Vintage Trains Charitable Trust’s chairman Michael Whitehouse discusses the future of main line steam in the light of his 55 years of experience.
Michael Whitehouse knows a thing or two about main line steam. In fact, running steam locomotives on the main line has been part of his life ever since his father – the late Patrick Whitehouse – helped buy No. 7029 Clun Castle and ran it on the national network, even before the end of main line steam and BR’s subsequent steam ban.
Since then, Michael has seen Tyseley grow into one of preservation’s key main line players, developing one of the movement’s leading engineering workshops, running, launching and expanding the hugely successful ‘Shakespeare Express’ services and becoming a Train Operating Company in its own right, among the many highlights of this organisation’s legacy.
So, we leapt at the opportunity to hear Michael’s thoughts on the future of main line steam.
Heads in the sand
Michael is typically forthright, and unafraid to challenge the status quo, but keen to emphasise the positives.
However, Michael began with a huge challenge: “Main line steam must change from running express steam trains simply for nostalgia to being a tourist business with all that entails. We compete with cruise liners, restaurants and other entertainment offers. Creating memories and providing individually tailored eye-popping service is the name of the game. And we are doing it with antiquated and expensive equipment on a transport system that rarely makes a profit. So, huge challenges, but also great opportunities if we get it right.
“As with any business – for that is what we are, and no longer a hobby – we must now review the rapidly changing political, economic, and social landscape, and give what we are doing some very deep thought. Significant change is all around us already. We must put all our energy into taking several simultaneous steps to change if express steam trains are going to continue to run on the main line and turn a profit. Carrying on as we are is just not an option.
“Very few businesses last for more than 60 years, either at all or without making serious and significant changes. Sticking our heads in the sand and carrying on would be a disaster. Look what happened to Kodak when it failed to move from film to digital. Look what happened to Beyer, Peacock when it failed to switch from manufacturing steam to diesel early enough. They both went bust. We are running obsolete trains on the main line railway in an increasingly difficult environment. The main line railway has moved on since steam was an everyday form of traction. The railway is no longer designed for steam
