What about creating a 1980s style preserved railway?

[birchesgreen]

The EVR had an 80s feel to me when i first started visiting it, as they used mostly DMUs. Not the same now.

 

[Trackman]

I always think a preserved railway era is what you make of it, obviously the traction on the day rather than buildings etc..

 

[Gloster]

Catering would be scalding hot Maxwell House coffee in a foam cup with a Kit-kat or a Bowyers’ sausage roll.

 

[Irascible]

Other than paint, what would make it any different to local beanches in the SW or bits of the north

 

[Mat17]

I always hoped that now the 144 has arrived at the WVR in glorious Metrotrain livery, that the 101 would look great in Regional Railways.

 

[6Gman]

I always think a preserved railway era is what you make of it, obviously the traction on the day rather than buildings etc..

I rarely visit heritage railways partly because (in my view) they rarely represent any era.

Post-war loco (quite likely in a livery it never carried) hauling GWR-liveried coaches from a station plastered in enamel advertising signs from a different era entirely.

 

[Kremlin Stooge]

I’m not sure which bit of the 1980s I’d like to see recreated, it was a decade of fast-moving and profound changes in the railway network.

For the very beginning of the decade, we could have a preserved railway fitted with 1500v DC overhead and drag 76020 out of the NRM and give it run! (And you’re all behind me in the queue for tickets! )

By the end, we had the plethora of Sector liveries and the replacement of many loco classes by Pacers and Sprinters, is this something people actually feel nostalgic about?

 

[yorksrob]

By the end, we had the plethora of Sector liveries and the replacement of many loco classes by Pacers and Sprinters, is this something people actually feel nostalgic about?

I feel quite nostalgic for NSE.

 

[30907]

I always hoped that now the 144 has arrived at the WVR in glorious Metrotrain livery, that the 101 would look great in Regional Railways.

Yes, but wouldn't really fit the overall early-60s look of the linew. Nor does the Pacer of course, but there isn't a 60s livery for one

 

[david1212]

1980's style gives two distinct options
- as typical so much actually dating from earlier decades.
- all as if built / rebuilt / refurbished during the 1980's.

 

[tbtc]

1980's style gives two distinct options
- as typical so much actually dating from earlier decades.
- all as if built / rebuilt / refurbished during the 1980's.

That's a very good point

It annoys me when I see a programme/ film set in the 1980s and everyone is wearing 1980s fashions/ listening to 1980s music etc (when the reality of any decade is that a lot of the "culture" that people are consuming dates from previous years - it takes a long time for the trends of catwalks to filter their way through to provincial High Streets)

I think that a 1980s railway would be a fascinating one - much more my era than the Victorian themed nostalgia that many railways seem to aim for (which is fair enough, they know their market, they can attract more people with "Downton Abbey" than "Only Fools & Horses")

Some places saw little change over the 1980s, some saw a transformational decade - especially if you were in what became NSE (where they didn't just get lots of new trains but fantastic attention to details when it came to "everyday" things like clocks and lamp posts - many people bemoan privatised TOCs for "unnecessarily" spending money on repaints but NSE were quick to do exactly that, and it paid off)

As someone who lived in the ScotRail area at the time, my 1980s experience was split between the final years of diesel locomotives on a number of services and the modern/plastic Sprinters - the locos became fewer and fewer but more and more colourful - I think that the large logo livery and a few Highland "stags" etc would be wonderful, but if we are talking "representative" then it'd be more humdrum 150s instead.

I do find the premise of the thread very interesting - I was at Beamish shortly before the pandemic started and it's really interesting the way that the "museum" is evolving from 1850s to 1950s - nostalgia is evolving - but do railways want to remain primarily focussed on the nineteenth century? The 1980s are now half way between the Second World War and today, after all.

 

[36270k]

To be realistic for the early 1980's you would need black ballast from DMU and loco oil leaks and stations covered in brake dust from cast iron brake blocks. New Cross used to be one of the dirtiest.

 

[Bevan Price]

A full time 1980s replica would not be financially viable. It would attract enthusiasts, but they typically represent only 5 to 10% of paying passengers on heritage railways. The majority are mostly non-enthusiasts, who want to see something "different", and for many of them, that means steam.

 

[infobleep]

Guildford station was rebuilt in 1987. Not all of it was rebuilt fhen though. That would be 1980s. It is going to be rebuilt again soon enough. So if one wanted to recreate it.

 

[JonathanH]

Guildford station was rebuilt in 1987. Not all of it was rebuilt fhen though. That would be 1980s. It is going to be rebuilt again soon enough. So if one wanted to recreate it.

Yes, transplanting the canopies and platform buildings from Guildford to a heritage railway would certainly be different as they are quite visibly '80s' in design.

 

[AM9]

Imagine the issues if someone wanted to recreate the London and Brighton South Coast Railway OLE. I can't remember the voltage off hand but I am sure it isn't one used now.

