Recreating the magic.

What is the Movement all about? Is it about reliving the fun we had way back then? Yes. I think it is and that's why I think some railways have it right and some less so.

Last summer I visited the SVR and the first down train was hauled by 7714 bunker first. Great I thought all I have to do is wait for the next up train and I'll get a decent shot of it chimney first. To cut a long story short, I ended up waiting all day and saw 6 different locos but the pannier never returned. I drove to Bridgenorth and there it was sat on shed. Presumably failed or awaiting attention or maybe an evening working. The thing was, I had a great day full of anticipation and surprises, it was reminiscent of how it used to be.

Very few lines can do this, many are totally predictable (even without Realtime Trains, which would spoil the fun altogether!) . That's why I like the SVR . Only the NYMR, GCR and a couple of others are in this league in my view, but the SVR rules OK?

 

Depends what you mean by "how it used to be" I suspect your views would be very different from mine!

One "how it used to be" is definitely "not on". Modern passengers would not tolerate for one moment, the dirt which was almost universal from the latter part of the steam era.

PH

 

i was referring to the magic, the adolescent thrill, akin to gambling or sex in it's essence.

 

It is not uncommon for a Bewdley loco to be replaced at Bridgnorth. Boiler washouts and piston exams are done at Bridgnorth so the loco will work a down train and a replacement loco will be attached. Gives the guard an extra job when a GWR loco is replaced by a non GW loco as the strings have to be pulled. This is of course replicating history such as Oxford where a SR loco would take over a train.

You do have a choice at SVR - see what turns up or look on the website under our "Meet our locos page.

 

I wouldn't dream of looking it up! When you don't know what will turn up next it's much more fun. Best part of the SVR in particular. Many lines lack that.

 

When you are a Bewdley during a Gala you cannot even guess which direction the next train is going to arrive from, never mind which Loco will be on it Using the WTT takes all the fun out of it.

 

absolutely, Highley or Hampton Loade would be favourites, love to sit in the sun watching the signals or listening for block bells.

 

An example of that special magic happened to me in 1989 in Perth WA. One afternoon we happened to be passing Perth Station I obtained permission for a one hour pass from my wife to spend some time on the station. I knew that the three main routes that operated at the time all crossed at the main station to allow change of route. I went up onto the main foot bridge and waited, the first train arrived closely followed by the second. I knew that the remaining train was the one from Freemantle so I strained my eyes through the sea of semaphore signals and saw what looked like a plume of steam, it was a Baltic tank on eight coaches ! It made my holiday in Oz.

 

that's the magic I spoke of.

 

About 20 years ago I'd finished my day volunteering at the SVR and had just got off my train home at Rowley Regis, And was waiting for Dad to pick me up and I heard a whistle, I turned round to see 7325, storming up the bank to Old Hill tunnel, as well as putting a smile on my face several passengers off my stopper seemed happy to see it too, totally unexpected but such a lovely surprise.

 

Bit of an SVR theme here!

I remember one very late evening rescue (rescue loco 7819, loco being rescued 4566) in September 1979. With just 3 of us there to see it we chuffed northwards under an absolutely clear stary, full moon sky without a breath of wind. Conditions were such that on looking back our trail of steam just hung in the sky static for miles behind us eerily lit by the moon.

Absolute magic! - and nobody had a camera.

 

You’re doing sex wrong.

 

I agree, the magic comes from the not knowing. Last winter I was driving to the tip, which is near Temple Meads station in my home city of Bristol. As I was waiting at the traffic lights to pass under the railway, near the station throat, in filthy weather, a Bulleid Pacific passed by above. I have no idea which one it was and even though I could have checked - or even followed it in my van down to the station - I prefer not to find out more but keep that one snapshot memory. Each a glimpse and gone forever!

 

Agree with all of the above! The other similar 'thrill of the unknown' can be found at the GCR on gala days! Unless you study the timetable in advance, there's always a chance are that a goods will arrive when the boards are pulled off!

 

I'm sorry, was it not good for you?

 

I had that experience there, except it was a LE driver experience session.

 

You need to rethink your age groups here. How many of the current people in the "movement" actually had any fun "back then"? I'm not old enough, and I'm in my 50s. And how many heritage railway volunteers are photographers or trains spotters from the "good old days"?

These might be your criteria for continuing to visit or volunteer at steam railways, but I think you're in one of a many different minorities who are involved for very different reasons.

 

Thsi was a magic moment for me. Poor picture due to falling snow but I would not have believed that this was possible 40 years previously when I used to wait for Circle line trains at Barbican. Made extra special because one of my sons was with me.

 

how sad. You had no fun in your heyday watching the trains go by?

The Good Old Days are different for all of us.
mine were late sixties/early seventies,
it doesn't matter what the traction is, it's the memories.

 

A good point, I'm a spotter and a photographer from the good old days, the latter at the end of those days. It's difficult to get across the thrill of train watching back then. I remember a group of us going to Rugby in 1960 and finding a spot by the WCML just where the GC went over the top so despite the EE Type 4s contaminating the scene there was still a bevy of Duchesses, Scots and Jubilees to see with V2s and B1s on the GC. There was also the thrill of the unexpected, as I recall on that day a B16 on the GC, a rare Polmadie Duchess and a Bristol Barrow Road Jubilee on the WCML. Where does the young generation of of enthusiast get the same interest today? I can go down to my local station, Leighton Buzzard, on the modern high speed busway and see a Pendelino rush through on the fast line and know that the next one will be a Pendelino and the next etc.. On the slow line the same self shunting coaches one after the other. Most of my generation who got involved in the early days of preservation it was because we wanted to recreate some of that magic. The next generation will have to be motivated in a different way.