The last generation, in fact even 1920s and 30s steam locos that were modernised properly, used less fossil fuel per ton per mile than even the best diesel electrics ever did. The infrastructure to operate them was in place and it took a deliberate decision and cost money to demolish it. The countries that kept that infrastructure in other parts of the world such as South America, Africa and Australia are still operating profitable steam trains.
Ah yes , i agree. Unfortunately the economies of running a steam railway in the developing world (where labour is cheap and ease of maintainence is paramount) are very different to the UK. I am afraid steam is doomed , but itll have a last hurrah yet...
Fascinating stuff. Well Done! For my sins I spend time acting on property related legal matters for a certain railway infrastructure owner in the UK. (My un-original user name is a poor attempt at irony).
While I have some sympathy with your premise that GWR was probably best equipped to remain private there were going to be a series of railway company failures even among the big four (and don't forget that there were still some other minor entities that had escaped the 1920's legislation - see the preamble to the 47 Act).
We are in an era of "Big Government" when Labour are in power. Does your TL hold some surprises or will we see state intervention?
Looking foward to the next installment!
Unfortunately , state intervention of some description is inevitable , however , the form ,timing and extent of this intervention is debatable and we will see many reforms as the years come.
How about a future not based on the Great Western but the Southern. Bulleid in appointed CME of British Railways instead of Riddles and is able to co ntinue developing the Leader class which becomes a success and he also goes on to develop new diesel designs
Id have liked that , unfortunately I have a passionate love affair with the GWR and a irrational hatred of BR. I wanted to see BR dissapear , and the GWR remain , part of the idea of this TL was to see that become reality.
In 1955 one of the company’s main rivals, the LMS, was taken into a receivership. Whilst this had prompted many to call for Nationalisation, the concerted efforts of vested interests managed once again to fend this off.
Interesting start I am looking forward to the next instalment but surely the LMS would have been as well placed as the GWR after the war. The Stanier and Ivatt locomotive and rolling stock standards and the experimental electric high speed signalling should have given the LMS an equal chance of success with the GWR.
The company that struggled the most after grouping was the LNER, however in my opinion they would have all gone bust.
Ill take that. I predict that at least one of the companies would have gone under by the early 60s , and it was going to be the LMS or the LNER. The LNERs finances had been shaky from the outset , perhaps they got a better deal on their loans. More likely they stripped their services to a minimum , building large marshalling yards to handle bulk freight in an attempt to maximise their freight profits.
To be truthfully fair , I agree with your prognosis that they would all have gone bust , thus why the POD had to be a massive Government Loan. Even with this , at least one of the lines would go under , and as you may have guessed , this is leading to a confrontation with the government....
Stay tuned.