing fact of that now being a quarter-century ago reinforces that this summer marks the 50th anniversary of BR’s famous end-of-steam run. So… what’s being done about it?
Fire risk permitting, August 11 should involve plenty of steam over the Settle-Carlisle. However, whereas there are three separate trains, we have no ‘Black Five’ to look forward to, and Oliver Cromwell (present at both 40th and 45th anniversary celebrations) is now already confined to private lines. Instead, it looks like the Railway Touring Company’s ‘Waverley’ and ‘Cumbrian Mountain Express’ will go with ‘Jubilees’ (Leander/Galatea), and in the absence of Tornado, Pathfinder’s ‘Settle and Carlisle Golden Express’ will be Union of South Africa, owner John Cameron confirmed to me on August 7.
It’s a lot of activity – but not an attempt at an accurate re-creation. Indeed, none of those engines were even in traffic in 1968. So, you might perhaps surmise that given the reaction 25 years ago, such a situation could have prompted a burst of emotion. Particularly since in more recent years we’ve become used to pretty authentic re-runs: 2013 featured Oliver Cromwell and three ‘Black Fives’ (Nos. 44932, 45231, 45305) for the first time since 1968; in 2008 the then newly restored ‘Brit’ was there, as were ‘Black Fives’ Nos. 45231 and 45407, and ‘8F’ No. 48151.
WHERE IS THE LOVE?
So, what is the reaction this time? How many letters or emails has editor Nick Brodrick received on the subject? None. That’s right. Zero, Zilch.
So people, I ask you: has the passion gone? David Ward who, as InterCity special trains director, was one of those involved in the 1993 attempt, seems to think so – he contends that the zeal with which steam was supported back then “has largely evaporated with time.”
Is that true?
* The magazine revised its opinion after the run itself which, despite not having the right locomotive combination, proved an emotive affair with some humour too: the editor at the time, Nigel Harris, was presented with a ‘Fifteen Guinea Fiasco’ headboard. SR subsequently described the trip as turning out to be a “triumph”.
Says David Ward, in retrospect: “We’d obviously do what we could with what we’d got. You can’t do any more than that, can you?”