The Steam Age Lingers On
T-O-O-T! A whistle shatters the calm of England’s Sussex countryside. Hiss-ssss! Chug-chug-chug! Then, from a nearby engine shed emerges a mechanical giant bathed in a cloud of steam.
No, I am not dreaming. This is the 1980’s. I am about to travel by train from Sheffield Park to Horsted Keynes, four and a half miles [7.2 km] to the north. A steam locomotive will power the train for my journey!
The Fascination of Steam
Steam engines were at their peak some 50 years ago. Since then, diesel and electric traction have taken over in most countries. Yet, today, steam trains still enthrall ordinary people, and according to the book Railways for Pleasure, Britain has the highest percentage of railway enthusiasts of any country in the world. There are an estimated four million men, women, and children who “take more than a passing interest in railways, particularly steam trains.” Why?
Ever since a Cornishman, Richard Trevithick (1771-1833), harnessed steam power to haul goods, steam-traction devotees have viewed the locomotive as “one of the most romantic and beautiful machines ever built,” “that most evocative of man’s creations.” It provides a “source of excitement to enthusiasts and laymen alike.” From the early days of rail travel in Britain, when the Stockton to Darlington line opened in 1825 with George Stephenson’s Locomotion, enthusiasts traveled the tracks “purely for the enjoyment of the journey.” But what prompts such delight with what is to others an outmoded means of transport?
For those old enough to remember the days of steam trains, nostalgia plays its part. For those too young ever to have experienced steam rail travel, it is the novelty of riding behind the noisy giants of yesterday’s railways. In the foreword to the volume Symphony in Steam, O. S. Nock attributes this interest to “the sentimentality that is in all of us.” Railway World magazine agrees, describing the average railway enthusiast as “an incurable romantic at heart.” But wherein lies the attraction? “You can see and feel the power and strength of a steam locomotive,” explained one steam enthusiast. “It seems to be more of a living thing.” Declared another: “So far as I am concerned, it’s the smell.”
Preserved Steam
August 1968 brought the demise of steam engines to Britain’s national rail system. With thermal efficiency seldom exceeding 6 percent, steam locomotives gave way to more effective traction units. Depots that housed the famous steam trains became obsolete. Hundreds of locomotives were sold for scrap. The age of steam came close to extinction. The rail planners, however, did not reckon with the passionate interest of the enthusiasts. According to writer Brian Hollingsworth, these were people “whose sense of deprivation at the disappearance of the trains they loved inspired them to take up the idea of trying to preserve something of the atmosphere of the old days.” How did they set about this task?
Some purchased disused engine sheds. One of these, at Carnforth in northern England, now houses a steam museum covering 37 acres [15 ha]. A variety of steam engines take turns hauling coaches along a short length of track, to the delight of visitors. But the pleasure of a steam journey along the actual track that such engines used in their regular work is the object of many of Britain’s railway-preservation societies.
The enthusiasts’ attention turned to a South Wales scrapyard that developed into what The Sunday Telegraph calls “a Mecca for steam buffs.” Of the original 400 engines sold for scrap, by 1983 one quarter of them had been salvaged for preservation. Steam Railway magazine reports: “The novelty of locomotive rescues from Barry scrapyard may have diminished in recent years, but the work still goes on.” This is borne out by news that September 1985 saw the total engines unsold down to just 30, and “all but one of those has an intending buyer.”
Refurbishing a steam locomotive is not easy or cheap. At a cost of about $15,000 (U.S.), few individuals can purchase their own locomotive, and restoration work can add another $30,000 to the expense. Undeterred, teams of enthusiasts buy their engines and work on weekends and other free time to restore them. By 1983 they had preserved about a thousand steam locomotives. With the aim of making “preserved steam” working steam, Britain’s one hundred railway-preservation societies now own 229 miles [369 km] of track. Of these, the Bluebell Railway is the pioneer among standard-gauge private lines.
A Journey on the Bluebell Line
The rail ticket I clutch is valid for a round-trip from Sheffield Park to Horsted Keynes. Standing on the station platform, I look down the line to the engine sheds as the 0415-class locomotive No. 488, still swathed in a cloud of steam, eases its way out. All around are memorabilia of the Victorian age. A small museum recaptures the steam age’s heyday with stained-glass pictures of its pioneers, James Watt, George Stephenson, and I. K. Brunel. Old rail tickets, uniforms, timetables, engine lanterns, and guards’ flags are all there.
By now, No. 488, coupled to its coaches, heads the train. The semaphore signal drops. The guard blows his whistle and waves his green flag. From up front comes the engine’s lively response—T-O-O-T! With gently increasing speed, our train moves away. Imperceptibly at first, and then very rhythmically, the gentle up-and-down movement familiar to steam-train passengers was felt. The rat-a-tat-tat as we cross the rail joints quickens. The engine puffs forward up the gentle gradient.
Leaving the station behind, our train takes a route through the spring countryside, slowing with a steeper gradient as it pulls through growing cornfields. On it goes, under a brick bridge, over a road. Its whistle sounding an alert as it rounds a bend, it plunges through a wood, the plume of steam indicating the direction. Now we ride alongside a beautiful carpet of bluebells and buttercups, which explains the name, the Bluebell Line. Next, a to-and-fro movement as the engine strains up the final bank on the approach to Horsted Keynes station. Passing another semaphore signal, we make a stately entry between the two main platforms, arriving some 20 minutes after we began.
There is time now for a quick look around the restored station buildings, a brief stop in the “Refreshments” room, then back on board the train for our return journey. The engine has successfully negotiated the shunting and is now coupled to the other end of our train for the quick descent back to Sheffield Park.
Visiting schoolchildren awaiting their first steam-powered train ride crowd around the alighting passengers. Among them are adults carrying still and video cameras, bent on capturing evidence of the continuing steam age.
Main-Line Steam Again?
The success of the privately run lines has influenced the thinking of the state-run rail system, British Rail. Some of the old steam giants now parade in their colorful livery to head special excursion trains on the regular main-line tracks. The garter-blue Mallard, for example, famed for its record-breaking 126-miles-per-hour [203 km/hr] run in 1938, recently hauled a train from its National Railway Museum home in York, under steam for the first time since 1963.
The preservation of main-line steam has won a place in the heart of every enthusiast. On weekends, hundreds line station platforms to await the thrilling roar of a steam express. Necks crane and twist as trains thunder through, proof that the steam age lingers on.—By Awake! correspondent in Britain.
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Above: Replica of Locomotion built by George Stephenson & Co. in 1825 for the first public railway with steam traction
[Credit Line]
Beamish North of England Open-Air Museum
[Picture Credit Line on page 15]
Beamish North of England Open-Air Museum
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Photos: The Bluebell Railway, England