TheRailway Herit age
DesignationAdvisoryBoard
wantstolocate this engraving
ofTheRailway Stationby Francis
Hall,after apaintingbyWilliam
Powell Frith. It waslastseen in
the room knownasthe general
manage r’ssafeinBRMainHQ
Buildings,York–designatedin
1998 –along withanumberof
otherworksofartfrom there,
which arealso missing.Above: Anameplate
from Class 87 No.87004
Britannia,designatedin
2002, but nowmissing.ANetwork South East
‘No Smoking’sign from
EssexRoad station
is one of the missing
designateditems.Right: Brendan
Neiland’s
paintings of
reflections
areverywell
known, but the
whereabouts
of this Great
WesternTrains
painting is
uncertain.Left:This
Railtrack sign
wasonce
outside its
Swindon offices;
designatedin
September 2004,
it is nowmissing.This illuminatedstation
sign forBogston, with
theStrathclyde PTE and
FirstGroup ScotRail logo
has been lost.Does any
readerknow its location?A
SLONG ago as 1845 Benjamin
Disraeli wrote in his novel Sybil: ‘The
railways will do as much for mankind
as the monasteries did’, and there
has beenalove affair between the British
people and their railways ever since. Like most
intenserelationships it has had its ups and
downs, but the one aspect that everyone agrees
on is our railway heritage is important and
worth preserving.
What sets Britain apartfromeveryother
country–and the railway uniquely compared
with all other industries–ist hat its heritage
is protected byalaw –the Railway Heritage
Act –passed in 1996 immediately following
Privatisation. This means artefacts andrecords
that aresignificant to the nation’s railway story
aresubject to ‘designation’–aprocess that
means they cannot be disposed of without the
express permission of the statutorybody given
these powers by Parliament.
Initially,this was the Railway Heritage
Committee (RHC), which wasastand-alone
independent non-departmental public body.
The RHC was abolished in the coalition
Government’s ‘bonfireoft he Quangos’ in 2013,
but cruciallyIwas able to persuade ministers
that even if the committee disappeared, it was
vital the designation and disposal powers were
maintained. These now lie with the trustees of
the Science Museum, who aregiven guidance
by the Railway Heritage Designation Advisory
Board(RHDAB). This is co-chaired by me, and
members aredrawn from the railway industry,
the National Railway Museum (NRM), the
museums and archive services in Scotland, the
Heritage Railway Association, and Science
Museum trustees.
By the end of 2018 morethan 1,500
artefacts andrecords had been designated.
Virtually all of them came from original British
Rail ownership, BR’s successor companies, some
early pre-Nationalisation companies, military
railways owned by the MinistryofDefence, and
TfL’s London Underground railways.
One of the oldest and most preciousdesignated artefacts arethe Brunel drawings
produced between 1833 and 1859, with the
Sir William McAlpine nameplate onaDBCargo
locomotive one of the mostrecent. Secure
homes for designated artefacts have been found
at the NRM (which has the right of firstrefusal),
other accredited museums, archives, heritage
railways, and other heritage bodies across
Great Britain.
We arealways pleased to hear from railway
enthusiasts (and others) who may wish to
suggest items for designation.
It is important toremember it is not
possible to designate everything that is
proposed to us.We look for items that have
ahistorical significance, subject toanumber
of criteria, the most important of which is the
type ofrecordand activityrecorded, with an
emphasis on policy-making and implementation,
organisational structure, publicity and
promotion, and operational aspects of the
railway.Wealso look for the uniqueness of the
artefact and its ability torepresent and evoke the
operation of the railway and its social impact.
When considering nameplates for
designation, we look for those that werecarried
by rolling stock undertaking duties of (a)
particular cultural or historic significance; or (b)
perpetuatearailway tradition of naming and/or
steam-era plates held in the national collection;
or (c) commemorate significant people or
events in the historyofr ailways; or (d) are
representative of the evolution of plate design; or
(e) represent the evolution of naming policy.
Our designation policy does not cover
railway buildings–stations, bridges or
signalboxes, for example (although we
will always carefully consider signalling
equipment contained within the ’boxes or the
signals themselves).
Just occasionally designated items‘go
missing’–usuallyby inadvertence rather than
maliciousintent –and theRHDAB keeps a
close eye on auctions of railwayanato make
sureitemsare not improperly offered for sale.
One ofourmorespectacular successeswasthe recoveryofapainting bythemaritime artist
CharlesPears,which was commissionedby
the LNER to promote rail travel toSouthend-
on-Sea.Despite it being designatedby the
RHC, the painting wentmissingfromrailway
premisesinLondon and was sold at anauction.
The RHDAB called intheBritish
Transport Police tohelp recoveritand found
it at aprivate houseinLondon. It was clear
thepainting had beenbought in good faith
–though itshouldnever have beenoffered
for sale–and the buyer was compensated by
NetworkRail (whichwasthe last ownerofit).
The committee thenoffered it to the Beecroft
ArtGallery in Southend-on-Sea.■HERITAGEMATTERS
58 •TheRailway Magazine•August2019
Preserving Britain’s
railway heritage
Inthefirst ofanewquarterlycolumn,thework
of theRailwayHeritageDesignationAdvisory
Boardisdescribedbyitsco-chairman,
RichardFaulkner(LordFaulknerofWorcester).
TheRHDAB iskeentoknowthe whereabouts
of some of the currently missing treasures
(above), and is askingRMreadersfor
help.Anyinformationcanbeemailed
inconfidenceto: smgrailheritage@
sciencemuseum.ac.uk oryoucan writeto
TheSecretary, RailwayHeritage Designation
AdvisoryBoard, ScienceMuseum, Exhibition
Road,London SW7 2DD.MISSING TREASURES