GET YOUNGSTERS ON SIDE

I refer to the vandalism article in SR479, which reminds me of when I was young and living in Erdington, Birmingham. During school holidays I often went to Sutton Park and I spent a lot of time watching the Sutton Miniature Railway at work.

I did not have the pocket money to ride on more than the odd occasion, but I was fortunate in that two school friends were there frequently during the holidays and drove some of the trains and, although they were two or three years my senior, I suspect that they had something to do with what happened next.

I was approached by a man from the railway and asked if I would like to carry out track patrols. I readily agreed.

This involved walking the line to ensure that there was nothing fouling the track. In return I got as many free rides as I liked and, occasionally, some money. At times I was involved in gathering driftwood (a stream crossed the site) for fire lighting and in the Easter holiday and greasing the inside of the outside rail of curves. This got me doing more than ‘watching trains’.

What I would like to suggest to preserved railways is this: if young people were recruited (perhaps by advertising locally) to do some small tasks on the railway and be rewarded with free rides and maybe something more, hopefully they would not only develop a deep interest in the railway, but it would discourage anyone vandalising ‘their’ railway and perhaps recruit useful volunteers for very many years. Local young people can often be around to witness anything suspicious which they could be encouraged to pass on to the police.

CCTV may catch pictures of damage being done and those responsible, but I believe engendering support from youngsters would be a great advantage. I started at about 12!

R.M. Cashmore, by email