Here's one for you! Could every see the day a loco gets named after...

[NightatLaira]

Magaret Thatcher!!



Well - we all know how popular she is in railway circles... I think it would have to be something big and fitting, and of her era as well - maybe a 91 or a 323? Or - perhaps a class 60 with a rake of empty coal hoppers?

Either way I'd give it about 2 minutes before it got hideously vandalised - and I doubt the name plaque would go for much in a name auction

Might go for more than 'Dr Beeching' though! He's definitely a class 20 if you ask me!

 

[4SRKT]

Only a class 70 would be fitting, being both symbolic of the destruction of native industry, and hideous.

 

[12CSVT]

Magaret Thatcher!!



Well - we all know how popular she is in railway circles... I think it would have to be something big and fitting, and of her era as well - maybe a 91 or a 323? Or - perhaps a class 60 with a rake of empty coal hoppers?

Or a 141 unit. And then drop it (preferably 70012 style) into one of the coal pits that her government closed - with her inside.

 

[Bedpan]

Actually "Iron Lady" wouldn't be a bad name, best perhaps on a Parry People Mover.

 

[mumrar]

I think it would have to be something big and fitting, and of her era as well - maybe a 91 or a 323?

323s were built 1992-93, Maggie left office as PM and MP in 1990.

 

[Railsigns]

Magaret Thatcher!!



Well - we all know how popular she is in railway circles... I think it would have to be something big and fitting, and of her era as well - maybe a 91 or a 323? Or - perhaps a class 60 with a rake of empty coal hoppers?

There's already a loco named after a mass murderer (Oliver Cromwell), so anything's possible.

 

[The Barlow Boy]

She became prime Minister in 1979. How many people here were alive then - 32 years ago.

 

[Masboroughlad]

No! There would be no railways at all if she had had her way completely. Mad woman!

 

[ainsworth74]

No! There would be no railways at all if she had had her way completely.

Your evidence?

 

[scotsman]

With Stagecoach's open links to the SNP - there is more of a possibility of a HST/222 (221/220/Pendo to a lesser extent) getting named after a nationalist figure...

 

[junglejames]

Absolutely awful ideas. A 91 or 323? What did they do to upset you? You are doing a disservice to the 91s and 323s, oh, as well as the 60s.
The suggestion about 70s was a lot closer to being acceptable, and the only sensible suggestion. Pacers? Amazing trains, stop having a go at them.
One good thing about Thatcher though (i know, good and thatcher dont belong in the same sentence), she realised she wouldnt get away with privatising the railways, and point blankly refused to do it i believe.
Now how about naming something John Major?!! Ouch, just as bad! Again, can only be a class 70 if anything.
Ah, or a 66/ 67!!

 

[12CSVT]

There's already a loco named after a mass murderer (Oliver Cromwell), so anything's possible.

And there was a class 86 named after Sir John Betjeman who wrote a poem advocating bombing a town close to Heathrow Airport - which could have earned him a criminal conviction under present day terrorism laws.

No! There would be no railways at all if she had had her way completely. Mad woman!

Actually quite close to the truth - I'm old enought to remember the Serpell report in 1982 which advocated the closure of the vast majority of the railway network including some major trunk routes, and converting them into roads.

 

[Rhydgaled]

Absolutely awful ideas. A 91 or 323? What did they do to upset you? You are doing a disservice to the 91s and 323s, oh, as well as the 60s.
The suggestion about 70s was a lot closer to being acceptable, and the only sensible suggestion. Pacers? Amazing trains, stop having a go at them.
One good thing about Thatcher though (i know, good and thatcher dont belong in the same sentence), she realised she wouldnt get away with privatising the railways, and point blankly refused to do it i believe.
Now how about naming something John Major?!! Ouch, just as bad! Again, can only be a class 70 if anything.
Ah, or a 66/ 67!!

Yeah, what did 91s do to upset you? If class 70s are those new Freightliner 'Power Haul' diesels then yes, these are the only locos that might ever be named after railway-hateing tories.

Now, something I would like to see is a class 91 named "Sir David Attenbourgh". Seeing as INTERCITY 225s are among the most enviromentally friendly trains we have, perhaps this would be a suitable name for a 91, particularly if you can fit regenerative breaking to them.

