Are we hopelessly naïve?

Your editorial pointing out that in 2022 there are 51 post-Barry engines still to be returned to steam was a statistic that needed revealing as a sharp shock to the still hopelessly naïve.

I suggest Steam Railway displays a table showing the number of engines returned to steam year by year (from any source) over, say, the last decade. This would illustrate this issue even more starkly. And then members of the heritage movement might move their focus away from dreams and towards what might still be achievable. Graham Breeze, Ilkley

Ed: We actually published something along those lines at the end of 2018, around the time Wightwick Hall became the 150th ex-Barry locomotive to steam. Since then, only two more ex-Barry locomotives have been restored: ‘9F’ No. 92134 and ‘Hall’ No. 4942 Maindy Hall (albeit as ‘Saint’ No. 2999 Lady of Legend), both in 2019. Since then, no ex-Barry locomotives have been restored, and even if Covid hadn’t intervened, it is still unlikely that any Barry locomotives would have been restored in 2020-22. By the end of this year, we’ll have gone for three consecutive years without an ex-Barry restoration for the first time ever. Except for 1982, we’ve had at least one restoration per year since 1970, when ‘4F’ No. 49324 was the first ex-Barry locomotive to return to steam. As time goes by, such restorations become ever-more challenging as parts deteriorate, materials become more expensive and resources get scarcer, so it is probable that some ex-Barry machines may never be restored. While those working tirelessly to restore such machines deserve our applause and support, the movement as a whole needs to use its limited resources wisely. Roll on the next restoration! Which do you think it will be, SR readers?

THE HERITAGE MOVEMENT MIGHT MOVE ITS FOCUS AWAY FROM DREAMS