how on earth did we let this one get away?

Take a look at his superb film of the Wisbech and Upwell tramway. This line survived until 1966 (although passenger traffic finished in 1927 - the passenger coaches appeared The Titfield Thunderbolt so there's a sort of S&D link!) and saw long freight trains almost to the end.

The Wisbech and Upwell was an experimental line built by the Great Eastern Railway. In reality it was probably a century ahead of its time. It should of course have been a target for preservationists as the line remained in situ until 1970 - how did we let this one get away?

There was a revival attempt a few years ago and I'm sure the line will be revived sooner rather than later. Why? Watch the film!

Of course this sort of line will become commonplace over the next fifty years as the oil runs out. It's a cheap way to provide modern transport to strings of villages, with direct connections to businesses, markets, industries, factory estates and farms. In many cases these new routes will be narrow gauge, to keep the costs down even more.

Expect to see at least a few of these connnecting to the S&D in the future!

swiss style east anglia

This is great - if very short! Classic film of the amazing Wisbech and Upwell Tramway, a rural diesel worked freight tramway in East Anglia that survived until 1966 and wasn't lifted until 1970. How did this one escape the preservationists?

This may of course well become the model for future light railways serving smaller towns and villages (though steam or electrically driven of course), and as the roads empty the 'conflict' that the road dinosaurs used to bring up will quickly vanish. The rural tram will soon become a very familiar sight throughout the UK.

bloody know-alls!

Take a look at the picture above. It's a very nice atmosphere shot of the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway, in Wisbech. This is from the book 'The Wisbech and Upwell Tramway' by Chris Hawkins and George Reeve, published in 1982.

1982 was close to rail's lowest ebb in the UK. Even many rail enthusiasts fell for the con, others simply loved the 'romance' of closed lines and really believed that once closed a line would stay closed forever - regardless of the future of roads!

The interesting part of the above picture is the caption. Not sure if you can view it clearly in your browser, but the last line of text reads - Rails in the street are now largely unknown in this country and their like will never be seen again.
Hmmm. Just a few years later rails started appearing in the streets of Manchester, Sheffield, Wolverhampton, Nottingham and Croydon. And in a few months time not only will the streets of Porthmadog contain rails, but will see regular, daily STEAM trains running down 'em.

So when someone tells you 'The S&D will never reopen' remember the absolute certainty of the Wisbech and Upwell statement above. Not only will rails in the street become commonplace throughout the UK, of all guages, but many industrial concerns will run street lines connecting the factory to the network, most towns above 100,000 population will have street-based tramways, smaller towns and villages will have ultra-light rail, interurban street and roadside tracks will litter the countryside and the street railway will become more common than it ever was.

And, of course, the S&D will not only be fully restored but will probably have a dozen of more street-running tramways and light railways connecting to it, not to mention the industrial lines!

I even think the Wisbech and Upwell tramway will be restored!