Steam attraction railways in Britain's national heritage

Journal of Transport History

Volumn 18, Issue 2, 1997, Pages

  Sykes, Richard ^a   Austin, Alastair ^a   Fuller, Mark ^a   Kinoshita, Taki ^a   Shrimpton, Andrew ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF WOLVERHAMPTON   (United Kingdom)

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EID: 0039035595     PISSN: 00225266     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
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References (101)

1. Prominent among those who, in very different ways, have attempted to provide such sustained analyses are Robert Hewison and Patrick Wright. See Robert Hewison, The Heritage Industry: Britain in a climate of decline (1987), especially pp. 95-97; Patrick Wright, On Living in an Old Country: the national past in contemporary Britain (1985).
2. Prominent among those who, in very different ways, have attempted to provide such sustained analyses are Robert Hewison and Patrick Wright. See Robert Hewison, The Heritage Industry: Britain in a climate of decline (1987), especially pp. 95-97; Patrick Wright, On Living in an Old Country: the national past in contemporary Britain (1985).
3. Raphael Samuel, Theatres of Memory 1, Post and Present in Contemporary Culture (1994).
4. Stefan Collini, 'The heritage and the truth', Times Literary Supplement, 10 March 1995.
5. Samuel, Theatres of Memory, p. 185.
6. K. W. Kitching, Financial Director of North York Moors Railway, interview by the authors, April 1991; also Steam Railway, CXXXIII (May 1991), p. 7. We accept that the NYMR figures may exaggerate the success of the restored steam lines, since the line has benefited in recent years from its appearance in popular television programmes such as Heartbeat, but evidence cited below gives further substance to the assertion that restored steam has been a very successful competitor in the leisure industry.
7. Manchester Metropolitan University (hereafter MMU), 'Marketing Feasibility Study for the Association of Independent Railways' (March 1994), p 6. We are extremely grateful to Ian Kell of Manchester Metropolitan University for generously providing us with a copy of the report and for offering other help besides. The report substantiates our argument at a number of points with empirical evidence of greater statistical significance than we were able to obtain.
8. MMU, 'Marketing Feasibility Study', p. 30.
9. That nostalgic presentations celebrate memory in anything more than a manipulative way is denied by some critics. Robert Hewison, for example, argues that 'individual memories are erased by the collectively reconstructed image of a period or a way of life'. See Robert Hewison, 'Heritage revisited', in David Uzzell (ed.), Heritage Interpretation II, The Visitor Experience (1989), p. 20.
10. Whilst a small-scale visitor survey carried out by the authors at the NRM in 1991 provides some empirical basis for our judgement of the way that museum visitors perceive and interpret exhibits, we have been forced by the absence of any recent larger-scale surveys to extrapolate from what is known about motives for visiting railway museums and restored steam lines (as opposed to perceptions of the exhibits and lines themselves) and to hypothesise from our own interpretations of the presentations of those organisations within the railway heritage industry which we have visited. We are very aware that our arguments would be strengthened by a more systematic and quantitatively significant survey of visitor reactions. Since circumstances prevent the authors from undertaking such research, this caveat maybe taken as an invitation to others to undertake just that sort of investigation in order to substantiate or refute our arguments.
11. Wright, On Living in an Old Country, p. 22. Wright is here drawing on the work of Agnes Heller.
12. P. B. Whitehouse (ed.), Railway Relics and Regalia (1975), p. 7.
13. Ibid. Compare Wright's discussion of the cultural significance attached to the seemingly mummified everyday objects found at Calke Abbey in 1981: On Living in an Old Country, pp. 38-42.
14. Ibid. Compare Wright's discussion of the cultural significance attached to the seemingly mummified everyday objects found at Calke Abbey in 1981: On Living in an Old Country, pp. 38-42.
15. L. T. C. Rolt, Railway Adventure (1953).
16. Information about the Bluebell Line take-over is from David Morgan, 'The Association of Railway Preservation Societies', in Rob Shorland-Ball (ed.), Common Roots - Separate Branches: railway history and preservation (1994), pp. 156-7. Raphael Samuel (Theatres of Memory, p. 259) states, somewhat unbelievably (unless, as seems unlikely, he is including countries other than Britain), that steam railways carried some 50 million summer season passengers in 1993; it seems more likely that the figure of 50 million should refer to passenger miles. For the proliferation of restored lines and steam enthusiasm generally, see W. Awdry and C. Cooke (eds.), A Guide to the Steam Railways of Great Britain (revised edition, 1984). Until the latest restructuring of British Rail the major organisations involved with British restored steam lines were the Association of Independent Railways, the Association of Railway Preservation Societies, the Steam Locomotives Operatives' Association and the Flying Scotsman Services and Intercity Charter Trains run by British Rail (MMU, 'Marketing Feasibility Study', pp. 6-8). We have not been able to establish whether the restructuring of BR has yet been followed by a clear institutional allocation of responsibility for main-line steam operation.