 

[Mojo]

No! There would be no railways at all if she had had her way completely. Mad woman!

What a ridiculous statement to make. It was under the 79-97 Conservative Government that we saw the start of work on all 2nd Generation light rail systems except Nottingham and part 1 of Tyne/Wear, also the largest programme of station openings since the Victorian times, plus huge amounts of electrification and the rejuvenation of urban rail networks in our regional cities.

 

[ainsworth74]

I'm old enought to remember the Serpell report in 1982 which advocated the closure of the vast majority of the railway network including some major trunk routes, and converting them into roads.

That was option just one of four options and to be honest I don't think anyone within government (civil service or minister) seriously considered option A as being a viable choice. But funnily enough no one ever mentions the other three options which called for much less in the way of closures and in fact there was actually a fifth option briefly considered that would have called for massive investment, that gets mentioned even less than the other three options.

Also don't forget Mojo's points above, one thing that Conservative government wasn't is anti-rail.

 

[Mojo]

For a bit of balance here's a post by Old Timer last year about another party's rail history: http://www.railforums.co.uk/showpost.php?p=438144&postcount=76

 

[junglejames]

But the tories also showed a complete lack of caring when it came to the railways. They may have done some good (probably pushed by BR), but they also did some bad. They didnt like spending money on the railways, thatcher realised she couldnt get away with totally killing them off. For the same reason she knew she couldnt get away with privatising the railways. She knew this country 'loved' the railways too much, and anything too bad would be paramount to comitting suicide. Instead she left that to John Major.
Saying we wouldnt be left with any railways at all if she had her way is perhaps a slight exageration, but not as much as some of you say. She hated the railways, and if she did have her way, she would have done a lot of damage. However she was sensible enough to realise she couldnt get away with this. So couldnt go down this route (although no doubt her prefered route).
Remember, what she did do, and what she would do if she had her way, could be at 2 totally different ends of the spectrum. This is a case where i think its exactly that.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

For a bit of balance here's a post by Old Timer last year about another party's rail history: http://www.railforums.co.uk/showpost.php?p=438144&postcount=76

Nobody has been perfect when it comes to the railways, and i dont think anybody is claiming they have been. We have just had statements saying her and her government hated the railways. I think that is pretty much true.

 

[ainsworth74]

Deleted

 

[4SRKT]

She became prime Minister in 1979. How many people here were alive then - 32 years ago.

Quite a number of us I would think, judging by the activity on a lot of the nostalgia threads in the last few days. 1980s nuclear paranoia is my abiding memory of growing up in that decade. Global warming? Get real guys, that's not a proper reason to lie awake at night worrying!

<shudders>

 

[Oswyntail]

... We have just had statements saying her and her government hated the railways. I think that is pretty much true.

Well....she admittedly did say she didn't much like travelling by train. But what her government was completely against was the over-bloated union power that was strangling nationalised industries (as typified by that other deserved recipient of a Cl 70 name, Arthur Scargill, without whom the mining industry could have achieved continued existence just as the railways have). What they were for was greater efficiency, and, when the industry worked towards this, as with sectorisation, it was supported. The Serpell report was widely recognised as being too extreme, and was never considered as the basis of policy. The real crime was nothing to do with Mrs T, and that was the rushed privatisation.

 

[me123]

With Stagecoach's open links to the SNP - there is more of a possibility of a HST/222 (221/220/Pendo to a lesser extent) getting named after a nationalist figure...

Unlikely to do so unless they ever get the Scotrail franchise. Besides, who would you go for? The Nationalists haven't all that many prolific figures (largely because they're mot had much chance to govern or shape policy out-with the last 4 years). The only one I can think of is Billy Wolfe, who was involved in devolution. But even then it's been Donald Dewar who's had all the praise for that. Dewar is actually commemorated on a train (334001), but bear in mind that he was also the First First Minister. We're a long way off seeing a Nat commemorated in such a way IMO.

As for Thatcher... unlikely. She wasn't the worst for the railways; I believe she wasn't for privitising them, and she was convinced to save the Settle-Carlisle railway. But I don't think it'll ever happen. Any such loco or unit in the North of England or Scotland would be vandalised within 24 hours anyway.

