Quote:
Originally Posted by 62440
It's all about "Bums on seats" and if people are going to make return visits then the "Product" has got to be displayed in an as attractive as possible condition. To turn out locos (and stock) in as filthy a condition as I recall from the late 1950's-early 1960's is just going to send Joe Public home with a poor impression and an unwillingness to return, ever. Preserved lines are part of the Tourist industry nowadays, actual transportation comes a long way down the list.
In respect of the Severn Valley Railway, they do have means to turn locos round, there is a turntable at Kidderminster. There was once a plan to install one at Bridgnorth but this was stymied by lack of a place to put it.
Regards, 62440.
|
I agree completely, but must admit to missing grubby locos; I suppose everyone would like to recapture their past in some obscure way, and it was a rare treat to see a gleaming ex-works loco steaming into a station in the 60s, but by and large I think most will remember wheezing, clanking things, with smoke & steam leaking from every orifice, so grimy it was sometimes difficult to see the numbers (especially on the Western Region with the brass numberplates). I'd love to go back and see it all again.... (sigh). Still, better having locos looking like they've just been taken out of the box than no locos at all. However, I do NOT like the horrible brown ROD livery applied to the GWR 53xx 2-6-0/ Yuccchhhh.