17. Information about the Bluebell Line take-over is from David Morgan, 'The Association of Railway Preservation Societies', in Rob Shorland-Ball (ed.), Common Roots - Separate Branches: railway history and preservation (1994), pp. 156-7. Raphael Samuel (Theatres of Memory, p. 259) states, somewhat unbelievably (unless, as seems unlikely, he is including countries other than Britain), that steam railways carried some 50 million summer season passengers in 1993; it seems more likely that the figure of 50 million should refer to passenger miles. For the proliferation of restored lines and steam enthusiasm generally, see W. Awdry and C. Cooke (eds.), A Guide to the Steam Railways of Great Britain (revised edition, 1984). Until the latest restructuring of British Rail the major organisations involved with British restored steam lines were the Association of Independent Railways, the Association of Railway Preservation Societies, the Steam Locomotives Operatives' Association and the Flying Scotsman Services and Intercity Charter Trains run by British Rail (MMU, 'Marketing Feasibility Study', pp. 6-8). We have not been able to establish whether the restructuring of BR has yet been followed by a clear institutional allocation of responsibility for main-line steam operation.
18. Information about the Bluebell Line take-over is from David Morgan, 'The Association of Railway Preservation Societies', in Rob Shorland-Ball (ed.), Common Roots - Separate Branches: railway history and preservation (1994), pp. 156-7. Raphael Samuel (Theatres of Memory, p. 259) states, somewhat unbelievably (unless, as seems unlikely, he is including countries other than Britain), that steam railways carried some 50 million summer season passengers in 1993; it seems more likely that the figure of 50 million should refer to passenger miles. For the proliferation of restored lines and steam enthusiasm generally, see W. Awdry and C. Cooke (eds.), A Guide to the Steam Railways of Great Britain (revised edition, 1984). Until the latest restructuring of British Rail the major organisations involved with British restored steam lines were the Association of Independent Railways, the Association of Railway Preservation Societies, the Steam Locomotives Operatives' Association and the Flying Scotsman Services and Intercity Charter Trains run by British Rail (MMU, 'Marketing Feasibility Study', pp. 6-8). We have not been able to establish whether the restructuring of BR has yet been followed by a clear institutional allocation of responsibility for main-line steam operation.
19. Information about the Bluebell Line take-over is from David Morgan, 'The Association of Railway Preservation Societies', in Rob Shorland-Ball (ed.), Common Roots - Separate Branches: railway history and preservation (1994), pp. 156-7. Raphael Samuel (Theatres of Memory, p. 259) states, somewhat unbelievably (unless, as seems unlikely, he is including countries other than Britain), that steam railways carried some 50 million summer season passengers in 1993; it seems more likely that the figure of 50 million should refer to passenger miles. For the proliferation of restored lines and steam enthusiasm generally, see W. Awdry and C. Cooke (eds.), A Guide to the Steam Railways of Great Britain (revised edition, 1984). Until the latest restructuring of British Rail the major organisations involved with British restored steam lines were the Association of Independent Railways, the Association of Railway Preservation Societies, the Steam Locomotives Operatives' Association and the Flying Scotsman Services and Intercity Charter Trains run by British Rail (MMU, 'Marketing Feasibility Study', pp. 6-8). We have not been able to establish whether the restructuring of BR has yet been followed by a clear institutional allocation of responsibility for main-line steam operation.
20. W. O. Skeat (ed.), Friends of the National Railway Museum proceedings of the Railway Preservation Symposium (1978), p. vii.
21. We acknowledge that there is diversity within the railway heritage industry and, indeed, differences in presentation between restored steam lines. Some are less characterised by nostalgia than others. We maintain, however, that among the large majority of those we visited or from which we received promotional material the nostalgic mode was clearly predominant.
22. Tenterden Railway Company publicity leaflet, 1991.
23. Isle of Wight Steam Railway publicity leaflet, 1991.
24. Among the proliferation of new museums, by 1994 railways were the subject matter of no fewer than seventy-eight. Samuel, Theatres of Memory, p. 139.
25. Rob Shorland-Ball, 'The British experience: railway preservation in the UK', in Common Roots - Separate Branches, pp. 149-51.
26. Information on the origins of company preservation interests and of the NRM is taken from Dieter Hopkin, 'A commentary on restoration, conservation and the National Railway Museum collection', and Rob Shorland-Ball, 'The British experience: railway preservation in the UK', in Common Roots - Separate Branches, pp. 215-21, 149-52; also from information boards in the balcony galleries, Main Hall, NRM, spring 1996.
27. Information on the origins of company preservation interests and of the NRM is taken from Dieter Hopkin, 'A commentary on restoration, conservation and the National Railway Museum collection', and Rob Shorland-Ball, 'The British experience: railway preservation in the UK', in Common Roots - Separate Branches, pp. 215-21, 149-52; also from information boards in the balcony galleries, Main Hall, NRM, spring 1996.
28. Rob Shorland-Ball, (at the time of interview) Deputy Director of the NRM, interview by the authors, 15 April 1991. The Great Railway Show exhibition has remained largely unchanged as the South Hall in the fully reopened museum.
