Let’s have more vintage carriages on the main line
I felt that I had to write and offer an alternative view to David Essame’s letter advocating for the retirement of Mk 1 carriages from the main line in favour of more modern carriages, providing a more comfortable environment and ride (SR552).
I fondly remember the experience of riding through the tunnels of the Metropolitan Line on the Bluebell Railway’s Chesham set in 2013, as part of the London Underground 150 celebrations. To be riding in non-corridor, wooden-bodied stock, behind steam, on the modern railway – it was such a privilege, and one that
I wish I could experience again, at greater speeds, out on Network Rail tracks. I too might advocate moving away from Mk 1s, but in favour of carefully maintained, wellkept heritage rolling stock of a generation before. I have ridden in such rolling stock on main lines in Australia and Europe. Why not here? The holistic experience of riding in period-appropriate stock far outweighs the plush, soulless comforts of a Mk 3 or Mk 4.
Obviously, the risks are higher. If, heaven forbid, such a train were to be involved in a collision or derailment, the likely results would be much more serious than a modern train in a similar situation. I would personally accept these risks; considering how many millions of train miles run a year and how rare incidents of such a serious nature are on our modern railway, the likelihood of such a train and such an incident being in the same place at the same time are vanishingly small.
Finally, I must take issue with the tired old trope that photographers ‘contribute nothing towards the costs of running steam specials on the main line’. I count many railway photographers among my friends, all of whom are actively involved in railway preservation in one way or another; all of whom routinely spend their money at heritage railways; all of whom enjoy the occasional railtour from the cushions rather than the lineside. Let’s put this idea that all photographers are freeloaders to bed once and for all. Jamie Green, by email