For probably the first time in a couple of years, it doesn’t seem to be all sackcloth and ashes for steam on the main line. Since early 2015, there’s been one setback after another, starting with a SPAD on the main line, talk of shorter, less profitable trains, less ambitious itineraries, London becoming a no-go area for steam, gauging complexities, and the controversial yet frequent last-minute substitution of diesels and electrics.
That’s just for starters. At the worst moments, we’ve been left wondering whether the game’s up, if the time had come for operators to scale things right back and run over just a handful of secondary lines, or simply pack it in altogether, and retire to their armchairs to reflect on those glorious legislation-free 1980s and 1990s.
But now…