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Beeching - The Inside Track by Robin Jones
To mark the 50th anniversary of the Beeching Axe, the popular name given to his report which listed huge parts of the network for closure in 1963, this new landmark bookazine by Heritage Railway editor Robin Jones looks at both sides of the story. Feature articles include - An in-depth look at the multitude of rail closures and the effect on the lives of ordinary people Scores of photographs from the last years of the steam era Beeching’s great success stories, in particular the way he revolutionised freight carriage Yes, we have all heard of Beeching, but this is the story that has never been told before.
Paperback
First published August 1, 2012
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December 9, 2012
I purchased this "book-a-zine" following an advertising campaign in "Heritage Railway".
The advertisement; and the introduction, promised that this reading of Beeching would seek to re-evaluate the "Notorious Axeman" without making recourse to his errors via hindsight. The Author would do this by comparing and contrasting the labour-intensive "Old Railway", with "Modern" efficient and streamlined railway that we know today. This compare and contrast exercise would re-balance the argument through enlightenment.
Indeed, such an exercise is not radical and has been promulgated in written and verbal formats before this publication. The central narrative echoes that of Music - producer / Railwayman / Model Railway enthusiast Pete Waterman's thesis, which views Beeching as the architect of both the "Modern Railway", and in some ways, the saviour of "The Railways" as a whole. Primarily because Beeching "realised" that the railways should be reconstituted as a Intercity passenger network, with Road Haulage assuming responsibility for the labour-intensive freight and distribution aspects of the Old Railway. Furthermore, whilst route duplication is sometimes a strategic necessity for resillience, the "Old Railway" had too much of it, and more could be done with less, even if that meant destroying the Feeder Routes that were the lifeblood of the Intercity network.
The foundation for this re-evalualation was the much-vaunted, contribution a former British Railways manager whom worked under Beeching during the review. Sadly, this former employee added very little to the overall narrative and was seemingly wheeled-in / out whenever the Author required an anecdote about Beeching. Whether the anecdotes were an attempt to convey Beeching's essential humanity is unknown, but the net result was that, these irrelevant and frustrating interludes added nothing to my existing understanding of either Beeching "The Man", or Beeching, "The process".
The publication did contain a number of worthwhile chapters which evaluated the rise of Freighliner; the legacy of Local Government planning permissions on disused trackbeds, and the economics of "Dieselisation" as a money-saving gesture. However, the majority of the initial chapters about life in the 1960's could legitimately be removed as they add nothing to the ongoing debate about Beeching as a Man and a Process, and can appear condescending in places. The quality of the photography within these chapters also make it appear that they were an afterthought, and not necessarily part of the overall strategic vision for the publication before it hit the presses.
The key learning point from this book has been that the essential image of Beeching as "The Axeman" remains undiminished. His accomplishments are a vastly reduced network which is desperately overcrowded; expensive, and unequal.
However, the term "Axeman", should be replaced by term "Axemen", or "Axe culture", as Beeching, to be historically accurate, was essentially a highly - paid Government consultant brought in to validate a problem that both the Labour Party and Conservative Party agreed was there.
The sole reason for Beeching's indelible imprint on the National conscience was not that he was a great man - much maligned, or even "a visionary". He was, essentially, a bloated symptom of successive Labour and Conservative politicians whom lacked the electoral stomach to take the decisions themselves for fear of their own financial mortality, and historical public standing. Beeching, as a Man and a process, was therefore the equivalent of a Human Shield to hide behind.
Beeching - The Government's Human Shield.
The advertisement; and the introduction, promised that this reading of Beeching would seek to re-evaluate the "Notorious Axeman" without making recourse to his errors via hindsight. The Author would do this by comparing and contrasting the labour-intensive "Old Railway", with "Modern" efficient and streamlined railway that we know today. This compare and contrast exercise would re-balance the argument through enlightenment.
Indeed, such an exercise is not radical and has been promulgated in written and verbal formats before this publication. The central narrative echoes that of Music - producer / Railwayman / Model Railway enthusiast Pete Waterman's thesis, which views Beeching as the architect of both the "Modern Railway", and in some ways, the saviour of "The Railways" as a whole. Primarily because Beeching "realised" that the railways should be reconstituted as a Intercity passenger network, with Road Haulage assuming responsibility for the labour-intensive freight and distribution aspects of the Old Railway. Furthermore, whilst route duplication is sometimes a strategic necessity for resillience, the "Old Railway" had too much of it, and more could be done with less, even if that meant destroying the Feeder Routes that were the lifeblood of the Intercity network.
The foundation for this re-evalualation was the much-vaunted, contribution a former British Railways manager whom worked under Beeching during the review. Sadly, this former employee added very little to the overall narrative and was seemingly wheeled-in / out whenever the Author required an anecdote about Beeching. Whether the anecdotes were an attempt to convey Beeching's essential humanity is unknown, but the net result was that, these irrelevant and frustrating interludes added nothing to my existing understanding of either Beeching "The Man", or Beeching, "The process".
The publication did contain a number of worthwhile chapters which evaluated the rise of Freighliner; the legacy of Local Government planning permissions on disused trackbeds, and the economics of "Dieselisation" as a money-saving gesture. However, the majority of the initial chapters about life in the 1960's could legitimately be removed as they add nothing to the ongoing debate about Beeching as a Man and a Process, and can appear condescending in places. The quality of the photography within these chapters also make it appear that they were an afterthought, and not necessarily part of the overall strategic vision for the publication before it hit the presses.
The key learning point from this book has been that the essential image of Beeching as "The Axeman" remains undiminished. His accomplishments are a vastly reduced network which is desperately overcrowded; expensive, and unequal.
However, the term "Axeman", should be replaced by term "Axemen", or "Axe culture", as Beeching, to be historically accurate, was essentially a highly - paid Government consultant brought in to validate a problem that both the Labour Party and Conservative Party agreed was there.
The sole reason for Beeching's indelible imprint on the National conscience was not that he was a great man - much maligned, or even "a visionary". He was, essentially, a bloated symptom of successive Labour and Conservative politicians whom lacked the electoral stomach to take the decisions themselves for fear of their own financial mortality, and historical public standing. Beeching, as a Man and a process, was therefore the equivalent of a Human Shield to hide behind.
Beeching - The Government's Human Shield.
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