Nostalgia, Heritage & Leisure.

Nostalgia requires photographs!

An important part of the process of recording events which in later years will be of historic interest is the collation and storing of images. In 'olden times' this might have included paintings, mosaics, rock / cave wall art, etc., (as well as statues, busts, and more) but since the age of photography this has also included the taking of photographs - both still and moving.

Nowadays the recording of sound and images is extremely easy, and although over time some will be lost (films will fade, hard drives containing digital media will crash irretrievably) it is expected that enough will remain to be of benefit to future generations. **Especially if the data is saved in multiple ways & places, (eg: CD/DVD as well as hard drives, plus various physical locations, including if possible somewhere underground) as the period 2011 - 2013 is expected to be a time of heightened solar / sunpost activity with a high risk of solar energy discharges reaching the planetary surface and erasing magnetic data storage systems, which means computer etc., hard drives).**

The principle constraint in the present era is not the willingness of people to record sounds and images, nor the quality of these recordings, but the human politics which all too often sees such actions as (quote / unquote) "undesirable". Too often otherwise totally innocent people taking photographs are hounded, arrested, detained for questioning / full anti-terror security checks (ie: treated as if they are pro-human rights and / or democracy activists in a totalitarian state), because of an irrational concern that their real intent is to use the images they are capturing for purposes which can only be described as 'detrimental to the greater good'.

In future generations historians will come to rue the fact that our generation fell victim to so many ill informed and fearful, negatively inclined 'more than my jobsworth' officials who seem to take delight in accusing people using cameras of being paedophiles, or of investigating localities, transport systems, etc., (ie: suspected criminals) with intent to cause harm to the general public. Train / tram / bus 'spotters' are nearly always otherwise law abiding people following a creative hobby / interest - as well as recording scenes of 'everyday life' as this is lived 'at present'. Little regard seems to be given to the fact that the very small number of people whose intents are not of the best will have resource to covert means of obtaining their information, such as mobile telephone cameras and shirt button cameras - the latter being so small that they are virtually undetectable.

By March 2008 the harassment of people using cameras had become so severe that Austin Mitchel MP - a keen photographer who chairs the Parliamentary All-Party Photography Group - tabled an 'Early Day Motion' (EDM) in the House of Commons canvassing the support of fellow politicians in condemning police action against lawful photography in public places.

An EDM is a formal motion that allows MPs to express and publicise their opinions on given matters and gives fellow politicians the opportunity to support it by adding their signatures.

According to a report in Amateur Photographer magazine (link to article - which opens in a new window) Austin suggested that the current climate is 'all daft.' He also cited Police Community Support Officers (PCSO) as among the worst offenders - which is significant because under the Civil Contingency legislation which the Blair government created in the early / mid 2000's these PCSOs will, along with other officials such as Traffic Wardens, be granted extreme human rights busting powers - often with minimal (if any) recourse to judicial redress for their 'victims'. So, if they are getting things wrong now, then how can anyone have confidence that they will do any better when they have even greater powers???

(There will be some people who would suggest that Austin missed out including security guards who [also] often blindly follow rules without judgement as to whether they are applicable and if so how they should be applied... behaving in the process almost like 'organic portal' robots and not real sentient, thinking, human beings.)

The full text of the EDM is below. It can also be seen on the British (London) Parliament's website at the following link (which opens in a new window). http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=35375

That this House is concerned to encourage the spread and enjoyment of photography as the most genuine and accessible people's art; deplores the apparent increase in the number of reported incidents in which the police, police community support officers (PCSOs) or wardens attempt to stop street photography and order the deletion of photographs or the confiscation of cards, cameras or film on various specious ground such as claims that some public buildings are strategic or sensitive, that children and adults can only be photographed with their written permission, that photographs of police and PCSOs are illegal, or that photographs may be used by terrorists; points out that photography in public places and streets is not only enjoyable but perfectly legal; regrets all such efforts to stop, discourage or inhibit amateur photographers taking pictures in public places, many of which are in any case festooned with closed circuit television cameras; and urges the Home Office and the Association of Chief Police Officers to agree on a photography code for the information of officers on the ground, setting out the public's right to photograph public places thus allowing photographers to enjoy their hobby without officious interference or unjustified suspicion.

Steam Nostalgia.

Steam engines are the most popular form of railway nostalgia with many older people remembering them with affection from when they were younger and steam was the primary form of locomotion. However modern-day youngsters also find that despite being old-fashioned museum technology Steam engines posses an almost magical attraction. Maybe this is because with the constant hissing of steam and the general busy-ness of the drive gear they almost seem to be alive. What is usually forgotten is just how dirty they are - belching out massive amounts of sulphurous smoke that if the carriage windows are open will come into the train and make your clothes and face dirty. Steam locomotives are also very labour-intensive, not only needing two people to drive (driver and fireman - whose primary duties included shovelling the coal to keep the fire going) but also needing someone to create the fire long before the journey begins and clean out the firebox after it is over. Coal fired Steam locomotives sometimes also emit small slithers of burning coal which can ignite lineside vegetation.

Steam nostalgia is such a powerful force that in 1990 a charitable trust fund was founded to build a replica of a type of Steam engine where no examples were saved after the demise of steam as a main form of motive power in the 1960's. Named 60163 Tornado - after the Panavia Tornado military jet - it took until summer 2008 for her to be ready to make the momentous first jouney under her own steam.

