THE NEW MEANING OF ‘PRESERVATION’
OUR INDUSTRY INSIDER ON THE MOVEMENT’S BIGGEST TOPICS
WHILE THE inevitable focus of the heritage rail industry is on its long-term future, one has to wonder if we’ve become so preoccupied with the issue that the actual act of preservation has been forgotten. However, you only have to look towards the East Somerset Railway to see a shining ray of hope for the future. The overhaul of ‘Large Prairie’ tank No. 4110 in three years is a jaw-dropping event in its own right, and one can only look on in awe at the individuals that worked tirelessly to make it happen. To the individuals behind the scenes and those with spanners, cutting torches and paintbrushes, I say ‘bravo’.
If we peel back the layers of the onion of this project, we find something else that is truly meritorious – cooperation. This wasn’t just the achievement of one railway, but two, as the locomotive is actually owned by the Dartmouth Steam Railway and River Boat Company. Two heritage railways have come together for mutual benefit, and the outcome is a shiny ex-Barry locomotive ready to pull trains for at least the next ten years. From a business point of view, this is a project that not only returns an engine to service but adds value to both organisations, one in the short-term and one in the long-term – a real business sustainability project with real business thinking behind it.
Thinking outside the box, and challenging the normal conventions and methods, will bring rewards in the coming years. Collaboration will also, and needs to, become a watch word within this sector in the years to come. I have often said that the heritage railways sectors motto would seem to be ‘semper feci quod modo’, which loosely translates to ‘we have always done it that way’, and we need to cast that sentiment aside like a used facemask as soon as possible. This project challenges the normal method of slow progress as money becomes available, and delivers a project motivated by a strong business case, not just pure enthusiasm. This is the way we need to think if we are to survive. Business should not be a dirty word but a proud boast that drives innovation and success. Heritage can be the brand, but real imaginative business thinking should be the tool.
If this project becomes a metaphor for the change that’s needed in this sector, it will have done more than restore a steam engine. The need to change and adapt has never been stronger, and never before have we needed to call out those who stand in the way of this change. To those who want to wind back the clock to see heritage railways run on a wing and a prayer, I call you out as dinosaurs. We are in new times and we require new approaches. Those among us who wish to continue flogging a dead horse, to give us one last hurrah, need to be politely thanked for all they have done in the past, then gently ushered towards the door.
Well done to both railways, not only for restoring a lovely classic locomotive, but also for showing what ambition and good business sense can achieve – and that there is hope.
TO THOSE WHO WANT TO WIND BACK THE CLOCK TO SEE HERITAGE RAILWAYS RUN ON A WING AND A PRAYER, I CALL YOU OUT AS DINOSAURS