Tractionman

this is surely the golden age for preserved railways in GB, with a volunteer workforce and day-trippers keeping them afloat, but if that dynamic changes there will be an impact on the viability of lines' survival in the coming decades--and the volunteer base is particularly vulnerable I would have thought as (a) fewer of us these days have much spare time to offer in older age as we have to work for a living (!) for longer with pensions shrinking in real terms and more debts for longer, (b) the pool of enthusiasts is shrinking, especially as the memories of 'proper' loco-hauled trains let alone steam fades from the population, and 'reliving' our youth disappears as a driver... am I being too gloomy? I am not sure the likes a a few 'celeb' train-spotter influencers will be enough to galvanise the 2000s+ generation (ie those not in the 1960s-1980s enthusiast group) to prop up for free the raft of jobs needed for maintaining preserved railways, from tearoom staff to fitters and platelayers. time will tell, but GB preservation may wane and so we should make the most of what we have while it's here

Interesting points, a big difference too is around nostalgia fueled by kids in Britain who were loco spotters in the fifties and sixties and really drove the preservation movement in the seventies, which bore fruit by the nineties and now very much a part of the tourist industry in GB which hopefully will help the lines continue to prosper for decades to come. Without those pioneers acting on their passion for steam, and reacting to its loss on British Railways in 1968, I'm sure we'd have a fraction of preserved lines in England. The narrow gauge lines in Wales are perhaps a different preservation story to the lines like the Severn Valley and North York Moors. Scotland is not really loaded with preserved railways. Population figures no doubt play an important part in all this, but so does having the luxury of nostalgia.

I see Rails has listed some of this stock on their shop web-site too, eg https://railsofsheffield.com/collections/murphy-models?filter.v.price.gte=0&filter.v.price.lte=220&page=1&sort_by=created-descending

Well, that lot didn't hang around for very long just goes to show the level of demand there is.

This is worth a read too https://irishcycle.com/2026/07/02/kilrush-to-kilkee-route-planned-as-first-section-of-wider-85km-west-clare-railway-greenway/

Indeed, and no public rights of way network like in England and Wales, where bridleways are available for cycling off-road. There are quieter cycling on-road options but it means sitting down with an OS map and working out routes, all part of the fun, but not everyone has the time or inclination to do that and visitors and families are after safer cycling routes where they can rent a bike, or take their kids out for an afternoon, so the greenway network is ideal for that, especially for those lines that were closed but their formations not lost, as with the Dungarvan branch and the Waterford Greenway. Doing the same for the Ballycastle Railway, as has been proposed, on the other hand, seems mad to me, as the line closed in 1950, and much of the trackbed since reclaimed, so a more realistic route from Ballymoney to Ballycastle (which would be good to have for promoting cycling) might instead be based on the network of small roads and lanes in that part of Co. Antrim, all for a lot less cash than a brand new greenway, and without the lengthy planning disputes with local landowners!

same here, a chance to build up some reserves! perhaps bolster my wagon collection a bit too, I do like the Palvans and for me spending more time building rather than buying! cheers, Keith

yep that was my point, where the trackbed has gone it seems odd to fix a greenway alignment to it, might as well either go for a new route entirely, or use existing roads/paths etc. in NI where I am the ex-UTA lines had gone by the end of the 1950s and virtually now invisible in the landscape apart from the odd bridge 'in the middle of nowhere', so sticking rigidly to these old routes for greenways (or indeed reinstated railways as is being proposed eg for Omagh etc) seems pointless to me!

yes that's been the issue in Oxfordshire too, it'd need careful scoping of suitable roads, basically 'L' roads -- the white or narrow yellow roads shown on OS maps -- normally windy and serving a few farms, so not main routes, and using 'access only' signage to stop through vehicle traffic--Ireland I read somewhere has more km of roads per head of population than anywhere else in Europe!

I do wonder about the 'logic' of reusing former trackbeds for greenways, in Ireland where in some cases the lines closed decades ago and have gradually been returned to agricultural land or built upon -- it is not like the Beeching closures in GB where the formations were in good order and more easily turned over to cyclepaths as with the Monsal Trail or Tissington Trail in Derbyshire. A much as I like riding 'old railways' on my bike, for here a more cost effective approach would be to focus on boreens and other small lanes and dedicate these as 'quiet ways' for walkers and wheelers, as is being done in France for example. These 'voies vertes' in some cases will use an old rail line, or a canal towpath, but equally thread their way through the countryside on existing roads, which are 'downgraded' to 20kph routes and vehicular access only for local farms. It'd be quicker to create these routes than the full on 'greenway' infrastructure (greenway being a bit of a misnomer with the amount of tarmac they use...) and they would annoy landowners less yet still get folks in the great outdoors enjoying walking and riding safely, with spin off benefits for local communities through green tourism? Just a thought

A good sign, shows how much demand there is for decent rolling stock, hopefully spurring on more in the future

The August one has disappeared from the events page https://www.steamtrainsireland.com/trainsevents

I got tempted one more to add to the three I had already pre-ordered, and had arrived a few weeks back, somehow 3 did not seem enough to form a 'rake', so it was now or never! cheers, Keith

Yes please

Excellent Really pleased with my three, they look fantastic!