PLATFORM

Steam will survive but there may be fewer locomotives in operation

IN calling on square-rigged sailing ships, chariots, postage stamps and quinqueremes among others to support his proposition that steam preservation will move into the past, but then rendering it a truism by providing no timescale for this, in Platform, issue 278, David Holt squandered the opportunity to take a reasoned look at the future of steam locomotive operation over a meaningful timescale – say the next 20 years.

There are, in my view, two key questions to address. Will there continue to be a significant supply of operational steam locomotives? Secondly, will there be railway lines on which they can run?

There is little doubt that steam locomotives are becoming more expensive to operate. As a consequence, there will be a decline in the number of operational locomotives, particularly on the national network. This downward trend will inevitably see some exceptions, whether through the largesse of hedge fund owners or the efforts of the promoters of new engines such as A1 Tornado.

Incidentally, I found Mr David’s comments about ‘modellers’ quite extraordinary and frankly insulting to all of the people who are building these replicas or funding them, and to the huge numbers of the public that have followed Tornado over recent years.

Moreover, the success of events like Thomas the Tank Engine and the Santa specials suggests steam engines exercise a draw that continues to reach new generations for whom a glossy DVD or visit to a museum is no real substitute.

Excursions

So, where will these steam locomotives operate? My view is that on the national railway we will see a continuing decline in one-off excursions, and their probable disappearance