Digital version of letter:
To Paul Catchpole - Locomotives Internation:
Your front page editorial in LI 64 asks the question "what is going to happen and who is going to care (about steam relics) as men of the steam age die out and fewer people of following generations take such a devoted interest?" It's a question that hangs over more than a few rusting relics in a distastefully managed Belgium museum: in the longer term it is a question that will hang over our painstakingly preserved historic railways and their artifacts which we like to assume as being preserved forever.
Thankfully steam still manages to weave its magic over some of today's younger generation who never saw it in its heyday, but it remains doubtful that sufficient adherents are going to come forward to operate, maintain and finance the entire railway heritage system that operates for our enjoyment today. 50 years have now passed since the first railway was privately preserved and what has been achieved by small groups of amateurs and volunteers in those 50 years stands in my estimation as one of the wonders of the modern world. Yet when we look forward to the next 50 years, the picture seems gloomier and one can only predict that even if the 'general public' continue to enjoy occasional trips back in time on historic trains, some lines will be forced to close and locomotives and rolling stock will become mothballed simply because of the impracticalities of maintaining them in working order with a reduced volunteer workforce.
There may be nothing can be done to prevent such a decline, and one can only hope (and believe) that it won't happen for many years, and that it won't be absolute. If it does happen however, one wonders where the space will be found to house steam locomotive that become surplus to requirements, and where the money will come from to keep them in (visibly) good order. It's terrible thought, but the day may come when future generations of museum keepers who have little interest and no love for steam will follow the Belgians' example by disposing of non-unique steam relics rather than continuing to pay the costs of keeping them.
However, steam need not be allowed to die a second death without a fight. If the steam locomotive could be elevated above the popular image of a slow, inefficient, dirty and antiquated but rather quaint technology, and shown to be as clean and mean, and as fast and efficient (or nearly so) as 'modern traction', then it may yet be capable of lighting flames of interest in future generations in the same way as it has done for past ones. And in so doing, it could - just possibly - generate the interest and dedication that will be needed to preserve our railway heritage for a little longer into the future, and perhaps even encourage enough interest amongst future generations to develop the technology further. If it were possible, the idea might seem not only attractive but incredibly exciting.
'Incredible' is probably the word that comes to most people's minds when such thoughts are mentioned, which may explain the apathy - or dare I say negativity - that David Wardale's proposed 5AT "advanced technology" locomotive seems to generate amongst many within the enthusiast fraternity. The letters one reads (and the comments one hears) about it reveal not just an astonishing lack of technical knowledge but perhaps even a reluctance to hear or know the truth - that the Duchesses and A4s and Dukes of Gloucester or whatever, were not the pinnacle of steam locomotive engineering that their adherents persist in believing them to have been.
The truth is that in its heyday, the steam locomotive was never fully developed. It died not so much because it was outdated, but because it was allowed to die: there were not enough people with enough determination and technical skill to fight for it, and it died as any out-dated 1920s or 1930s technology should have died in the 1960s.
However, whilst there weren't enough dedicated steam engineers willing to fight against the all-persuasive diesel lobby in those years, there were a few who continued the fight and their names should be well known to every devotee of steam. Chapelon, Porta and Wardale are perhaps the three most prominent amongst them, and certainly the three with the most runs on the board in terms of live locomotives that have demonstrated some of the untapped capabilities that steam had when it was superseded by diesel traction.
The fact that we still have Wardale willing and able to oversee the design and construction of the world's first 21st century steam locomotive should warm the blood of every steam devotee. Wardale has not only demonstrated in the most dramatic and persuasive terms what rebuilt steam can achieve (with his magnificent 'Red Devil' in South Africa), but has documented his work for the benefit of all of us enthusiasts and armchair engineers who can only dream of such achievements. Only those who have not read his book "The Red Devil and Other Tales from the Age of Steam" can imagine that his claims for the 5AT are exaggerated or fictitious - and I would urge all such people, and anyone else who has with an interest in the future of steam, to get a copy of book whilst it is still in print.
The A1 Trust has demonstrated what can be achieved materially through the application of good management, planning and organizational skills. Wardale has shown what can be achieved technically through the application of sound engineering principles and a dedicated approach to excellence. The 5AT isn't a pie-in-the-sky dream. It is both realistic and achievable, and will take over where the A1 leaves off, by bringing steam a step close to its zenith, and providing the next generation a focus for their interest and their affections. Moreover it will be the only locomotive that can realistically expect to have the potential to operate on the modern railway system for decades rather than years to come. Aren't these ideals worth striving for?
|