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Michael John Draper (b. 1932) was SVR(H) Director until 8 March 1994, and [[The Severn Valley Railway in preservation#General_Manager|SVR General Manager]] between 1976-1993.
==At the SVR==
During his period of office the SVR established itself as the self-proclaimed ‘Premier Steam Railway’. [[SVR Passenger numbers]] grew from 113,000 to 194,000, with the extension of the line from [[Bewdley]] to Kidderminster, with two successful [[Severn Valley Railway (Holdings) PLC##Share_offers|share offers]] funding [[Kidderminster|Kidderminster Town station]] and [[Bridgnorth Loco Works#Boiler_shop|Bridgnorth Boiler Shop]]. Mr Draper travelled widely, speaking at meetings round the country, and was often featured in local Press and Railway magazines.
He was a proponent of the need for heritage railways to be financially solvent, part of a leisure industry and expected to show a profit. <ref>Burton, Anthony, A Steam Engine Pilgrimage, Pen and Sword, 2017</ref> “The two essentials for a preservation business – Love It – Make a Profit”.<ref> Deayton Alistair and Quinn, Iain, Waverley Steam Navigation Company, Amberley Publishing Limited, July 2014</ref>
Mr Draper is referred to for his repeated view there were too many heritage railways. In 1981 he said the ever growing steam movement was “sowing the seeds of its own destruction”.<ref>Brown, Jonathan, The Railway Preservation Revolution: A History of Britain's Heritage Railways, Pen and Sword, June 2017, p. 266</ref>. He also wrote in 1997 “Make no mistake, there will not be 150 [preserved] railways and steam centres in this country at the end of the next thirty years”.<ref>Carter, Ian, British railway enthusiasm, Oxford University Press, January 2017, p. 284.</ref> Mr Draper’s predictions have not come to pass as, despite some failures, by 2019 The Heritage Railway Association has 180 member organisations regularly open to the public, with 156 of these operating with passengers.<ref>[https://www.hra.uk.com/ Heritage Railway Association website] (Retrieved 6 April 2019)</ref>
Mr Draper continues to be a member of [[List of preservation groups|preservation groups with an SVR connection]].
===Departure from the SVR===
In the Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 1993 the SVR(H) noted it was defending an unfair dismissal action brought by Mr Draper. The 1994 Share Prospectus noted proceedings had been issued against Mr Draper for recovery of approximately £16,000 and the 1994 Report noted a County Court claim by SVR(H) against Mr Draper to “recover money owed to us” had been settled out-of-Court with a payment to the Railway of £21,000 “thus fully vindicating the action taken by the Board”.
==Other railway roles==
He was also a Director of the Heritage Railways Association until 30 November 1994.
After his departure from the SVR he held a similar role at another heritage railway for a short time.
==See also==
[[The Severn Valley Railway in preservation#General_Manager|SVR General Managers]]
==References==
<references />
==Links==
Severn Valley Railway (Holdings) PLC (company 01046274) on [http://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/01046274 Companies House]
==At the SVR==
During his period of office the SVR established itself as the self-proclaimed ‘Premier Steam Railway’. [[SVR Passenger numbers]] grew from 113,000 to 194,000, with the extension of the line from [[Bewdley]] to Kidderminster, with two successful [[Severn Valley Railway (Holdings) PLC##Share_offers|share offers]] funding [[Kidderminster|Kidderminster Town station]] and [[Bridgnorth Loco Works#Boiler_shop|Bridgnorth Boiler Shop]]. Mr Draper travelled widely, speaking at meetings round the country, and was often featured in local Press and Railway magazines.
He was a proponent of the need for heritage railways to be financially solvent, part of a leisure industry and expected to show a profit. <ref>Burton, Anthony, A Steam Engine Pilgrimage, Pen and Sword, 2017</ref> “The two essentials for a preservation business – Love It – Make a Profit”.<ref> Deayton Alistair and Quinn, Iain, Waverley Steam Navigation Company, Amberley Publishing Limited, July 2014</ref>
Mr Draper is referred to for his repeated view there were too many heritage railways. In 1981 he said the ever growing steam movement was “sowing the seeds of its own destruction”.<ref>Brown, Jonathan, The Railway Preservation Revolution: A History of Britain's Heritage Railways, Pen and Sword, June 2017, p. 266</ref>. He also wrote in 1997 “Make no mistake, there will not be 150 [preserved] railways and steam centres in this country at the end of the next thirty years”.<ref>Carter, Ian, British railway enthusiasm, Oxford University Press, January 2017, p. 284.</ref> Mr Draper’s predictions have not come to pass as, despite some failures, by 2019 The Heritage Railway Association has 180 member organisations regularly open to the public, with 156 of these operating with passengers.<ref>[https://www.hra.uk.com/ Heritage Railway Association website] (Retrieved 6 April 2019)</ref>
Mr Draper continues to be a member of [[List of preservation groups|preservation groups with an SVR connection]].
===Departure from the SVR===
In the Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 1993 the SVR(H) noted it was defending an unfair dismissal action brought by Mr Draper. The 1994 Share Prospectus noted proceedings had been issued against Mr Draper for recovery of approximately £16,000 and the 1994 Report noted a County Court claim by SVR(H) against Mr Draper to “recover money owed to us” had been settled out-of-Court with a payment to the Railway of £21,000 “thus fully vindicating the action taken by the Board”.
==Other railway roles==
He was also a Director of the Heritage Railways Association until 30 November 1994.
After his departure from the SVR he held a similar role at another heritage railway for a short time.
==See also==
[[The Severn Valley Railway in preservation#General_Manager|SVR General Managers]]
==References==
<references />
==Links==
Severn Valley Railway (Holdings) PLC (company 01046274) on [http://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/01046274 Companies House]
