Thanks for the reference- I'll look it up
In 'The Engineer' in the early 50s there are some discussions of the best way to spend money on UK infrastructure, basically "which would get more bang for the pound, highways or railways?"
I still wonder if nationalisation was the best idea, but then I don't understand the domestic financial system of UK in 1946. How much Ry would have been ripped out if the companies had been allowed to decide?- a BIG if. THe whole study is a lifetime job- I started too late.
I got into it by looking at brake history in the UK- not a pretty sight.
Soooooo many reasons, mostly bogus or excuses, to hold onto the little coal wagons, unbraked, and the vacuum brake. With that as background, I am prejudiced against most of the BR decisions 1946-1966 or so. I have not paid any attention to privatisation nor the current HS2 and delayed electrifications. BUt I do note that the vacuum brake exists almost solely in museums over the entire world.
regards
ED