Designed to meet modern safety and certification standards, Tornado respresents an evolution of the LNER Peppercorn Class A1 class, incorporating improvements likely to have been made had steam continued and some other small changes for cost, safety, manufacturing and operational reasons. Tornado is considered the 50th Peppercorn A1, numbered next in the class after 60162, Saint Johnstoun, built in 1949. and now sees frequent use hauling special leisure and nostalgia themed trains on the British rail network and on mainline-connected heritage railways.

Although theoretically capable of 100mph (160 km/h) Tornado is being restricted to just 90mph (140 km/h). Nevertheless she is still the fastest Steam locomotive on the British mainline railway.

Having acheived mainline safety certification Tornado is expected to remain available for premier mainline use at least until her 10-year fire-tube boiler re-certification in late 2018. As with many other steam locomotives, it is very possible that Tornado will remain in service for many decades - or at least until environmental and pollution regulations ban the use of coal in this way.

In an era when other countries are investing in electrically powered magnetic-levitation trains it may seen somewhat bizarre that here in Britain we should want to be investing in Steam Locomotives, however such is the power of nostalgia and the leisure industry...

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Diesel Nostalgia.

It is now more than a generation since Diesels started replacing Steam engines en masse and there is a slowly growing tendency for them too to become part of the Nostalgia movement (primarily older types that have been withdrawn from normal use by the mainline railway). As with Steam engines the Diesels use irreplaceable fossil fuels, make living (albeit growling) noises and emit exhaust fumes. Some railway living museums also use Diesels because they require far less manpower to operate and are ideal for days when the centre is open but expected visitor numbers are low. Diesels are also used in high summer when a drought alert poses a serious risk of Steam locomotives causing a lineside fire.

Electric Nostalgia.

In Britain Nostalgic interest in mainline Electric trains is of a lesser order, mainly because until the 1960's only London & Southern England saw any significant railway electrification. Elsewhere there were just a handful of locally based schemes and almost without exception all the old locomotives were scrapped when they were withdrawn from active service. Britain also used to have many electrified industrial railways, such as at collieries, docks etc,. however almost all of these too have been closed and again very little remains.

Although not true Nostalgia there is also much interest in various planned railway electrification schemes which never actually happened - or in London were partially completed and then the lines were closed.

Originally part of a fleet of 20 electric locomotives Sarah Siddons was built in 1923 by the former Metropolitan Railway for its London - Chesham / Amersham - Aylesbury (and beyond) services which until WW2 sometimes even included a Pullman carriage offering light refreshments. These engines hauled trains over the electrified section between London and Harrow-On-The-Hill (or, after 1925, Rickmansworth) whilst steam locomotives operated services over the rest of the route. The use of electric locomotives to haul passenger trains ended in September 1961 and initially Sarah Siddons was one of eight locomotives which escaped the "knacker's yard" - four went to British Railways (London Midland Region) for electric locomotive testing purposes and four remained with London Transport for "operational" reasons, such as acting as depôt shunters.

Eventually however their nostalgic value was realised and two have been preserved. One of these now lives at the London Transport Museum which is located at Covent Garden in central London http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/ (link to an external site which opens in a new window) whilst Sarah Siddons has been kept in fully operational condition and sometimes takes part in leisure-orientated events such as "Steam on the Met" (above right). Until railway privatisation some railtours even saw her hauling British Railways InterCity carriages on both the Underground and the 3rd rail Southern Electric networks.

Named Galatea and Mayflower (after two yachts contesting in the 1886 America's Cup) the two Pullman carriages were actually introduced in 1910 and using different electric locomotives were the first electrically hauled Pullman's "anywhere" globally. They were for first class passengers only and as usual there was a supplement (extra charge) for travelling in them. Initially this was either 6d (ie: six pence in real money or 2½p in modern decimal money) or 1s 0d (ie: one shilling, which equated to 12 pence in real money or 5p decimal) according to distance travelled, although later this was reduced to just 6d for all journeys. In addition to offering freshly cooked light refreshments they were also fitted with toilets, which - as was usual in those days - discharged on to the tracks and were even allowed to be used whilst travelling through tunnelled sections of the route. Their demise came as a wartime economy in October 1939, and it is reported that neither survived.   Scones and afternoon cream tea anyone?

Passenger Carriage Nostalgia.

As with the locomotives most passenger coaches are scrapped when withdrawn from service. Just occasionally however an item of rolling stock escaped the knackers yard because the railway company wanted to use it for various internal purposes (or it was sold to someone to use as a holiday home, chicken shed, etc), and it is these, together with examples of the few types of rolling stock withdrawn within the last decade (or so) that have formed the basis for restoration to become part of the Nostalgia movement. Future historians may regret that in some cases a lack of general interest (and a consequential inability to raise funds) has also seen items 'saved' by preservationists ending up being scrapped.

Passenger carriage nostalgia also includes an historic in what could perhaps be described as the core design / passenger amenities / ambiance of older rolling stock, which sometimes is said to be more favourable than that of modern trains.

At one time travelling in the Pullman carriage was considered the height of luxury - with passengers usually having to pay a supplement (extra charge) for travelling in them.

Traditionally Pullman carriages were painted in umber (a form of dark brown) and cream but under British Railways this was changed to a variants of its blue / grey InterCity livery.

Also of note in the image above left is the golden honey coloured carriage seen next to the Southern Railway carriage, and (in both images) the hand operated open 'slam' doors. The 'golden honey' carriage has wooden sides which were varnished instead of painted, this is further explained below, after which the hand operated open doors are further explored.

Passenger Carriage Painting.