 

[4SRKT]

As for Thatcher... unlikely. She wasn't the worst for the railways; I believe she wasn't for privitising them, and she was convinced to save the Settle-Carlisle railway. But I don't think it'll ever happen. Any such loco or unit in the North of England or Scotland would be vandalised within 24 hours anyway.

I'm sure she was ideologically in favour of privatising the railway, but was pragmatic enough to realise it would be a disaster. And she was correct.

 

[The Barlow Boy]

And there was a class 86 named after Sir John Betjeman who wrote a poem advocating bombing a town close to Heathrow Airport - which could have earned him a criminal conviction under present day terrorism laws.



Actually quite close to the truth - I'm old enought to remember the Serpell report in 1982 which advocated the closure of the vast majority of the railway network including some major trunk routes, and converting them into roads.

And that's just what it was, a report. The necessary people took one look at it and dropped it like a hot potato.

 

[Railsigns]

For a bit of balance here's a post by Old Timer last year about another party's rail history: http://www.railforums.co.uk/showpost.php?p=438144&postcount=76

"Balance"? Don't make me laugh. You don't show any concern for balance whenever Old Timer's spouting his Tory-loving right-wing bullsh*t.

 

[Ivo]

Controversial Post...

I think I speak for most of the southern half of England (outside of London anyway) when I say that even the Green Party would make a better Government than New Labour will ever be (or were, referring to Blair and especially Brown). Is it any wonder that most Labour supporters are north of the M62, when most of their interest and members are also north of the M62? Just about the only way Brown's Government could have been worse would be if it had formed a coalition with the BNP.

As for Serpell, even his intermediate options were quite relaxed when it came to closures. Option A was not serious; it was a look at a profitable route. And Option B was essentially the same, only factoring in routes where existing losses were smaller than those that would be encountered by moving passengers into cars. The amount of difference that made to most NSE routes was staggering! And by the time you got to Option C, I believe the only major casualty would have been the Heart of Wessex Line. And speaking as a semi-regular user of the HoW, what use does it actually have? It gives a direct route to Yeovil and Weymouth from Bristol and Bath, and that aside is essentially nothing more than an overgrown bus route. Only the summer holiday trade really makes it worthwhile, and even then it has to compete with the Main Line to Southampton which is the preferred route for Bournemouth.

 

[ainsworth74]

"Balance"? Don't make me laugh. You don't show any concern for balance whenever Old Timer's spouting his Tory-loving right-wing bullsh*t.

So why don't you counter OT's right wing bullsh*t with a post of your own to a similar standard? I for one would be interested to to see the other side of the argument as well put as OT's.

 

[Anon Mouse]

'Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead' after she pops her clogs

 

[MidnightFlyer]

So why don't you counter OT's right wing bullsh*t with a post of your own to a similar standard? I for one would be interested to to see the other side of the argument as well put as OT's.

Indeed: railsigns and BlythPower's responses always seem to be something along the lines of 'Tory pr*ck' or 'Lenin is the greatest man who ever lived'. Old Timer, though by no means everyone's favourite member, seems to put in about 100x more effort and thought into his posts, whereas the 'Left' side of this forum tear him to shreads for being right of centre.

I would personally like to know how much every Labour voter paid for the soap they used to try and get all of the Iraqi's blood off their hands, and that of our soldiers too.

 

[Anon Mouse]

Indeed: railsigns and BlythPower's responses always seem to be something along the lines of 'Tory pr*ck' or 'Lenin is the greatest man who ever lived'. Old Timer, though by no means everyone's favourite member, seems to put in about 100x more effort and thought into his posts, whereas the 'Left' side of this forum tear him to shreads for being right of centre.

I would personally like to know how much every Labour voter paid for the soap they used to try and get all of the Iraqi's blood off their hands, and that of our soldiers too.

And I wonder how much ConDem voters will spend on the soap to wash their hands of the blood on their hands with regards to Libya?

 

[MidnightFlyer]

And I wonder how much ConDem voters will spend on the soap to wash their hands of the blood on their hands with regards to Libya?

Diffrence is is that the above at least has an ounce of reason, you give me one cast-iron reason we should have ever got involved in Iraq/Afghanistan.