What was that 156 doing on the Bo'ness anyway? I don't recall hearing of that.
As for Sprinter preservation, yes it has to be done. It would be criminal if we had the Pacer Preservation Society succeed in their goal and there were no members of the Sprinter/SuperSprinter/SuperSprinter Express family preserved. I see more enthusiasm for the 156s than any other member of the family, though why I'm not overly sure. 156s are great machines, as 156471 proved from Preston to Liverpool for me in February, but 150s have that special place in my heart I'm afraid.
So in theory, we'd ideally have all of these preserved with at least one member of each class saved: 150, 153, 155, 156 and 158. Quite simple I should think that should be, although for just one group I suspect that would be impossible to achieve. I'm all in favour of Sprinter preservation though, and if anyone fancies getting a group together then I'll definitely join up.
As for not needing to worry about it all too much yet, I don't agree. The sooner things are started, the sooner and easier things will happen. Yes there probably won't be any withdrawals yet for a long time, 10 years minimum, but in 10 years a lot could be organised, a lot of fundraising could get going. Without a shadow of a doubt, buying up just a 153 is bound to be expensive even when it's withdrawn, so balls need to start rolling.
Plus there is one thing that would have to be seriously considered. The aforementioned list of classes to save is 9 vehicles in total, so whilst it's not a huge amount where would they all be based? I suspect it would be nigh on impossible to find room for them all on one railway, certainly on one which is relatively easy for people to get to. One only needs to look at the problems most railways have with finding cover for their existing diesel departments to realise the enormity of the challenge here.
Consider me signed up for getting involved in Sprinter preservation though!
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