[steam for ever]

I agree that its crazy how lines are being electrified, but the traction isn't keeping up.
Note that there has been a lot said about the electrification of the Great Western Main line, but very little about the trains to run on it. The only suggestion I've seen is of Alstom Pendolinos, and lets face it, we don't want those everywhere.

It seems that since dieselisation, british trains lack the edge that they used to have. The way I see it, begining in the 1930s British Industry became over confident with its grip over the world, and became more relaxed when it came to keeping one step ahead in terms of technology. Between 1947 and 1957, the British Empire effectively collapsed, and former colonies found it easier to buy from non British companies, especially European companies which had been given substantial compensation after the war from the United States. During this time, though no fault of the skilled people who built the grand machines, the remaining British firms failed completely to adjust to the changing market.
There are other sides to it i'm sure, but successive governments have failed to see this decline as a serious issue, and probably the most idiotic thing done in terms of the engineering world, was the selling off of BREL to private companies, many of which subsequently stripped assets and moved abroad.
Its going to be difficult to get back into the market, and our past world prestige isn't really going to help now. Like Hunslet has done in recent years, we need to start again from the ground up.