So, why exactly did....................

So no "150 franc special" or similar commemoration in France at that time?

 

The pay rates were not BR's responsibility as it was forced by Government policies to keep them low; the post-war Governments used the nationalised industries as a (blunt) policy instrument to keep wages low and reduce inflation. That policy was the reason for the 1955 railway strike - and was one of the factors in the rapid changeover of traction when the Government funded the Modernisation Plan in return for BR managing to end the strike. Unfortunately for BR when push came to shove, the Government provided the money but then declared it to be a loan - on which it charged 8% interest per annum.

 

In simple terms Riddles wanted to initiate electrification but accepted that the Government didn't have the funds required to meet the high initial infrastructure costs (e.g. power supplies, OHLE, sub-stations etc), diesel traction was an unknown quantity but BR needed motive power hence Riddles (a) built further examples from pre-Nationalisation companies (b) designed and built a range of simple 2-cylinder locomotive classes as a stop-gap until funds became available (c) initiated the Pilot Scheme to test 174 diesel locomotives before mass ordering locomotives as further stop-gap.

 

Perhaps - BUT the East German Government had begun to realise that narrow gauge railways attracted foreign visitors and their desire for hard currency saw them maintain the narrow gauge systems as "tourist railways". Having made my first visit in 1975 and an annual visit thereafter until 1984 I can confirm that I had no problems travelling in East Germany at that time and was free to visit both standard gauge and narrow gauge locations at will. The Brocken "restriction" was only from Schierke but that was only because of its military use; the Nordhausen-Wernigerode line passed within yards of the border around Eland where train guards would aways advise caution but once clear of that portion of the line were happy for both accesses and photographs to be taken without hindrance.

 

Yes ! Don't forget that rationing continued well into the 1950s hence the Balance of Payments became a critical factor in major expenditure decisions.

 

I wonder, if steam had indeed been phased out more gradually in a planned manner would we have so many preserved locos surviving today?

 

No it doesn't.

In fact, I've just read through it to check - it's online and a pretty quick read, being only 36 pages long - and it doesn't mention fuel costs anywhere; the closest is a brief mention that "The substitution of diesel power will greatly reduce the operating costs of those slow and stopping services [...] which are retained to rail".

 

The modernisation plan was not exactly a plan. Hence why it was so short. Like another recent event there was little or nothing of substance underlying it.

 

It's unlikely, although what we have might have been a more balanced representation rather than relying on the fate of what a certain scrap yard happened to buy.

 

Indeed - it was more of a list of aspirations of what could be achieved if BR could be given the investment to do so.

The context is that Nationalisation occurred on the assumption that the railways would not run at a loss and so would not need any Treasury subsidy. However, by the early 50s, the railways were not only making an annual loss, but the size was increasing year on year and all projections were that this would continue. Hence, the Modernisation Plan, something of a "if you invest X we will cut costs and return to profit" begging letter.

 

what might have made a difference would have been if all the Black 5 and 8s had been modernised , plus all the GWR locos with Standard 1 boilers. I don't think it was even suggested.

 

The Barry phenomena only happened because BR workshops could not cope with the rate of withdrawals.

A gradual approach would still have meant a progressive standardisation on a handful of classes, so the interesting pre-grouping stuff would still have gone early. There would be lots of Black 5s, 8fs and 9fs, as there are today, and possibly more B1s, WDs and V2s.

 

The cold winter of 1947 forced coal prices up, some years ago I was speaking to a retired coal merchant, who told me that in the early 1970's the trade price of coal was just over £7 per ton.

 

Maybe, but if everything was going for razorblades within a week or two of being withdrawn, not only would we have seen many many fewer preserved locos, but isn't it arguable that the survivors would have been only what early preservation societies needed/could afford at the time, meaning smaller tank engines, and the handful of stuff that took the odd millionaries fancy.

 

You're probably right. Preservation Societies might have been able to align their fund-raising attempts with BR's phased withdrawal plan, but still I think there would have been far fewer preserved. On the other hand, those that were saved should have been complete .... no Barry Wrecks.

 

It's only Barry why there are so many preserved . Industrials were phased out and arguably did quite well as a result


Jon

 

I agree with Tim. I think the reason there are a lot of industrials preserved is because they are a more manageable project for an individual or small group and had mainline steam run it's full lifespan and disappeared gradually, we would now have more 0-4-0st and less main line and what's more we would have lost a large proportion of the older locos we now have. It was the realisation that steam was going and going quickly that kick started most preservation projects.

 

Unfortunately, industrial steam was also a victim of "The Modernisation Plan", inasmuch suffering from the major cascade of redundant B.R. diesel shunters at knockdown prices which swept through industry from the mid 1960s onwards. In particular, The N.C.B. and British Steel replaced a large swathe of their steam fleet with relatively new machines - the class 14s - for example. This "dumping" of locos also effectively killed off some of the industrial locomotive builders as well.

Although a few gems did slip through the net, we do indeed a have a good selection of preserved industrial locos, diesels included..

Cheers,

Alan

 

I believe the sale of the class 14s to British Steel finished off Rolls Royce (successor to Sentinel) as a diesel loco builder.

Regarding the large number of preserved industrial stream locos, quite a few were gifted into preservation.

 

Indeed Lester, Sentinel had an order for a fleet of "Steelman" locos for British Steel, Corby, which was cancelled when the Class 14s became avaialable. Game over for Sentinel when this happened.

Cheers,

aAlan