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,Pre-grouping be d****d! I think the Bluebell has at least one withdrawn before Grouping but serviceable again. The IOWSR certainly does with another one coming on to join it.

Railway Preservation has yet to learn to be ultra ultra cautious about any extension proposal

This would prevent operating trains longer than platforms and thus requiring passengers to change compartments or carriages before detraining. Good!

No amount of grim finger wagging will encourage people out of private cars unless the train becomes distinctly better than it tends to be in the age of the ironing board seat.

Not so in all cases.

Still more complex than it has to be although better than many.

Absolutely so. However, IMHO a high proportion of preserved railways have structures which are complicated verging on the ridiculous, resulting in internecine squabbles being made more likely.

We should not generalise. As an example, Southern Vectis in the Isle of Wight are excellent.

Actually rode in Oldbury 10 yesterday. The ride is surprisingly good, presumably aided by the exceptionally long springs but second class is cramped, particularly in contrast with the evidently sumptuous first class saloon. Previous comments made concerning how much original material has been...

One shouldn't get too "curatorial" about the amount of "original" material is to be found in any restored carriage. Their whole existence has involved repair, replacement and modification from the moment of manufacture.

Actually, one of the four wheelers ("Oldbury" 10 of 1864) runs on a custom built wooden underframe. A second one is under restoration at present. Both were withdrawn before the SR was formed!

Overloading is illegal. Just failing to honour timetables is unforgivable.

"Duplicity"? Where do you get that from. It's called being helpful to avoid people being stranded by non-observance of the timetable which has happened to me. Once was enough of that! Just take the train to Wootton where there are three buses per hour which never fail to stop.

I do tend to find Island Line to be a wee bit "unpredictable"

However, in particular the droplight thirds, they are far more attractive than most of the "stuff" most visitors get given to ride in. I fear though that there is not too much of the good stock left.

+1

There is never any shortage of over romanticised "wouldn't it be nice" ideas. The extension to East Grinstead is not a particularly promising precedent.

Any railway which has to run extra train sets simply to maintain a reasonable service frequency following an over eager extension, comes in this category.

2022 was actually slightly better and so far this year has been similar. There are others who have recovered from lockdown

Sadly there is more to it than that. There comes a time when "extension fever" produces the need to employ more stock simply to retain departure frequencies.