Old is the New New: Tyseley Locomotive Works in the 2000s

"Part of the reason that the heritage site had gained this multi-purpose persona, was the relatively new overlap between preservation and service operations."

An exemplar of the "vintage stock, modern uses" ethos which placed Tyseley high in the modern rail enthusiast's consciousness. Class 31, No. 31190. Independently owned, restored to main line spec by hire company Fragonset, and by centenary weekend in June 2008, exhibiting as part of Network Rail's structure gauging train.

If you grew up after the steam age, chances are you never regarded Tyseley as a Holy Grail of railway pilgrimages. Even post-kettledom, railway fans have tended to favour locomotives over multiple units. So whilst the West Midland spotters of the 1970s and 1980s would plan to visit the locomotive depots at Bescot and Saltley, Tyseley's DMU facility would almost invariably get the cold shoulder.

But times change, and through the first half of the 2000s there was a notable redistribution of interest. As the privatised railway began to heavily modernise, Bescot and Saltley became less interesting to fans of classic traction. Tyseley, simultaneously, became more interesting. Tyseley's newfound zeitgeist would culminate in a phenomenally successful, packed-to-the-rafters, queues-down-the-street centenary event in June 2008. In this pictorial, I'm going to document the period leading up to that event, and then the event itself...

Everything You Drank Too Much Real Ale To Remember About The 1999 Severn Valley Diesel Gala

"Preservation does not always mean forever. Railcar M51935 would not survive another ten years."

INTRODUCTION

Once upon a time, UK railway preservation was the constant. A reassuringly stable relief from the chaotically evolving national network. But particularly since privatisation, the weight of evolution has shifted.

The national scene does still evolve, with new trains and traction displacing old. But lifespans have become much longer than they were when diesel preservation began, and a secondhand market has developed, keeping older trains and traction in service way beyond their original projected shelf lives. Based on an average British Rail shelf life as understood in the 1970s, the Class 66s would have been running the gamut of farewell tours by now. Imagine that!