I think it was 6700vac 25Hz. The voltage wouldn't be that difficult but 25Hz would need to be generated locally.

 

[zwk500]

Imagine the issues if someone wanted to recreate the London and Brighton South Coast Railway OLE. I can't remember the voltage off hand but I am sure it isn't one used now.

Not exactly 1980's though, didn't it get taken down in the early 1920s?

 

[Speed43125]

To be realistic for the early 1980's you would need black ballast from DMU and loco oil leaks and stations covered in brake dust from cast iron brake blocks. New Cross used to be one of the dirtiest.

Think the various heritage lines around now manage that quite well.

Seems to be a pretty common thing all over the network as well. As a completely off hand example, Dunblane still has the 'black ballast' from the stoppers idling around in platforms 1 & 3, despite electric traction having taken those roles over a few years ago now.

 

[infobleep]

Not exactly 1980's though, didn't it get taken down in the early 1920s?

It did. I was just reminded of it when someone was talking about OLE.

 

[Dai Corner]

I think it was 6700vac 25Hz. The voltage wouldn't be that difficult but 25Hz would need to be generated locally.

Noting that the frequency of the supply voltage wasn't authentic would be like, oh, I don't know, a steam enthusiast looking in an ex-GWR tender and remarking that the coal couldn't possibly have come from South Wales.

Was the electricity rectified for DC traction motors anyway?

 

[birchesgreen]

A full time 1980s replica would not be financially viable. It would attract enthusiasts, but they typically represent only 5 to 10% of paying passengers on heritage railways. The majority are mostly non-enthusiasts, who want to see something "different", and for many of them, that means steam.

Indeed, it would need to be bankrolled at a loss by a mad and very rich enthusiast.

Wish me luck on the eurolotto lads.

 

[AM9]

Noting that the frequency of the supply voltage wasn't authentic would be like, oh, I don't know, a steam enthusiast looking in an ex-GWR tender and remarking that the coal couldn't possibly have come from South Wales.

Was the electricity rectified for DC traction motors anyway?

I don't think so as it wouldn't have been 25Hz. Just like the German group of countries' electrification, the low frequency AC was the maximum that the induction motors could handle. Rectifiers would have needed a rotary converter.
As far as enthusiasts are concerned, the difference in sound that the motors made would be obvious to them.

 

[Dai Corner]

I don't think so as it wouldn't have been 25Hz. Just like the German group of countries' electrification, the low frequency AC was the maximum that the induction motors could handle. Rectifiers would have needed a rotary converter.
As far as enthusiasts are concerned, the difference in sound that the motors made would be obvious to them.

Every day's a school day. Thanks.

 

[D6968]

I feel quite nostalgic for NSE.

I feel the same for subsector symbols, Dutch Civil engineers, then from a little bit later Regional Railway’s, Transrail Big T and EWS Red and Gold.

 

[DarloRich]

It is an interesting flight of fancy but I wonder what the real people would think of a 1980's preserved railway with no stream trains...................

 

[AM9]

It is an interesting flight of fancy but I wonder what the real people would think of a 1980's preserved railway with no stream trains...................

Thjey would be a lot less sympathetic if it had diesel traction given the increasing attention to pollution and climate change measures.

 

[DarloRich]

Thjey would be a lot less sympathetic if it had diesel traction given the increasing attention to pollution and climate change measures.

you mean that "clag" & "froth" might not be culturally acceptable?

 

[Dai Corner]

you mean that "clag" & "froth" might not be culturally acceptable?

Burning solid hydrocarbons in a mobile firebox for entertaining/nostalgic purposes is OK
Burning solid hydrocarbons to generate electricity for traction purposes is bad.
Burning liquid hydrocarbons in a mobile cylinder for entertaining/nostalgic purposes is bad.

 

[Brush 4]

An 80's branch line recreation would just be a BR basic railway. All sidngs lifted and a single line for 1 platform. 1 DMU going back and forth. Not very exciting really Or a freight only line with the station abandoned and a few sidings for one kind of traffic only, like cement. It would have to be closed once a year, track lifted, relaid then reopened, repeat ad infinitum. Boring.

 

[Neptune]

A heritage railway dedicated to the 1980’s is not what you’d call a money spinner as it would only appeal to niche enthusiasts and there’s a reason I along with many people I know stopped going to diesel galas (the screaming and arm waving clientele).

Maybe there is a way of doing it by attracting a more family based audience.

Beamish has been mentioned upthread. As middle aged people like myself are at the younger end of those who remember the 80’s why not a museum dedicated to the 1970’s/80’s and possibly even 90’s with a short running line as part of it. A ‘the way we lived in the modern era before the internet’ sort of thing.

There is a large classic car scene for that era, probably buses and trains so why not combine it with a Beamish style village? It would work for me and my family far more than a dedicated heritage line.