Marples and Beeching

You're right of course.

I was looking at the Wyre Forest line closure earlier today, and although The Reshaping of British Railways was March 63, Beeching was pushing the Stedeford Committee to cut lines in 59 and chairman of the British Transport Commission from June 61. Beeching was as chair of the BTC handling the closure and preservation issues of the line in 61, I'm not sure there is a fixed 'before Beeching' line at 1963?

Patrick

 

The Bluebell was already shut (twice) and re-opened as a heritage line long before Beeching ...

Tom

 

I have just been given Colin Maggs book on the Wrington Vale Light Railway for Christmas

Passenger services ended in 1931

What is interesting is the significant drop in passenger numbers and freight tonnage from 1924, due I believe to bus competition

I believe most branch lines suffered similarly at about the same time

 

Although BR mileage had been contracting since the 1920s, it was only minor branch lines that were being closed until the 1950s. As you say, the traffic from these would have been an insignificant part of the total. Major rail closures began with the M& GN at the end of 1959 (Shortly after Marples became MOT, but the closure had likely been approved by his predecessor).

It is interesting to look at what road developments took place after major rail closures. For example, the A34 south of Oxford is a very busy dual carriageway, following the route of the closed Didcot, Newbury & Southampton rail line. Which makes me wonder whether the DN&S should have been retained and brought up to main-line standard. On the other hand, there is no busy major road corresponding to the Somerset & Dorset line. Did the S&D prosper only because the Midland & LSWR pushed traffic towards the S&D and away from GW routes?

 

The Bideford, Westward Ho! & Appledore has that beat by 14 years, with the ROD comandeering (or purchasing, not sure which) the three locos and track for the war effort in 1917.

 

Carelessly phrased by me, I meant "I'm not sure you can fix a time at 1963 and treat all closures prior to that as 'before Beeching'"

 

Would it perhaps be more reasonable, in BR terms, to differentiate between the piecemeal closures prior to the M&GNR being axed, to the wholesale closures made subsequently?

On the IoW, the Ryde-Newport-Cowes line closed Dec 1966, was earmarked for closure along with the Sandown-Newport line in 1956, but granted a 10 year stay of execution due to the condition of the Island's roads, so can't properly be called a victim of Beeching's axe.

The earliest BR mandated closure I'm aware of (as opposed to a closure made against a 'big four' decision ahead of nationalisation) was the narrow gauge Corris, which closed on and from Mon 22nd August 1948, the last train having run the previous Friday. Is anyone aware of an earlier purely BR closure?

 

The M&GN was the only big closure pre Beeching as far as I know. Other early closures seemed to be duplicate routes and obvious non starters like the Knott End branch and other minor branches like Bury to Holcombe Brook.

in the latter case, there was actually a considerable growth in population along the route after it closed.

 

Apologies, I was randomly rather than specifically quoting your post, just to make teh point that not all closures were Beeching closures.

The Jedburgh branch in the Scottish borders closed to passengers on 13 August 1948.

Tom

 

The S&D didn't prosper, diverted traffic or not.

the A34 was not dualled until well after the railway line closed.

 

I think much of the Hull and Barnsley was closed by 1959.

 

Thanks Tom, that was a new one to me. Seems slightly odd that whilst flooding was sufficient to kybosh passenger services for good and all, repairs to permit a resumption of goods traffic (which then lasted another 16 years) were undertaken.

 

Since when has anything being done on the railways been cheap?

 

.... including initiating cost savings measures!

 

Which contracts did he benefit from due to his ability to manipulate policy? Where did he personally benefit?

No one’s disputing that he was as bent as 9 bob note; the question is what evidence there is that his conflicts of interest caused him to direct policy or contracts in favour of the businesses he had an interest in.

Effect does not prove cause.


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If you’d ever driven between Sheffield and Manchester, you’d wish a conflict of interest had been involved; the routes are dreadful. It’s also worth note that Beeching recommended investment in Woodhead, and that closure to passengers wasn’t till Barbara Castle had ceased to be Minister of Transport. Similarly, electrification north of Weaver Junction was a later project than the initial electrification, and I’m not aware of any decisions in Marples’ time in office.


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I wish someone would write an economic history of the S&D

As far as I can make out the S&D only survived because it allowed traffic to be transferred between the Southern & LMS without involving the GWR.

I believe that the LMS looked at taking over the Southern interest in the 1930's BUT had they done so that would have ended certain agreements about transfer traffic much of which woud then have had to go via the GWR

 

That is my point - unless you can demonstrate where roads gained at the expense of railways, or where funding was diverted from railways to roads it is hard to argue that Marples' corruption cost the railways.

 

There were some good articles in Backtrack a few years ago about the closure. They suggest strongly that, without WWII and nationalisation, it’s likely that it would have closed long before BR got round to it.


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I have had a quick look through the Backtrack Index's but cant find many references to the S&D let alone closure