Early railway carriages were based on the horse-drawn stagecoach, and (initially) used similar materials and construction techniques. As time progressed methodologies changed and once the skills for building metal sided carriages had been developed this (eventually) became the preferred option as metal was much stronger, and safer, especially in case of fire. However where the metal used is steel it (like wood) needs protecting from the elements, which usually means painting it. Other benefits of painting include that where trains are dedicated to specific services / specific routes they could be painted in ways which make them easier for passengers to identify (typically by means of different colours / special brandings) and that it can help build a corporate image, so that the items of rolling stock could be seen as mobile advertisements for the railway company.

During the era of wooden sided carriages some railway companies preferred to varnish their trains rather than paint them. The LNER (London & North Eastern Railway) was famous for this - although they did paint some rolling stock too - and prior to the grouping of 1923 some other railway companies also chose to highlight the natural beauty of the wood by varnishing rather than painting their rolling stock. Typically these carriages featured teak panels. Teak was often chosen because it is easily worked and has natural oils that make it suitable for use in exposed locations - where it is durable and long lasting, even when not treated with oil or varnish.

On the London Underground trains built between the late 1950's until the 1980's featured unpainted aluminium sides. There are several reasons for this choice of metal which dates from the post-war era when steel was in short supply. These reasons include:-
* the use of aluminium was seen to be innovative,
* as it was lighter in weight the cost of operating the trains would be lower (less weight = lower energy consumption)
* as aluminium does not rust it would be possible to save even more weight by not painting the trains.

However by the mid-2000's the process of mid-life refurbishment saw the previously unpainted trains being painted. One reason why painting came back in fashion was that the process of removing graffiti vandalism damaged the surface of the metal, which created a 'down at heel' impression. Painting also brought the trains into line with newer legislation that requires railway carriage entrance doors to be in contrasting colours, so as to help people who do not have 20/20 vision find where to board the trains. For what it is worth painting also saw the unpainted fleet being brought into line with respect to 'corporate image'. (Different people will have different points of view on the necessity for this).

For many years passenger trains were accessed via hand operated outward-opening swing doors, which passengers had to open and close just like most house etc., doors. In Britain these were often called slam doors, although other English speaking nations sometimes used different names. These doors were (and are, where they still exist) very simple in operation, but unless locked by a railway official prior to leaving each station there was always a possibility of someone opening one during a journey - and falling out. Whilst the locking of doors was often possible it was rarely done - except to prevent passenger use of a / several specific doorway(s) for reasons such as the complete closure of a section of the train. One reason for this would be because a lot of station staff would then need to be available at every station the train stopped at to unlock and (prior to departure) re-lock the doors. Otherwise with just a couple of station staff there would (potentially) be very long station dwell times. Of course this would be totally unviable & uneconomic - especially for services where the trains stopped frequently. Another reason for not locking the doors between stations follows a handful of events in the early days of the railways when there were accidents which saw the passenger carriages (which in those days were mostly made out of wood) catching fire and resulting in high losses of life of the otherwise unhurt but trapped passengers. Using passanger carriages of virtually identical physical formation London's Metropolitan Railway and Metropolitan District Railway originally did the same as other mainline steam railways, although the 'slam' doors sometimes were a nuisance in the tunnels as where clearences were tight a swinging open door would occasionally physically strike the tunnel wall as the train continued its journey. Mention should also be made of the various railcars which operatwed on quieter rural routes and sometimes featured either inward swinging or hand operated sliding doors. However compared with the rest of the coaching stock these were relatively few.

Starting in 1903, when the first urban railway electrification schemes in a few major British towns and cities began to be saw some some railway companies in Merseyside, Tyneside and London copy the solution which had been adopted on London's deep level tube lines (see below) and built new trains with end vestibules (sometimes open, sometimes enclosed) that used metal lattice gates which were opened by guards specially employed for this duty. For reasons of weather protection the guards were often allowed to travel in 3rd class carraiges between stations. However this arrangement did not last very long and the gates were soon replaced with either inward opening swing-type doors or hand operated sliding doors. Some railway companies fitted balancing gear and self latching locks to make the dors easier to close and prevent them from sliding open when the train was braking. With present-day risk adverse eyes the idea that it was not unusual for hand operated sliding doors to be left open whilst travelling between stations must sound alarming, but despite the safety risk of people falling out it seems that this rarely (if ever) happened - even on crowded rush hour trains.

As time and experience progressed attempts at reducing station dwell times as passengers boarded and alighted at just the carriage ends saw London's Metropolitan Railway adding an extra set of hand operated sliding double doors located midway along the carriage, with further batches of new urban trains on London's Metropolitan Railway doing away with the end doors and instead featured three sets of hand-operated double doors spread along the carriage sides (as with the other mainline railways new trains for longer distance services still featured hand operated outward opening swing doors). favour trains with this type of door for its longer distance services which mostly travelled above ground.

The 1905 electric trains built by London's Metropolitan District Railway included the innovation of air-operated sliding doors, however the air equipment proved to be troublesome and they were soon converted to hand-operation. In London air operation was tried again on some of the new trains built in 1935, and being found viable many older trains were converted to air operation, with all newer trains featuring this from the outset. However the use of trains with hand operated sliding doors only fully ended on London Underground subsurface services when the older rolling stock was replaced with newer trains after WW2. Outside of London new trains introduced in 1938 for the Liverpool area featured air operated doors and the last hand operated sliding door trains were taken out of service in Tyneside in the 1960's.