29. According to Mr Shorland-Ball, the NRM had been criticised within the museum profession for not presenting the human story of the railways. Until the 1980s the National Museum of Science and Industry had a reputation for recruiting departmental curators who had been practising scientists, technologists and industrialists; many probably took a pay cut to enjoy their interests within the museum service, behaviour reminiscent of the volunteers on restored steam railways. In 1989 two history graduates were appointed to senior posts, the first trained historians among senior staff at the NRM. By then, however, many of the major decisions about the Great Railway Show had been made. We are grateful to Nick Mansfield and to Dieter Hopkin for these observations. Recent developments, whilst too embryonic to judge, show greater promise: the National Museum of Science and Industry provided funding for a joint appointment to a Chair of Railway Studies at the University of York and Head of Research at the NRM (filled in November 1994) and, following an international railway history and preservation conference of academics and museums professionals in 1993, an International Association of Railway Studies was established to promote research and encourage greater dialogue between academics and preservationists. The latter body has now largely been superseded by the Insitute of Railway Studies, a joint initiative of the NRM and the University of York.
30. John Coiley, introduction to Michael Blakemore (ed.), The Great Railway Show Souvenir Booklet (York, 1990), p. 2. Since the South Hall, which started life as the Great Railway Show, is intended to address the human story of the railway past, as opposed to the technological developments (which are traced in the Great Hall), we focus mainly on the exhibitions in the South Hall.
31. NRM, Great Railway Show publicity leaflet, 1991.
32. John Coiley, introduction to The Great Railway Show, p. 2.
33. The high standard of service provided by volunteers on steam lines was one recurring attraction mentioned by some visitors to steam lines, and a feature reminiscent of 'better' days gone by (MMU, 'Marketing Feasibility Study', appendix 6).
34. The policy of restoration to pristine condition, visible in the great majority of engines displayed at the NRM, is the legacy of John Scholes, curator to the British Transport Commission from 1951 to 1971 and, as such, largely responsible for the selection and restoration of much of what now constitutes the National Railway Collection. For Scholes, locomotives were of significance in so far as they contributed to the technological development of the steam engine and thus their essential nature lay in their original forms. This policy is now subject to criticism within the NRM by those who would prefer to present unrestored engines as functional objects with a history of use which can be unravelled through their physical condition. See Dieter Hopkin, 'A commentary on restoration, conservation and the National Railway Museum collection' in Common Roots - Separate Branches, pp. 215-21. Changing attitudes are perhaps discernible at the NRM, where a Lynton & Barnstaple coach, built in 1897, is now displayed in unrestored condition in the Great Hall. It is arguable, however, that even this exhibit leans towards a nostalgic aesthetic - that of Gothic decay rather than a lost classical muscularity - since the carriage is exhibited in a mock ramshackle garden, supposedly recreating the atmosphere of the rectory garden in Devon in which the carriage came to rest in 1935 and remained until 1982. Moreover, its stated purpose is merely to show 'the raw material with which the craftsmen of the NRM start their work of restoration', suggesting that the skills of the craftsman have followed the trains of the past from the arena of construction to that of the museum. For an exposition of the display philosophy of the Berlin Museum of Transport and Technology, which chooses to display locomotives in their end-of-working-life condition, see Alfred Gottwald, ' A philosophy of display', in ibid., pp. 210-14.
35. The policy of restoration to pristine condition, visible in the great majority of engines displayed at the NRM, is the legacy of John Scholes, curator to the British Transport Commission from 1951 to 1971 and, as such, largely responsible for the selection and restoration of much of what now constitutes the National Railway Collection. For Scholes, locomotives were of significance in so far as they contributed to the technological development of the steam engine and thus their essential nature lay in their original forms. This policy is now subject to criticism within the NRM by those who would prefer to present unrestored engines as functional objects with a history of use which can be unravelled through their physical condition. See Dieter Hopkin, 'A commentary on restoration, conservation and the National Railway Museum collection' in Common Roots - Separate Branches, pp. 215-21. Changing attitudes are perhaps discernible at the NRM, where a Lynton & Barnstaple coach, built in 1897, is now displayed in unrestored condition in the Great Hall. It is arguable, however, that even this exhibit leans towards a nostalgic aesthetic - that of Gothic decay rather than a lost classical muscularity - since the carriage is exhibited in a mock ramshackle garden, supposedly recreating the atmosphere of the rectory garden in Devon in which the carriage came to rest in 1935 and remained until 1982. Moreover, its stated purpose is merely to show 'the raw material with which the craftsmen of the NRM start their work of restoration', suggesting that the skills of the craftsman have followed the trains of the past from the arena of construction to that of the museum. For an exposition of the display philosophy of the Berlin Museum of Transport and Technology, which chooses to display locomotives in their end-of-working-life condition, see Alfred Gottwald, ' A philosophy of display', in ibid., pp. 210-14.
