Frankly, if that attitude were common, virtually nothing would ever have been preserved. Such organisations as the DPS and CFPS were formed years before either Deltics or 40s were taken out of service. The amount of commitment and organisation required, plus an eye on what the future may hold, means foresightedness is essential. Turning down the offer of a FREE train seems madness, especially as that train has been the default backbone of railways in NI for 30 years. The more I hear of railway groups in Ireland, the more I want to tear my hair out and smash my skull into the table.
Your forgetting one thing, this is Northern Ireland your talking about, not the Uk. Around 90% view the steam train operating on the mainline as a novelty and may or may not travel on it. The other 10% are either operating it or working on other projects supporting it.
Many will bring there kiddies to see and ride behind a steam locomotive, especially around Easter and Christmas time. The rest of the year, you rarely see them out watching/photographing or travelling on other trains.
Yes, that was a good move by the DPS and CFPS. Those two locos had a good following, also helped by coverage in the magazines of the day.
Sadly, unlike a certain origination in Northern Ireland, who's views back then and up to a point today, still maintain that if it's not steam, it's not worth bothering about saving. However, that is slowly starting to change as younger members come on board.
Many years ago, a friend and I visited Whitehead. I inquired about the LMS/NCC diesel railcar No.1 that I had seen stored out in the open back in 1979 when I first visited Whitehead. I was told it was in very poor condition and dumped in the back of the shed. My friend then asked about a certain steam locomotive that he'd seen when he was a kid, he was taken by the hand and shown around while I was left standing wishing I had never asked the question.
"Turning down the offer of a FREE train seems madness" I agree.
They may have been the backbone of services in Northern Ireland for over 30 years, but there were other railcars and one diesel locomotive before that, that could have been saved.