We give below the emails received as a result of
the "Naming the Locomotive Fleet" April 1st Hoax.
To protect the innocent we publish only initials, with one exception -
the email we received from Dick Wood which rather gives the game away!
I have just found the name of the eight-year-old girl who suggested that one of our locos be called "Steel Heart"
--- she is Flora Poil from Pill Aforo in Somerset.
Dick Wood
And April Fool, to you too. Congrats on a couple of great spoofs. C R
I sincerely hope that today's date reveals the truth behind this news item!! John
Please confirm that this is a joke. JB
Great Article which goes a fair way, but not too far at taking the mickey out of the P&DSR! I assume that if it is not sold before hand 3803 will be converted to an oil burner at the same time! I guess 1369 will have to be David!! (If 5239 is Goliath!)Hope this is a good year for the SDR. Steel Heart. M C
2 questions just out of curiosity; Will the plates be removed at galas? Where would such plates go on 5526 and 1369? W F
April Fool? C H
I consider the naming of the SDR loco’s to be an excellent idea – the SDR gets more like another close by railway day by day!! The next thing you will know is that the SDR has proposed to do away with volunteers or perhaps that has already been proposed and I missed it. The name for the SDR entrance drive is most appropriate too – is there no way the daffodils can be encouraged to keep blooming until October - it will be such a pity if all our visitors don’t get the chance to admire them. D W.
Not impressed at all by this decision, a retrograde step for a preserved line that has strived and succeeded to recreate authenticity. M H
I do hope this is an April fool’s day joke! I must say that this is a really disappointing decision that I feel the railway has made, if it is real. (He says thinking about the BBC Radio 2 morning on Friday, wink wink!) Please don’t do it, it would look bloody awful! Kind regards, N R
I have been reading up about the plans to name to steam fleet currently on line on SDRonline, I’m sure it has been a very big discussion and debate. My personal view of the situation is a quite displeasing one but I can see both sides of the argument. For starters it is totally inauthentic and goes against the Trusts theory of recreating a Great Western branchline scene. Also they would ruin events such as the 1940’s,50’s & 60’s galas that recreate the past. But I do understand why it could be a good idea. For instant, in the eyes of the younger enthusiasts they find it easier to remember engine names than numbers as portrayed in Thomas the Tank engine and other friends. So therefore it would become useful at events like A Day Out With Thomas and Santa by Steam. B P
I'm in favour of engine naming but where the hell did "Steel Heart" come from? It sounds like a racehorse!! Better to have more traditional engine names please. It looks like we're in danger of naming the second engine "Pumping Iron". D G
I emailed earlier in the assumption that this item was an April Fool's prank. Now I feel perhaps not as there has been no recant. The fitting of nameplates to locos that did not carry them in service is a nonsense & will make a laughing stock of the SDR & its aims in the heritage railway world. What is alright for the DVR, a commercial organisation that does not claim a heritage role, is not right for the SDR whose function is to show what a GWR/BR(WR) branch line was like. I just hope that my original thought re April Fool was correct. Regards John
Hi Sarah, Lol, If this is an April Fools, Good one. :D If not, Then No to name plates :D Cya round. I S Aka Gronkster
Assuming this isn't an April Fool wind up, then by naming engines you will be entering Thomas the Tank Engine land and turning the SDR into a theme park rather than an evocation of an Ex GWR branch line circa 1950. You only have to look at the PDSR, to see how lame it all looks. David
To All On The South Devon Railway, Having found out that you've got plans for nameplating your engines and realised that this is unlikely to be an April Fool, not if it's got an April 6th closing date anyway, I thought I might as well leave my views for you.Simply put, it's a great idea - just what Collett would have approved of if he knew what his designs were doing now. Only one condition: whatever you do, pelase make sure the names selected are chosen with care and reference to something in particular about the railway. Warm Regards, M.R.H
To be honest when I first read that SDR locos may be carrying nameplates on this site I believed it to be an elaborate April Fool given that it was the day before 1st April and so didn't think much of it, anyone remember 3803's double chimney last year? But seeing as how Maureen and Sarah are still asking for opinions on the naming of the locos, either they are carrying on this wonderfully executed practical joke (hats off to them) to see who gets suckered in or else the railway is genuinely considering naming the fleet. I can see the reasons behind naming the locos, most of our visitors aren't likely to remember a four digit number, most people struggle with remembering their PIN numbers!, but a name they can remember. I'm sure we've all heard children on the platform saying "What's that engine called?" and he poor parent trying to then think which of the numerous characters from Thomas the Tank Engine said loco looks like. If the nameplates are in the Great Western style over the wheel-splashers and the name choices are decent then it seems acceptable. Perhaps there could be a trial period with the nameplates in place to see how the public and staff react to them and whether they find the change for the better? Though management may wish to consider removing the names for galas as the visitors are more likely to be enthusiasts interested in authenticity and so on. Personally I'm not entirely sold on naming all the locos, perhaps one or two at most, 1450 for example has carried the name 'Ashburton' in the past, so the locos could carry names with local ties to the line. Otherwise I'd suggest the locos only carry the name on one side, that way the most devout preservationists can still get some authentic photos without the need to resort to Photoshopping their pictures later.
PS On a practical note, I don't think the shed staff would relish the prospect of all that extra metalwork to polish! T B
Steel heart, Iron lung, Replacement hip, Plastic leg, the possibilities are endless. C W
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