36. G. Nabarro, Steam Nostalgia: locomotive and railway preservation in Great Britain (1972), p. xiii. Our point is not to contradict such statements, but rather to note the common nostalgic tension of enjoyment and yearning within this rather valedictory celebration. The same point could be illustrated by quotations from any number of other steam enthusiasm publications.
37. See, for example, Anthony Burton, The Railway Empire (1994).
38. Tim Bryan, Return to Swindon (Weston-super-Mare, 1990), p. 13.
39. University of York Grapevine, February 1995 A decision made at the beginning of May 1995 seems certain to entail the loss of over 700 jobs at ABB: BBC Radio 4, 12 May 1995.
40. For an account of this inglorious debut see Tom Nairn, The Enchanted Gloss: Britain and its monarchy (1988), p. 161. As a reviewer of a draft of this article observed, perceived failure needs to be distinguished from actual failure. For our argument, however, the important point is that the abortion of the APT, and the earlier line closures and abandonment of steam - however denfensible in terms of economic rationalisation - seem to have contributed significantly to the social construction of a symbolism of industrial decline in which Britain is perceived first to have abdicated her industrial supremacy by reneging on her greatest assets and then, overtaken by her competitors, to have failed to keep up. Stephen Potter, On the Right Lines: the limits of technological innovation (1987), argues that, given a combination of economic, historical, socio-political and managerial constraints, Britain Rail was forced to attempt the sort of radical innovation which produced the APT, upgrading the vehicle rather than the infrastructure, whereas Britain's more successful competitors had been able to make more modest changes in their rail infrastructure, resulting in extremely high-speed rail travel. In particular, alterations in the network infrastructure, Potter argues, are financially feasible only where there is a huge market potential for growth in public transport use, a condition which could not be expected in Britain. Given these circumstances, BR's concentration on making progressive improvements in its Inter-city 225 engines, whilst unglamorous, makes perfectly good sense. We are grateful to the anonymous reviewer for helpful comments on this matter and for directing us to Potter's study.
41. For an account of this inglorious debut see Tom Nairn, The Enchanted Gloss: Britain and its monarchy (1988), p. 161. As a reviewer of a draft of this article observed, perceived failure needs to be distinguished from actual failure. For our argument, however, the important point is that the abortion of the APT, and the earlier line closures and abandonment of steam - however denfensible in terms of economic rationalisation - seem to have contributed significantly to the social construction of a symbolism of industrial decline in which Britain is perceived first to have abdicated her industrial supremacy by reneging on her greatest assets and then, overtaken by her competitors, to have failed to keep up. Stephen Potter, On the Right Lines: the limits of technological innovation (1987), argues that, given a combination of economic, historical, socio-political and managerial constraints, Britain Rail was forced to attempt the sort of radical innovation which produced the APT, upgrading the vehicle rather than the infrastructure, whereas Britain's more successful competitors had been able to make more modest changes in their rail infrastructure, resulting in extremely high-speed rail travel. In particular, alterations in the network infrastructure, Potter argues, are financially feasible only where there is a huge market potential for growth in public transport use, a condition which could not be expected in Britain. Given these circumstances, BR's concentration on making progressive improvements in its Inter-city 225 engines, whilst unglamorous, makes perfectly good sense. We are grateful to the anonymous reviewer for helpful comments on this matter and for directing us to Potter's study.
42. As a reviewer of this article observed, the comments of visitors cited here suggest that the interviewees probably underestimated the extent to which craft production had been replaced by railway engineering by the time many of the engines on display were being built. Moreover, this is anecdotal evidence from a small number of inteviews with a random sample of visitors to the Great Railway Show on two days in 1991. There are very few reliable surveys of visitor responses to industrial museums. The results of the only other survey of NRM visitors of which we are aware were published in 1984 and included no such information: Patrick Heady, A Report of a Survey of Visitors to the Victoria and Albert, Science and National Railway Museums for the Office of Arts and Libraries (1984) . One middle-aged male respondent in the MMU survey enthused about restored steam engines whilst lamenting modernisation and computerisation, with their accompanying loss of 'old traditions, old skills, old crafts' ('Marketing Feasibility Study', appendix 6). For the shortage of reliable visitor surveys see Kenneth Hudson, 'Visitor studies: luxuries, placebos, or useful tools?', in Sandra Bicknell and Graham Farmelo (eds.), Museum Visitor Studies in the '90s (1993), pp. 34-40.
43. As a reviewer of this article observed, the comments of visitors cited here suggest that the interviewees probably underestimated the extent to which craft production had been replaced by railway engineering by the time many of the engines on display were being built. Moreover, this is anecdotal evidence from a small number of inteviews with a random sample of visitors to the Great Railway Show on two days in 1991. There are very few reliable surveys of visitor responses to industrial museums. The results of the only other survey of NRM visitors of which we are aware were published in 1984 and included no such information: Patrick Heady, A Report of a Survey of Visitors to the Victoria and Albert, Science and National Railway Museums for the Office of Arts and Libraries (1984) . One middle-aged male respondent in the MMU survey enthused about restored steam engines whilst lamenting modernisation and computerisation, with their accompanying loss of 'old traditions, old skills, old crafts' ('Marketing Feasibility Study', appendix 6). For the shortage of reliable visitor surveys see Kenneth Hudson, 'Visitor studies: luxuries, placebos, or useful tools?', in Sandra Bicknell and Graham Farmelo (eds.), Museum Visitor Studies in the '90s (1993), pp. 34-40.