Because of the small diameter of the single bore tunnels and limited clearences between the side of the trains and the tunnel walls the use of traditional railway outward-opening swing doors was prohibited on the deep level tube lines. In addition, especially at first inward-opening doors were regarded as being almost impossible to arrange within the very restricted height of the carriages, and when at a later date they were introduced (in London) it was found that by opening inwards they impinged upon passenger space (something which was then forgotten until experienced again in the 1980's on London's Docklands Light Railway). Therefore instead of fixed doors the early deep level tube lines decided to copy a solution already used on rapid transit lines in the USA, this being that of locating entrance platforms at the car ends and protecting them using various types of hand operated metal gates. Being mostly (or even entirely) below ground weather protection was not a major consideration. Depending on the railway company these included Bostwick style sliding gates (as were used on lifts) and hinged opening gates (as seen below) which were opened / closed by 'gatemen' who travelled with the trains. Even with the entrances of two intermediate car ends controlled by one gateman this system was labour intensive. In the USA it was usual for trains to only pick-up a relative few passengers at intermediate suburban stations and then for all passengers to want to alight at the terminus - where it was relatively easy to allow plenty of time for everyone to disembark, but as London's trains became busier it was soon found that with large numbers of passengers trying to both board and alight at the many stations en route by only having entrances at the carriage ends the station dwell times often became quite lengthy.

Later batches of rolling stock tried to reduce station dwell times by means of an extra doorway in the centre of the carriage. After an unsuccessful trial (circa 1911 - 1914) with a new train which featured pneumatically operated sliding doors (at the carriage centre and at both ends) the chosen solution was to retain the outer gates and add one set of inward opening double swing doors at the centre of the passenger saloon. The central doors were self closing (by means of springs fitted under the floor) and electronically latched, with the system being designed so that they would be automatically unlocked by the gatemen when they opened the gates and it then being up to passengers to physically open the doors, as required. A red light by the gateman's position illuminated when the doors were released, and a green light when locked. Switches located on the roof canopy above the end platforms allowed the gateman to decide whether the central doors should remain locked, or could be opened even if the end gates remained closed. Although this system worked reasonably well experience soon showed that the self closing feature resulted in passengers often stuggling to pass through the middle doorway whilst holding both doors open, with the alternative of only holding one of the doors open leaving an opening that was a 'bit of a squeeze'. To remedy this and make life easier for the passengers, soon after their introduction the trains were modified so as to replace the double doors with single wider doors.

The next few batches of trains (which entered service in the 1920's) retained the central single leaf door but also completely replaced the gatemen by featuring similar doors at the car 'ends' as well. Also around the same time a small batch of new trains was introduced which featured air powered sliding doors, which eventually became the favoured solution with many (but not all) existing gate end trains being converted to air operated doors too. In some cases the conversion saw trains being fitted with extra wide single leaf doors about 1/3rd and 2/3rds along the car side, with the former gate ends being sealed and incorporated within the pasenger saloon. Since then door configurations have varied with trains typically featuring two sets of single or double doors in the main 'body' of the car plus sometimes extra single doors at the ends as well.

Britain's only other small profile 'tube' railway is in Glasgow, and here they initially used collapsible steel gates (some sources suggest that these were power-operated). Later the gates were rebuilt with solid sliding doors, and nowadays the trains have powered sliding doors. A unique feature of the Glasgow system is that originally all stations used island platforms and the trains only needed entrances on one side of the carriage. However that is no longer the situation.

Nowadays virtually all trains have doors which will only open after the guard / train captain or the driver activates an electronic unlock. Once released passengers using the few types of rolling stock which still have hand operated doors still have to manually open the doors (usually from the outside - passengers inside the train must open the window and use the hand operated lever on the outside) whilst on trains with powered doors they (usually) have to press a button near to the door for it to open. Many types of train on the London Underground are fitted with buttons to open the doors (and on some trains close them too) however the transport operator prefers that its staff open all doors at all stations, and (apparently) has even threatened to discipline its staff for allowing passengers to use the passenger door buttons. Especially in the winter passengers would prefer that they controlled the doors, so that doors not being used during station stops remained closed - particularly at 'open air' stations, as this helps reduce draughts and keep the train warm.

Of course the use of electronic over-ride locks on the trains with hand operated doors and the widespread use of powered sliding doors is by far a safer way to operate the railway, however many of the passengers who are old enough to remember the hand operated sliding doors still lament their loss - especially as in hot weather a slightly ajar door could be a very good source of a refreshing breeze.

Self-propelled Passenger Carriage Nostalgia.

Some passenger carriages are self-propelled, which means that they do not need a locomotive somewhere along the train (usually at the front) as tractive power is spread along train. These multiple-units are also part of the nostalgia movement, both as single (static) vehicles and as fully working trains.

Outside of London and southern England there were only a handful of localised heavy-rail electric railway networks and as new trains were introduced almost all of the older trains were scrapped. Unfortunately even when attempts at preservation were made these sometimes ended in failure.

Although the London UndergrounD is famous for its small profile 'tube' trains the initial parts of the network used mainline sized trains. For a while services on the Metropolitan Railway were shared with the broad gauge trains of the Great Western Railway, which used tracks 7ft 0.25in (approximately 2.14m) wide.

Trains such as the mainline sized examples seen below were introduced in the 1930's and lasted until the 1980's. Although there were several variants which featured different electrical components the differences which passengers would have noticed were in their external colouring and their internal illumination, with the red trains using light bulbs and the white trains using fluorescent tubes.

