A somewhat sobering look by the UK's Steam Railway Magazine at the status of (half of) the participants of Britain's 1975 Great Calvacade, marking the 150th anniversary of commercial railroading in Britain.

Long story short: They couldn't do it today, for a variety of reasons.

https://www.steamrailway.co.uk/blog/fea ... s-of-1975/

Compare and contrast with the only North American rail events to come anywhere near that scope in the post-WW2 era, the Sacramento Railfairs of 1981 and 1991. And considering the locations of the only place to announce plans for a Bicentennial of Railroading in North America, the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, I have no hopes for anything grandiose at all.........

No comparison. As the article states, in 1975, BR had only just closed steam operations seven years earlier. All of management had steam experience, and most of staff had steam experience. And most of the locomotives were only 10-20 years out of commercial service.

Today we are 50+ years away from commercial steam, and none of those human resources exist at mainline railways, and the locomotives are absolutely worn out, delicate antiques, or so heavily repaired that they are nearly new replicas.

Much of what was possible in the 1970's was because of the remaining "free" resources in persons and material, that were left over resources from commercial service.