44. As a reviewer of this article observed, the comments of visitors cited here suggest that the interviewees probably underestimated the extent to which craft production had been replaced by railway engineering by the time many of the engines on display were being built. Moreover, this is anecdotal evidence from a small number of inteviews with a random sample of visitors to the Great Railway Show on two days in 1991. There are very few reliable surveys of visitor responses to industrial museums. The results of the only other survey of NRM visitors of which we are aware were published in 1984 and included no such information: Patrick Heady, A Report of a Survey of Visitors to the Victoria and Albert, Science and National Railway Museums for the Office of Arts and Libraries (1984) . One middle-aged male respondent in the MMU survey enthused about restored steam engines whilst lamenting modernisation and computerisation, with their accompanying loss of 'old traditions, old skills, old crafts' ('Marketing Feasibility Study', appendix 6). For the shortage of reliable visitor surveys see Kenneth Hudson, 'Visitor studies: luxuries, placebos, or useful tools?', in Sandra Bicknell and Graham Farmelo (eds.), Museum Visitor Studies in the '90s (1993), pp. 34-40.
45. Wright, On Living in an Old Country, p. 22.
46. The enthusiasm with which many middle-class people volunteered to keep public transport running during the General Strike may well be partly explicable in terms of this attraction. For the preponderance of volunteers from middle-class areas and the south-east in 1926 see Margaret Morris, The General Strike (Harmondsworth, 1976), p. 252; Gerald W. Crompton, ' "Some good men, some doubtful men . . .": the role of railway volunteers in the General Strike', Journal of Transport History, third series, 9 (1988), pp. 127-18.
47. The enthusiasm with which many middle-class people volunteered to keep public transport running during the General Strike may well be partly explicable in terms of this attraction. For the preponderance of volunteers from middle-class areas and the south-east in 1926 see Margaret Morris, The General Strike (Harmondsworth, 1976), p. 252; Gerald W. Crompton, ' "Some good men, some doubtful men . . .": the role of railway volunteers in the General Strike', Journal of Transport History, third series, 9 (1988), pp. 127-18.
48. In the early 1980s some enthusiasts were reported to have been up in arms about cases of staff on some preserved steam lines joining rail unions. See D. Hanson, 'The Professionalisation of Fun: a study of UK railway preservation groups', MA. thesis, University of Salford, 1982.
49. In 1990 the overwhelming majority of volunteers at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway were from the white-collar sector, with some professionals and managers. To our knowledge, nobody has yet undertaken any systematic research into the sociological profile of steam railway volunteer workers. It is suggestive, however, that a member of the Association of Railway Preservation Societies commented that 'there seems to be a very high proportion of people from British Telecom, the BBC and the Natwest Bank', all structurally complex organisations with large administrations staffed by the middle class We are grateful to John Crane for this observation and for his kind reply to our enquiries. Readership of Ian Allan Ltd's Railway World magazine shows a similar bias towards middle-class occupations: of those in employment, managers and directors comprised 24 per cent of readers as against the 1991 census figure of 13 per cent of all employed men (over 99 per cent of readers were male) in this category. Unfortunately the only other categories in the Ian Allan survey of those in employment were 'employee' and 'self-employed', so it is impossible to determine the social composition of readership below managerial status. We are grateful to Wendy Myers and Simon Forty of Ian Allan Ltd for kindly furnishing us with the statistical results of this readership survey. For census figures see 1991 Census: Economic Activity Great Britain I (1994), pp. 252-72.
50. In 1990 the overwhelming majority of volunteers at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway were from the white-collar sector, with some professionals and managers. To our knowledge, nobody has yet undertaken any systematic research into the sociological profile of steam railway volunteer workers. It is suggestive, however, that a member of the Association of Railway Preservation Societies commented that 'there seems to be a very high proportion of people from British Telecom, the BBC and the Natwest Bank', all structurally complex organisations with large administrations staffed by the middle class We are grateful to John Crane for this observation and for his kind reply to our enquiries. Readership of Ian Allan Ltd's Railway World magazine shows a similar bias towards middle-class occupations: of those in employment, managers and directors comprised 24 per cent of readers as against the 1991 census figure of 13 per cent of all employed men (over 99 per cent of readers were male) in this category. Unfortunately the only other categories in the Ian Allan survey of those in employment were 'employee' and 'self-employed', so it is impossible to determine the social composition of readership below managerial status. We are grateful to Wendy Myers and Simon Forty of Ian Allan Ltd for kindly furnishing us with the statistical results of this readership survey. For census figures see 1991 Census: Economic Activity Great Britain I (1994), pp. 252-72.