The flared body design with the lower edge riding slightly over the platform edge was introduced as a safety feature, although it also resulted in trains of an iconic design. The flare was instead of the wooden footboards mounted along the trains' bodyside at floor level which began to be fitted to earlier designs of trains shortly after electrification. Their purpose was to prevent passengers from falling through the gap between the train and platform edge, however the wooden boards then became the scenes of several accidents as passengers tried to board moving trains which were leaving stations by standing on the wooden board and hurriedly open the sliding passenger doors (which in those days were hand worked) before the train had left the station. The danger was especially acute at subsurface stations when the trains reach the end of the platform / the tunnel walls.

Despite being a significantly beneficial safety feature the flared design overriding the platform edge also made special needs 'level access' impossible, so this feature is deemed to be unsuitable for present-day train design.

As with many other trains when they were replaced a few commemorative tours were operated for staff & railway enthusiasts and they carried special headboards.

As an aside, on the London UndergrounD passenger trains are normally referred to using the American term 'cars' and not the English 'carriages'. This is because much of the system was built by (or eventually passed into ownership of) American financiers, whose influence and operating practices included referring to the rolling stock as 'cars'.

More and larger images of the CO / CP / R stock trains (including internal views) have been placed on these two pages at the free online "Wikipedia" encyclopædia (links open in new windows)
the Red CO / CP stock: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Underground_O_Stock
the Silver / White R stock: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Underground_R_Stock

Despite being experimental in design, dating from the 1960's and only four trains having actually been constructed these "Craven" tube trains have become very much part of the nostalgia movement.

Only the motor cars were built new - they were intended to work with older trailer (non powered) cars dating from the 1920's. In the 1990's the older trailers were replaced with newer examples dating from the late 1930's, this being the format in which the train has been preserved.

These trains saw most of their lives working on the Hainault - Woodford shuttle service as test-beds for automatic (self driving) trains. Nowadays the preserved train is used as a working attraction during special events.

As only about 39% of the British railway network has been electrified so many routes use diesel multiple-unit trains and as older trains have been replaced with newer ones so a handful have been preserved.

Station Nostalgia.

The railway builders of the 19^th century left us with a rich heritage of (often) architecturally interesting station buildings & structures, many of which are still in frontline use. This is because if well cared for a station will be a substantial physical structure which can outlast several generations of trains and other rolling stock. However, whilst many older (and some younger) people may find them to be visually pleasant in many cases they can be expensive to maintain and / or do not conform to modern-day expectations / demands in term of amenities. This issue is more fully explored on the Historic stations - the challenge of meeting modern-day needs! page.

Some (usually younger) people compare older railway station buildings which date from the Victorian, Edwardian (etc.,) eras somewhat unfavourably with stations on modern (overseas) railway systems which are only several decades old, and even with airports, and suggest that they would wish that everything 'old' could be replaced with shiny new steel & glass space age style structures. As a contrast, other people look at some modern minimalistic stations and cringe in horror! Replacing everything that is old - just because it is old - would change the face of Britain, resulting in a loss of our urban landscapes' distinctiveness. Experience from towns and cities where between 1945 and 1975 this has been done has shown that the replacing structures are only sometimes longer lasting 'improvements'. A contrary view might include that as living entities our towns and cities need to change as time passes, and should not become fossilised with changes prohibited.

Over the years Britain's railway system has contracted somewhat and many stations have become redundant. Mostly these have been allowed to decay to a point whereby the structure is no longer viable, but some have been saved and converted for other uses, such as private residences. One station which has been saved and (in 1972) was moved to a living museum where it can be used in an educational role is the former Rowley Station, which was near Consett in County Durham. This has been painstakingly restored at the Beamish Open Air Museum where it has become a central feature at Beamish station yard. The passenger building, which includes a ticket office and waiting room for ladies only, dates from 1867 but is shown as it would have around 1910. During its working life this station was always illuminated by oil lamps, as it was never provided with gas or electricity. Heating of course came from coal fires. In 1914 it became a temporary three day home for a trainload of passengers who had been stranded by deep snowfall.

A different form of station nostalgia is where the stations become the means through which the nostalgia is conveyed. This can come in several forms, including art exhibitions and platform wall murals - as seen here.

In addition to aspects of life in the local area nostalgia can be for things which represent significant engineering, technological (etc.,) achievements. The three wall murals below are of the Thames Tunnel, which is the first known tunnel under a navigable tunnel. Some of the information about the tunnel has been sourced from two pages at the free online "Wikipedia" encyclopædia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thames_Tunnel and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_London_Railway - links open in new windows) where further and much more detailed information can also be found.

35ft wide (approximately 11m), 20ft (approximately 6m) high and 1,300ft (approximately ¼ mile / 396m) long, this tunnel runs between Rotherhithe and Wapping at a depth of 75ft (approximately 23m) below London's River Thames.
It was built between 1825 and 1843 using Marc Isambard Brunel's newly invented tunnelling shield technology, by him and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel. This long time period included a seven year abandonment, which was caused by financial problems.
Originally the intention was that the tunnel should be used by horse-drawn carriages but ongoing financial problems meant that the access ramps could not be afforded, and it remained for pedestrians only.
In 1865 the tunnel was purchased by the East London Railway Company, this being a consortium of six railway companies who wanted to use the tunnel to provide a rail link for goods and passengers between Wapping (and later Liverpool Street) and the South London Line. The tunnel opened for trains in 1869 and in 1884 the disused entrance shafts in Wapping and Rotherhithe were converted into Wapping and Rotherhithe stations respectively.

Old advertising posters (such as were often located at stations) can also be of nostalgic value. Examples of these abound, however just two images are shown, with these being of advertising issued by the railway companies promoting different aspects of their services. Posters such as these would have been found at various locations around the stations, including platform and passageway walls, as well as alongside / near to information displays with timetables and other passenger information.

