Lost in Preservation

The rail heritage highlight of the 1980s was the ‘Rocket 150’ celebrations held at Rainhill, for the 150th anniversary of the world’s first inter-city railway. During the decade there were still three North West locations for heritage steam centres based at former British Railways steam locomotive sheds: Dinting, near Glossop, Steamport, in Southport, and Steamtown, in Carnforth. Both Dinting and Steamport are no more and Steamtown has reverted to an operational locomotive and carriage works under the West Coast Railway Company banner. One-off events included an ‘Exposition’ held at Manchester’s Liverpool Road station and an open day at Horwich locomotive works. The Lever Brother’s Port Sunlight Work’s extensive rail system on the Wirral was opened to the public and Padiham Power Station, near Burnley, hosted a rail event in its sidings. There was also the first International Garden Festival held at Liverpool in the summer of 1984 which included an extensive narrow-gauge railway running around the 230-acre site.Featuring a fascinating array of previously unpublished photographs, Mike Heath documents these myriad events which, with perhaps the exception of some of the those at Steamtown, can never be repeated, rendering these scenes ‘lost but not forgotten’.