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Michael Draper, aged 90 years, died at Bromsgrove on 26 September 2022
Michael John Draper (b. 1932-2022) was SVR(H) Director until 8 March 1994, and [[The Severn Valley Railway in preservation#General_Manager|SVR General Manager]] between 1976-1993, succeeding [[Hugh Mossop]]. He began a career as an Accountant, spending time in the UK and South Africa.
==At the SVR==
He became Acting General Manager following the resignation of Hugh Mossop in January 1976,<ref>SVR News 38</ref> initially on a part-time basis for the rest of that year pending appointment of a new permanent General Manager.<ref>SVR News 39</ref> He began the now familiar quarterly "General Manager's Notes" in SVR News in summer of that year<ref>SVR News 40</ref> and was duly appointed permanent General Manager in 1977.<ref>SVR News 43</ref>
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. The national profile of the SVR was enhanced with its major contribution to the newly-promoted ‘Steam on BR’ programme, with up to 9 SVR-based locomotives certified to operate on the national network.
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 yet 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 was also a member of [[List of preservation groups|preservation groups with an SVR connection]].
===Departure from the SVR===
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 spent a short timeas General Manager of the Great Central Railway based at Loughborough.
==See also==