In addition to the items detailed above another aspect of station nostalgia can come from old fixtures and fittings, such as from when the station was built or renovated 'many years ago' and which people often like seeing and may even (sometimes) find visually preferable to modern equivalents. However, there can be a sting in the tail in that when the old fixture / fitting becomes life expired or otherwise requires major (ie: 'expensive') overhaul the item may not justify the investment, and therefore either need to be replaced or result in the survival of the entire station being jeopardised.

Freight Nostalgia.

The moving of freight is an essential part of our way of living. Whether it is parcels containing birthday gifts being sent to friends or goods such as foodstuffs there was a time when the railways handled almost all of it. Furthermore, before the age of containerisation most packages / boxes (etc)., were handled individually, often travelling via mixed goods wagons which would be (un)loaded in a transhipment facility in a station yard. Beamish shows how it 'used to be done'!

Signal boxes (which are sometimes also known as signal cabins or interlocking towers) can be very interesting places to visit, especially older ones with the very large levers, dials, knobs, etc. Of course, being a trained professional the signalman (in 'olden days' it invariably was a man) would know what everything is for, but to the untrained eye it is all a mystery. Dating from an age when electricity was still 'new', the large levers would be (and still are, on the lines where such still exist) physically attached via mechanical rodding to either points (also known as 'turnouts' or 'switches') or signals, and especially for those which were located possibly a mile from the signal box it would require a person of reasonable strength to move them.

The mechanical lever frames also included a feature known as 'interlocking', which would ensure that it was not possible to create conflicting movements that would result in a collision between two or more trains. If the signal box also controlled a level crossing (ie: a road crossing) or an opening bridge, then the interlocking would only allow the signals to be set to allow a train to pass if the route was safe (ie: the gates closed to stop road traffic from using the crossing, the swing bridge in the correct position for railway traffic, etc).

Some of the advantages of mechanical signalling systems such as this include that because they only looked after small areas they if they failed then the consequences would (usually) be less wide-ranging than with modern hi-tech electrical signalling systems, and that experience has shown them to have been hardly affected by the coronal mass discharges, gamma ray bursts etc., which periodically rain down upon us from the Sun and wider cosmos.

However, mechanical signalling systems were very labour intensive, as more or less every junction required a signal box (large junctions might even require several signal boxes) plus even along plain track there would still need to be a signal box approximately every couple of miles.

Over the years there has been a trend towards replacing mechanical rodding with electrically operated signalling and points and relocating of signal control from small localised boxes to regional control centres which might look after hundreds of miles of trackage. In addition, for many lines electricity has created the possibility for the signals to be automated, so that far less human intervention is required. Even at junctions it is possible for the computers to change the points etc., to suit the train's preplanned route.

Dating from 1937 the second signal box seen here uses what is known as a 'power frame'. The signalman still only looks after a small section of track but instead of using long rods which physically link the signals / points with the levers everything would normally operate electrically (occasionally power frames operate pneumatically).

Power frames usually feature miniature levers. In some cases, the interlocking is still done mechanically, but in others, electric lever locks would be used. Sometimes there would be a 'king' switch which might be locked to prevent accidental use. This switch would only be used in cases of extreme emergency, as it could effectively override the normal safety interlocking which prevents the signal box being used in ways which potentially create danger.

This signal box also controlled access to two sidings where during off-peak times of the day many trains would reverse. It was replaced in the early 1990's when the line was resignalled, with many other signal boxes elsewhere along the route also being closed and a new centralised signalling control centre replacing them.

For safety (in case of lamp failure) lights which are illuminated represent tracks which are unoccupied. Therefore the two siding tracks (on the right-hand panel) are unoccupied, but below them a westbound train is approaching the station. In addition another westbound train has just left the station and is passing a crossover, with the rest of its route to the edge of the board being outside the area that this signal box controls so there are no lights to illuminate. There is also a train in the eastbound station platform.

As a schoolboy I used to change trains here every day and as I walked along the platform to the escalators I would pause for a few moments and watch the signalman operating the levers, knobs and dials. Much to my delight I would sometimes be invited in and given a quick 'tour' of how the system worked. The signalmen also made sure I did not stay too long and become late for school!

A video of this signal box has been placed on 'youtube' - click the projector icon or here to see it. The video was taken after the signal box had been equipped with a touch-screen computer display system which is not seen in this photograph.

Train operator Nostalgia.

It is indeed possible to become nostalgic over former railway companies and train operators, especially if they were well known for something people liked or was very beneficial to them, be it good service, longevity, or something else.

In 1986 the government instituted some business-led reforms of the then state-owned British Railways. In southern England this saw the creation of Network SouthEast which operated all services (except InterCity) in London and its hinterland - this roughly being south and south east England plus East Anglia. The new operator, along with some new ideas and helped by a boom in London's economy, successfully reversed a long term decline in passenger traffic. One of its most innovative and popular ideas was the introduction of a railcard which offered discounted off-peak travel. Although this railcard had to be purchased many people found that it was a cost effective marketing tool which not only saved them money but encouraged them to make journeys they might not otherwise have made.

Since railway privatisation what became known as the network effect has been killed off. The privatised railco's did not like the Network Card as they saw it as being too generous and a threat to the more restrictive offers they wanted to make for their own sphere of operations only. So, slowly by slowly, over several years the railcard's terms and conditions were so savagely eroded (for instance: on weekdays discounted tickets cannot be used before 10.00am - previously it was 9.30am - and there is now a minimum weekday fare of £10.00) that many people no longer bother with them - myself included.