51. 'Women at work on the railways', display board, NRM, spring 1996.
52. The opportunity for the NRM to borrow a considerable collection of railway union banners has not yet been taken up, although, as the banners on display in the Museum of Labour History in Manchester demonstrate, their heraldic motifs offer much scope for interpretative exhibitions around the concepts of cultural legitimation and the traditional symbolism of authority in the context of the labour movement. We are grateful to Nick Mansfield for information concerning the existence of railway union banners.
53. Railway World Special, The Bluebell Railway (1980), p. 56.
54. For other examples of the ruralisation of industrial heritage see Bob West, 'The making of the English working past: a critical view of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum', in Robert Lumley (ed.), The Museum Time Machine: putting cultures on display (1988); Hewison, Heritage Industry, passim. On pastoralism and English culture see Martin Wiener, English Culture and the Decline of the Industrial Spirit (Cambridge, 1981). On its particularistic expression, and analogous use by a major oil company, see Wright, On Lining in an Old Country, chapters 1-2.
55. For other examples of the ruralisation of industrial heritage see Bob West, 'The making of the English working past: a critical view of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum', in Robert Lumley (ed.), The Museum Time Machine: putting cultures on display (1988); Hewison, Heritage Industry, passim. On pastoralism and English culture see Martin Wiener, English Culture and the Decline of the Industrial Spirit (Cambridge, 1981). On its particularistic expression, and analogous use by a major oil company, see Wright, On Lining in an Old Country, chapters 1-2.
56. For other examples of the ruralisation of industrial heritage see Bob West, 'The making of the English working past: a critical view of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum', in Robert Lumley (ed.), The Museum Time Machine: putting cultures on display (1988); Hewison, Heritage Industry, passim. On pastoralism and English culture see Martin Wiener, English Culture and the Decline of the Industrial Spirit (Cambridge, 1981). On its particularistic expression, and analogous use by a major oil company, see Wright, On Lining in an Old Country, chapters 1-2.
57. For other examples of the ruralisation of industrial heritage see Bob West, 'The making of the English working past: a critical view of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum', in Robert Lumley (ed.), The Museum Time Machine: putting cultures on display (1988); Hewison, Heritage Industry, passim. On pastoralism and English culture see Martin Wiener, English Culture and the Decline of the Industrial Spirit (Cambridge, 1981). On its particularistic expression, and analogous use by a major oil company, see Wright, On Lining in an Old Country, chapters 1-2.
58. Gareth Rees, Early Railway Prints: a social history of the railways from 1825 to 1850 (Oxford, 1980), pp. 22-3.
59. For the growing popularity of holidays and the railway as the holiday mode of transport see Harold Perkin, The Age of the Railway (1970), pp. 201-37, and Jack Simmons, The Railway in Town and Country, 1830-1914 (1986), passim.
60. For the growing popularity of holidays and the railway as the holiday mode of transport see Harold Perkin, The Age of the Railway (1970), pp. 201-37, and Jack Simmons, The Railway in Town and Country, 1830-1914 (1986), passim.
61. The Railway Children, for example, was filmed on the Keighley and Worth Valley line. The 1993-94 BBC 2 series of 'Great Railway Journeys' attracted 5.5 million viewers and reached No. 2 on the BBC rating scale (MMU, 'Marketing Feasibility Study', p. 20).
62. The Railway Children, for example, was filmed on the Keighley and Worth Valley line. The 1993-94 BBC 2 series of 'Great Railway Journeys' attracted 5.5 million viewers and reached No. 2 on the BBC rating scale (MMU, 'Marketing Feasibility Study', p. 20).
63. There is a problem here, for freight 'experiences' cannot really be offered, and steam lines cannot hope to provide a financially viable freight service. But the absence of freight trains, even on a non-working basis, compounds the impression of glamour and romance. The Middleton Railway is an exception, and recent years have seen an increase in the number of special events and photographers' specials with goods workings.
64. Display board, NRM, spring 1996.
65. In 1988 the then Keeper of the NRM, John Coiley, envisaged that the representation of freight trains and wagons would be expanded with the employment of the Peter Allen Building (South Hall) and of space outside the building. The latter expansion has not yet taken place (John Coiley, 'Introduction' to David Jenkinson, ed., The National Railway Collection, 1988, pp. xvi-xvii). The counterfactual hypotheses of economic historians - how would the nineteenth-century economy have developed in the absence of railways? - need somehow to be broached in order to take the analysis beyond the unsubstantiated assertion of the NRM exhibit that railway transport revolutionised the economy. For a summary of the debate about counterfactual models of the nineteenth-century British economy without railways see T. R. Gourvish, Railways and the British Economy, 1830-1914 (1980), pp. 29-32.
