My family and I frequently travelled on trains; it was part of my life. The longest journey and most exciting was to visit my grandparents in Cornwall. We always caught the Cornishman at Derby and on the whole, we had the carriage, just like the one in the image, all to ourselves for most of the journey. We travelled over the River Tamar on Brunel's bridge, looked at all the ships at Plymouth, stopped at the seaside station at Dawlish and passed through long dark tunnels on the way. What with sandwiches, chocolate, colouring books, joining the dots and a doll called Fingle Bunt. It was simply wonderful!
I know that advertisements can be misleading but this one, a vintage railway poster, is actually true to life.
However, on the 16th of February 1965, Dr. Richard Beeching published his plans for what he called our 'bloated' railways.
This was Beeching's second report as British Railways Board chairman, and in it, he outlined the country's transport needs for the next quarter of a century. The report followed his first controversial review of the state of Britain's railways which had been published in 1963. In that report, he said the railway system was uneconomic and under-used and recommended that a quarter of the railway system should be shut down.
This was Beeching's second report as British Railways Board chairman, and in it, he outlined the country's transport needs for the next quarter of a century. The report followed his first controversial review of the state of Britain's railways which had been published in 1963. In that report, he said the railway system was uneconomic and under-used and recommended that a quarter of the railway system should be shut down.
So was Beeching right with his idea of railway cuts 53 years ago or am I looking at train travel through rose-coloured glasses?
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