Ticketing Nostalgia.

Ticketing Nostalgia can be looked at in several different ways.

For many people there is an interest in old tickets as issued over the many years by the many railway, tramway and bus companies. This covers their shapes, sizes, colours, the information on the ticket, the ticket issuing process, and much more.

A different type of nostalgia is for things 'as they were' within recent living memory - where the changes have been inspired for reasons political and or business rather than technological. Such as changes to the ticketing system which result from changes in how the transport system (primarily the railways) are owned and operated - although there is always the possibility that (some of) these might have happened anyway, in one form or another.

Since railway privatisation the ticketing system for longer distance travel in Britain has undergone a marketing-led revolution. No longer are fares based solely on the distance being travelled - instead the motto is what the "market" is deemed to be able to afford, and indeed some tickets (especially full fare singles and returns) are so expensive that they could be made out of real gold! Whilst the railcos still offer off-peak discounted tickets (many of which are *very* advantageously priced) these are only for passengers who are prepared to book seats in advance, as if they were travelling by airplane. And, as with airlines, people who miss their timed transports often lose the tickets' monetary value (ie: few railcos offer either transfer or upgrade facilities on these tickets), so if they wish to travel they must buy a brand new ticket - at whatever fare is available. By way of a contrast no-one ever has to book their private car in advance - they just "turn up" - and can even decide change their travel itinerary, delay return journeys, etc., after having started their journey. The nostalgia here is for the discounted walk-on tickets, and route interavailability.

Discounted off-peak walk-on "Super-Saver" tickets

British Railways offered the "Saver" and "Super-Saver" tickets which offered discounted walk-on travel on longer distance services after 9.30am. ('walk-on' means just turn up, buy a ticket & travel on the service of the passenger's choosing, no advance booking required). Since privatisation the railcos have more or less totally abolished the Super-Saver and (most of them) wanted to get rid of the Saver too. However this was not allowed as during privatisation there was a public outcry against the possibility of the Saver's demise so to placate public opinion the Saver became a 'protected' ticket, which meant / means that it must still be offered and its price can only be raised in line with the national inflation figures. Many people lament that the Super-Saver was not similarly protected too. The reasons why the railcos were not / are not in favour of Super-Saver and Saver tickets include that the railcos want to use demand management techniques to help fill emptier off peak services / reduce demand for their busier services (something which unrestricted walk-on ticketing does not facilitate) and that they prefer to sell tickets where they receive 100% of the revenue - walk-on tickets often share the revenue between different railcos, depending on the dynamics of the specific journey.

Despite the Saver tickets' protection the railcos have still managed to find some backdoor methods with which to undermine their true value, in the hope that so few people use them that they would be deemed irrelevant and (eventually) the decision makers would abolish them. One way in which they were able to make Saver tickets less attractive to the travelling public was / is by pushing back the weekday morning starting time from 9.30am to 10.00am - as this change makes day trips far less viable for people who wish to spend many hours at their destination. At present however it is still permitted to break one's return journey - as long as at all times one is travelling towards the return destination. The combined effects of inflation and abolition of Super-Savers means that on many longer distance routes the cheapest walk-on fares can be as much as 50%-65% higher than they were when the railways were privatised in 1995.

By 2008 the airline style marketing led system of train tickets had created such confusion that the railway industry decided to revamp the system and try to simplify it. The confusion was not just because of the plethora of ticket type and names but also because often the same ticket, for the same journey, would be available at several different prices. Its protected status means that the Saver ticket is being retained (albeit renamed) although a way to erode its overall scope has still been found, for instance on some routes Saver tickets are being replaced with day return tickets.

Ticket Routing Interavailability

There was a time when a ticket between two stations could be used via any "reasonable" route. Where there were several routes passengers with return tickets could travel out via one route (eg: Exeter to London Waterloo or Southend Central to London Fenchurch Street) and return via the other route (eg: London Paddington to Exeter or London Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria). Since privatisation passengers can only do this with full-fare (and for certain routes Saver / off-peak) tickets, these not being the cheapest tickets by any stretch of the imagination. Indeed with these tickets it is sometimes cheaper for even single people to travel by car - even with Britain's very expensive petrol and congested roads! So nowadays the only way passengers can buy cheaper tickets is to restrict themselves to specified trains, on one route only, out and back.

Tram Nostalgia.

Although prior to the 1950's Britain had very little mainline railway electrification there were many urban electric tram systems. Of these only the Blackpool - Fleetwood inter-urban survived, but preservationists were able to save enough examples of rolling stock from some of the other systems to create several Transport Centres where they give rides to delighted passengers. Nowadays double-decker trams are very rare - Blackpool being one of only three locations globally where they are still used in full passenger service, The others are Hong Kong and Alexandria, Egypt.

Other living museums which operate trams include Beamish North of England Open Air Museum in Co. Durham (near to Newcastle Upon Tyne and Durham), The Black Country Living Museum in Dudley (near Birmingham) and the East Anglia Transport Museum, (near to Lowestoft). At Beamish and the BCLM the trams (and trolleybuses) are used as 'serious' transports helping carry people around extensive sites which primarily look at how people lived in days gone by, for instance the early 1900's, when trams such as these were often in mainstream use. In this way they have become useful extras that enhance the visitor experience, but not the main attractions. The use of trams & trolleybuses at Beamish & BCLM are looked at on the Leisure page.