66. In 1988 the then Keeper of the NRM, John Coiley, envisaged that the representation of freight trains and wagons would be expanded with the employment of the Peter Allen Building (South Hall) and of space outside the building. The latter expansion has not yet taken place (John Coiley, 'Introduction' to David Jenkinson, ed., The National Railway Collection, 1988, pp. xvi-xvii). The counterfactual hypotheses of economic historians - how would the nineteenth-century economy have developed in the absence of railways? - need somehow to be broached in order to take the analysis beyond the unsubstantiated assertion of the NRM exhibit that railway transport revolutionised the economy. For a summary of the debate about counterfactual models of the nineteenth-century British economy without railways see T. R. Gourvish, Railways and the British Economy, 1830-1914 (1980), pp. 29-32.
67. Mid Hants. Railway PLC publicity leaflet, 1991; Tenterden Railway Company, 1991; Kent & East Sussex Railway publicity leaflet, 1991; North Yorkshire Moors Railway Enterprises publicity leaflet, 1991. It is, perhaps, ironic that steam trains should have become emblematic of a less hurried life when they were originally considered startling for their speed, whilst the strict timetables to which they ran were often felt to extend the sense of urgency into the hours before the commencement of the journey itself. See Wolfgang Schivelbusch, The Railway Journey: trains and travel in the 19th century, trans. Anselm Hollo (Oxford, 1980), p. 118 n. 16.
68. Mid Hants. Railway PLC publicity leaflet, 1991; Tenterden Railway Company, 1991; Kent & East Sussex Railway publicity leaflet, 1991; North Yorkshire Moors Railway Enterprises publicity leaflet, 1991. It is, perhaps, ironic that steam trains should have become emblematic of a less hurried life when they were originally considered startling for their speed, whilst the strict timetables to which they ran were often felt to extend the sense of urgency into the hours before the commencement of the journey itself. See Wolfgang Schivelbusch, The Railway Journey: trains and travel in the 19th century, trans. Anselm Hollo (Oxford, 1980), p. 118 n. 16.
69. Mid Hants. Railway PLC publicity leaflet, 1991; Tenterden Railway Company, 1991; Kent & East Sussex Railway publicity leaflet, 1991; North Yorkshire Moors Railway Enterprises publicity leaflet, 1991. It is, perhaps, ironic that steam trains should have become emblematic of a less hurried life when they were originally considered startling for their speed, whilst the strict timetables to which they ran were often felt to extend the sense of urgency into the hours before the commencement of the journey itself. See Wolfgang Schivelbusch, The Railway Journey: trains and travel in the 19th century, trans. Anselm Hollo (Oxford, 1980), p. 118 n. 16.
70. Mid Hants. Railway PLC publicity leaflet, 1991; Tenterden Railway Company, 1991; Kent & East Sussex Railway publicity leaflet, 1991; North Yorkshire Moors Railway Enterprises publicity leaflet, 1991. It is, perhaps, ironic that steam trains should have become emblematic of a less hurried life when they were originally considered startling for their speed, whilst the strict timetables to which they ran were often felt to extend the sense of urgency into the hours before the commencement of the journey itself. See Wolfgang Schivelbusch, The Railway Journey: trains and travel in the 19th century, trans. Anselm Hollo (Oxford, 1980), p. 118 n. 16.
71. Andrew Johnston, The Train now Departing: personal memories of the last days of steam (1988), pp. 147-8.
72. MMU, 'Marketing Feasibility Study', pp. 26-7 and appendix 6.
73. James A. Ward, 'Common roots - separate branches', in Common Roots - Separate Branches, p. 15.
74. It is perhaps not insignificant that in 1969 J. R. Kellett published an article about writings of a nostalgic vein on railways, ranging from the literary musings of Betjeman, through a volume of excerpts (The Railway Lover's Companion) which 'evoke the mood of the recent past' to the steam buffs technical obsessions and finally Ottley's bibliography. Kellett concluded, 'the imbalance and inadequacy of existing published treatment is obvious, and will be rectified only as the extraordinary spell which has been cast over the subject is broken, and contributions are made to railway history by writers whose main interests extend beyond railways themselves, and to whom the sights and sounds of the steam locomotive are not so overwhelmingly personal a memory'. ('Writing on Victorian railways: an essay in nostalgia', Victorian Studies, XIII, 1969, pp. 90-6).
75. It is perhaps not insignificant that in 1969 J. R. Kellett published an article about writings of a nostalgic vein on railways, ranging from the literary musings of Betjeman, through a volume of excerpts (The Railway Lover's Companion) which 'evoke the mood of the recent past' to the steam buffs technical obsessions and finally Ottley's bibliography. Kellett concluded, 'the imbalance and inadequacy of existing published treatment is obvious, and will be rectified only as the extraordinary spell which has been cast over the subject is broken, and contributions are made to railway history by writers whose main interests extend beyond railways themselves, and to whom the sights and sounds of the steam locomotive are not so overwhelmingly personal a memory'. ('Writing on Victorian railways: an essay in nostalgia', Victorian Studies, XIII, 1969, pp. 90-6).
