It is sad to see our hobby dwindling so quickly, 17 locos scrapped in the last four months, especially as some of these were ETH fitted locos.
If they were 37s or 47s, then good riddance - there are far too many of them in preservation, in my opinion.
I think they need to get rid of some of each (ideally use them for parts) to free up space and money for for other things that don't have any examples in preservation yet.
Just how long before there is nothing left, what then for new preserved railways (once the present financial crisis is over) where will they get there locos from to get started, they can’t all afford three million pounds for a new loco.
I'm not aware of any preserved railways buying brand new locomotives, so I don't see what that has to do with it.
They'll do what others have done and buy old ones that are either in need of restoration or are already restored.
Though, I would question the sustainability of having loads of new preserved lines. Surely there will be a limit to how many we have before the customer base becomes to thinly spread for them all to be able to continue.
There is however a Question that needs to be asked here as to the legality of our hobby being scrapped, yes these companies legally own the locos and can scrap them if they want, but what they don’t have is the right to do is destroy some ones hobby.
Uhh, yes they do.
They have no obligation to keep something just because someone else likes it, it's totally up to them what to do with them.
If you want something saved, then you'll need to contribute to buying, storing and maintaining it. It's all very well going "They can't scrap that, it's our hobby!", but unless you're going to do something towards trying to save it, then you're not going to make a difference.
The public would soon have something to say if we bought up all the golf courses and started to dig them up the government would probably even step in to stop us, a protection they are not affording us.
No they wouldn't.
If you did that, all that would happen is that people would build more golf courses, because the demand is there.
By scrapping these locomotives they are in my opinion leaving themselves’ open to claims of compensation for the destruction of our hobby and the loss that they have brought upon us. This is something that should be looked into by a more legally minded person than I, and hopefully it will be.
I think you're living under a delusion.
It's got nothing to do with the government whether private individuals and companies choose to keep or get rid of preserved trains.
There isn't an infinite pot of money that can be used to preserve every train and every closed line. If you really want to see something preserved, then do something to help, like contribute financially or volunteer.
ad:
) and sun into one day.
. There's a lot to hold the interest as far as trains go.