However whereas the Steam based Living Museums are based on what almost everyone agrees is outmoded technology many of these tramway transport centres were created by people who held / still hold the firm conviction that British transport 'policies' were seriously flawed in encouraging the closure of our tramway systems, and that whilst the money invested in the replacement motor buses appeared to be cheaper at the time experience from overseas has shown that in the longer term it would have been far cheaper to have kept the trams and slowly upgrade them to light rail standards.

To a large extent these views have now been proven correct; especially following the success of Manchester's Metrolink and Croydon's Tramlink: so its not surprising that now many other places also want to bring them back - including London where plans include new lines right through the heart of the central area, serving areas where previously the trams had not been allowed to operate.

For more information about these living museums visit their websites (links will open in new windows).
The National Tramway Museum - http://www.tramway.co.uk/
Beamish North of England Open Air Museum - http://www.beamish.org.uk/
The Black Country Living Museum - http://www.bclm.co.uk/
The East Anglia Transport Museum - http://www.eatm.org.uk/
Milestones Museum - http://www.milestones-museum.com/ Note that this link will probably redirect you to the website of the local government who run the museum.

Of course some places retained their trams...so in these places there is no need to go to "out of the way" museums to experience historic tramcars / streetcars in action.

Sometimes there is just a fine dividing line between leisure and nostalgia and further complications are added when the same tramcars are used for both "serious" passenger services and leisure-orientated nostalgic rides. For instance: Milan, Italy is still using some of its Peter Witt tramcars for "serious" passenger services whilst in cities such as San Francisco they are share duties with restored PCC streetcars on the tourist orientated services. Some of Blackpool's trams fall into this category too with the open top tram seen below being similar to many others (with 'closed' tops) which provide "serious" passenger services.

Cities which have modern light rail systems have found that the operation of historic tramcars (streetcars / trolleycars) over part (or all) of the system is a well proven way to attract extra interest and passengers.

Bus Nostalgia.

As previously stated buses also feature in the Nostalgia industry and there are several places where it is possible to ride fully-working preserved trolleybuses (and / or preserved / replica motor buses). As with the tramway preservation movement the trolleybus living museums were created by people who held / still hold the firm conviction that British transport 'policies' were seriously flawed in encouraging the replacement of the electric trolleybuses with fossil-fuel powered polluting motor buses. They see it as a serious error that (so far) the return of the tram has not been matched by the return of the trolleybus.

Arguably Britain's foremost Trolleybus living museum is the Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft, this being located on an ex-WW2 airfield near the village of Belton, in North Lincolnshire. (Also near Doncaster, Yorkshire and the M180).

Preserved but still alive trolleybuses at the Sandtoft Trolleybus Museum.
Taken using a 'stretch / panoramic' camera this shows a general view of the main circulating area at the Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft. The three vehicles on the right are being used to give passengers rides on a circuit which includes locations not seen in this view. The trolleybuses comes from Bradford (front), Huddersfield (middle) and Nottingham (rear).

In addition to historic motor buses, trolleybuses and trams the East Anglia Transport Museum (which is at Carlton Colleville, near Lowestoft) has a large museum collection of vintage vehicles including cars, a taxi cab, vans, lorries and steam-rollers, many of which can sometimes be seen operating on its 'olde worlde' style street scene. There is also a miniature railway.

In 2008 the EATM opened a new section of trolleybus served roadway, this being the first new section of trolleybus wiring for many years. This was made possible by a generous donation and in honour of the donor the road served by the trolleybuses is named Herting Street.

The Black Country Living Museum (BCLM) is another place where the trolleybus lives on. As this is a large museum covering an extensive area the trolleybuses (and tram) provide a useful service linking various sections of the complex with the main entrance. As such this is the world's only double-deck trolleybus route (at present - but it would welcome many companions!). It is 0.8 mile (approximately 1.3km) in length and configured in a figure-of-eight loop.

Before the age of the railway, rivers & canals were the best way to move freight inland. Nowadays the waterways are very much under-used, however while visiting the BCLM it is also possible to get a taste of what life on the waterways was like by taking a fascinating 45 minute ride through the Dudley Canal Tunnels and Limestone Mines on an electrically powered narrow boat. This is provided by the Dudley Canal Trust and is a separate visitor attraction which can be easily reached either via its own street entrance or via a direct access from the BCLM.

The use of water transports for leisure is looked at in greater detail on the Leisure page.

Although Beamish has some trolleybus wiring their vehicle is too modern for the time periods they are recreating. However they also have two replica 1913 motor buses which are used in the summer season. These are copies of a double-deck bus owned by Gateshead Tramways in 1913 and of a London General double-deck bus. On this rather dismal Sunday only the London bus was being used.

Nostalgic Nostalgia.

Sometimes people will complain when items of nostalgic interest are swept away by progress, but it can happen that going backwards can actually equate with undoing previous "wrongs" and / or going forwards.

Perhaps one of the best examples of this is what happened in Berlin, Germany, after the city was re-unified. With the building of the wall in 1961 some sections of the U-Bahn (underground railway) in the western sector of the city ended up being closed to passenger services. At Gleisdreieck station one of the disused platforms was incorporated in to the experimental Magnetic Levitation railway (M-Bahn - more information on this page) whilst nearby a section of disused elevated U-Bahn was effectively "re-opened" by means of a vintage tram shuttling along one of the tracks between Bülowstrasse and Nollendorfplatz stations. Furthermore, Bülowstrasse station became a Turkish bazaar (shopping arcade) whilst Nollendorfplatz station became a flea market with stalls along the platforms and inside the two vintage U-Bahn trains which were stabled in the station.

However, with Berlin's re-unification all these have been swept away and the lines re-established as part of the modern-day U-Bahn.