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Michael Draper

Michael John Draper (1932-2022) was SVR(H) Director until 8 March 1994, and SVR General Manager between 1976-1993, succeeding Hugh Mossop.

He began a career as an Accountant, spending time in the UK and South Africa.

Contents

At the SVR

On an early visit to the SVR, he was most impressed by what he saw, and soon was appointed to the Board of SVR(H) as volunteer Finance Director on 1 January 1973 under the Chairmanship of Sir Gerald Nabarro.[1] He also became a Director of the Guarantee Company. While Finance Director, he published several articles in SVR News on Finance and Commercial activities.[2]

He became Acting General Manager following the resignation of Hugh Mossop in January 1976,[3] initially on a part-time basis for the rest of that year pending appointment of a new permanent General Manager.[4] He began the now familiar quarterly "General Manager's Notes" in SVR News in summer of that year[5] and was duly appointed permanent General Manager in 1977.[6]

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 share offers funding Kidderminster Town station and 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.[7] “The two essentials for a preservation business – Love It – Make a Profit”.[8]

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”.[9]. 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”.[10] Mr Draper’s predictions have not yet come to pass as, despite some failures, by 2023 The Heritage Railway Association represents 173 working railways and 24 museums and steam centres, many of which operate trains on selected day.[11]

Mr Draper was also a member of preservation groups with an SVR connection.

Departure from the SVR

Mr Draper was sacked by the SVR in 1993 for what was described as “financial irregularities.”[12] 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”.

He was succeeded by Alun Rees.

Other railway roles

He was also a Director of the Heritage Railways Association until 30 November 1994.

After his departure from the SVR he spent a short time as General Manager of the Great Central Railway based at Loughborough.

See also

SVR General Managers

References

  1. ↑ SVR News 26, 31
  2. ↑ SVR News 35, 36, 37
  3. ↑ SVR News 38
  4. ↑ SVR News 39
  5. ↑ SVR News 40
  6. ↑ SVR News 43
  7. ↑ Burton, Anthony, A Steam Engine Pilgrimage, Pen and Sword, 2017
  8. ↑ Deayton Alistair and Quinn, Iain, Waverley Steam Navigation Company, Amberley Publishing Limited, July 2014
  9. ↑ Brown, Jonathan, The Railway Preservation Revolution: A History of Britain's Heritage Railways, Pen and Sword, June 2017, p. 266
  10. ↑ Carter, Ian, British railway enthusiasm, Oxford University Press, January 2017, p. 284.
  11. ↑ Heritage Railway Association website (Retrieved 30 January 2023)
  12. ↑ The Railway Magazine, November 2022

Links

Severn Valley Railway (Holdings) PLC (company 01046274) on Companies House

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Welcome to the Severn Valley Railway Wiki

From this week's featured article
"76738" is a London and North Western Railway Company 10-ton Goods Van, although it carries a fictitious number as its true identity is unknown. After restoration it saw limited use in the SVRSevern Valley Railway's demonstration goods train, but due to its age and wooden underframe it is now in static use as a sales coach at Bridgnorth. (Full article...)
Schematic Map of the SVRSevern Valley Railway
BridgnorthEardingtonHampton LoadeCountry Park HaltHighleyThe Engine HouseArleyVictoria BridgeNorthwood HaltWyre Forest LineBewdleyStourport BranchBewdley TunnelConnection to Network RailKidderminsterMaps#Schematic maps of the pre-closure SVRMapandlinks.png
Click on the map for a
larger interactive version

For 101 years between 1862 and 1963, the Severn Valley Railway formed part of the national railway network, running for 40 miles between Hartlebury and Shrewsbury. Established as a separate company, it was mainly operated by the Great Western Railway (GWRGreat Western Railway) and later by British Railways (BRBritish Rail or British Railways).

The present day Severn Valley Railway (SVRSevern Valley Railway) was established in 1965 to preserve part of the line as a heritage railway. Today it has six stations and two halts and runs for 16 miles along the Severn Valley between Bridgnorth in Shropshire and Kidderminster in Worcestershire, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route. Operations involve a mixture of steam and heritage diesel-hauled services.

This unofficial website is a project aimed to collect information and record events relating to the SVRSevern Valley Railway, both past and present.

For timetables, fare information, and news about special events, please visit the SVR Official Website. Other news and information of interest to members, shareholders and enthusiasts can be found on SVRLive.

In April 2023 the SVRSevern Valley Railway announced the launch of a Survival Fund to enable it to overcome the current financial crisis and implement longer-term plans for its future. Information and details of how to donate may be found on the SVRSevern Valley Railway's Survival Fund page.

Categories of article

History of the Severn Valley Railway

Current events on the SVRSevern Valley Railway

Information about the SVRSevern Valley Railway

Miscellaneous


Query Corner

Unsurprisingly, there are a large number of questions about the SVRSevern Valley Railway, both in pre-preservation days and for a number of historical items since then. Take a visit down to Query Corner to see if you have a recollection relating to some long forgotten event, or know of a reliable source (maybe an early edition of the SVR News?) that might have the information we need!

Adding to this Wiki

This site, or "wiki", is a collaborative effort, and anyone who has any knowledge relating to the SVRSevern Valley Railway should feel free to contribute. Once you have created a user account and logged in, you can modify any page by clicking the "Edit" button in the top right hand corner. For some tips on how to format pages, and some guidelines on how to make this wiki accessible can be found on Tips for contributing to the SVR Wiki.

Alternatively, if you don't feel confident editing this Wiki (although there is no reason you shouldn't!!), each article also has a "Discussion" page, which can be accessed by clicking the relevant button in the top left hand corner. This allows you to make additions, suggestions, or corrections to a page without making any change to the article itself.


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