76. See Philip S. Bagwell, The Railwaymen: the history of the National Union of Railwaymen (1963), pp. 634-44. See also, T. R. Gourvish, British Railways, 1948-73: a business history (Cambridge, 1986), pp. 256-304.
77. See Philip S. Bagwell, The Railwaymen: the history of the National Union of Railwaymen (1963), pp. 634-44. See also, T. R. Gourvish, British Railways, 1948-73: a business history (Cambridge, 1986), pp. 256-304.
78. Published as The Reshaping of British Railways, by the British Railways Board.
79. Johnston, Train now Departing, p. 140. For an authoritative and detailed account see Gourvish, British Railways, pp. 305-565.
80. Johnston, Train now Departing, p. 140. For an authoritative and detailed account see Gourvish, British Railways, pp. 305-565.
81. Fred Davis, Yearning for Yesterday: a sociology of nostalgia (New York, 1979), p. 102.
82. Nostalgia proved to be the most recurrent motivational factor, for visitors (and especially older visitors) to restored steam lines in the research carried out in a marketing feasibility study for the Association of Independent Railways. (MMU, 'Marketing Feasibility Study', p. 26.)
83. It might be argued that the trains were an accepted part of the physical landscape before Beeching and that therefore little can be made of the rural aspect of steam nostalgia. However, it is the selectivity of this image, and the emphasis on enjoying the landscape, that tends to obscure the crucial point that the branch lines were important primarily because they linked rural areas with larger urban centres.
84. K. Taylorson, The Fun we Had: an inside look at the railway enthusiast hobby (1976), p. 63.
85. For an early model railway manufacturer, Bassett-Lowke Ltd of London and Northampton, see Railway Magazine, XXVIII (1911), p. 439.
86. Railway World, January 1964.
87. We are not suggesting that railway enthusiasm is exclusively concerned with steam trains; indeed, as a reviewer of an early draft of this article noted, railway-related hobbies and the market for railway magazines have progressively fragmented and specialised, the most popular current magazine, Rail, concerning itself almost exclusively with modern railways, as do other more recent enthusiast magazines. The important point is that it was only from the 1960s that there was a growing market for the sort of steam nostalgia to which Railway World catered.
88. Schivelbusch, Railway Journey, p. 184.
89. MMU, 'Marketing Feasibility Study', appendix 6.
90. Rodgers E. M. Whitaker, in P. B. Whitehouse (ed.), Steam for Pleasure (1978), p. 5.
91. The small number of questionnaires involved in this survey (sixty) inevitably makes any conclusions tentative.
92. Included in the survey were over 600 readers. The 'fifty-one to sixty-five' age group comprised over 30 per cent of readers, as against the 1991 British census figure of 16 per cent of males in this age group. See also note 38. For census figures see 1991 Census: Sex, Age and Marital Status, Great Britain (1993), pp. 13-16.
93. Patrick Heady, A Report of a Survey of Visitors to the Victoria and Albert, Science and National Railway Museums for the Office of Arts and Libraries (1984).
94. MMU, 'Marketing Feasibility Study', p. 8.
95. Ibid., p. 15.
96. Ibid., p. 30.
97. Britt Allcroft, a children's television production company, is the licenser of the Thomas character and each railway has to pay Britt Allcroft a licence fee and a percentage of takings from special 'Friends of Thomas' weekends (MMU, 'Marketing Feasibility Study', p. 8). In the early 1980s Britt Allcroft received from Kaye & Ward (publishers of the Thomas stories) a licence to make a series of films and build a programme of merchandising; upward of 400 products are now on the market in a multi-million-pound industry (information from the NRM Thomas the Tank Engine exhibition, spring 1996).
98. The NRM also has a permanent hands-on exhibition {'The Magician's Road') designed to give children the opportunity to explore some of the fundamentals of mechanical and civil engineering necessary for the successful construction and running of a railway. Unfortunately the location of this exhibition - accessible only by leaving the South Hall through a rear door - and its appearance under the uninviting title of 'Education Service' on the guidebook plan of the museum give the impression that 'The Magician's Road' is peripheral to the main concerns of the NRM. It is currently geared towards hosting school parties (guidebook, p. 46). There is nothing to prevent interested visitors from finding the exhibition but neither is there anything to encourage them to do so. As an exhibition which encourages children to discover how things work, like a more historical presentation (according to our paradigms), 'The Magician's Road' demands a more active intellectual response than a presentation which provides answers in a seamless package. As such it is more likely to attract and sustain the interest of children (and indeed adults) not greatly interested in the railway past or the workings of railways as a subject in its own right and should be more central to the NRM's display philosophy.
99. MMU, 'Marketing Feasibility Study', pp. 30-1.
100. For a preliminary survey of the sorts of themes and displays which might be explored by a railway museum within a more intellectually engaging and 'historical' mode see the authors' 'The Worlds of Railway History', M.A. group project, University of York, 1991.
101. Heady, A Report of a Survey of Visitors to the Victoria and Albert, Science and National Railway Museums, table 6.19, p. 66.