It is not merely the destination that counts, but also the journey. What we have today, what people have achieved and have vastly improved daily life is certainly important. But there comes a moment when one asks himself… how did we get to what is now a daily, standard part of our lives?
To be more precise and on point here, how did we get to travelling on safe, comfortable, high speed trains that take us from point A to point B so efficiently and in short time? Furthermore, why should we care about investigating or even further restore and preserve our heritage, of which the railways are a part? Why are heritage railway networks important worldwide and Greece in particular?
Alexander Sikalias, a railway enthusiast, film director and an avid fan and supporter of Thessaly Heritage Railway, travelled to the land that invented the railways, Great Britain. In Britain, he saw, witnessed, experienced, made contact with people, investigated and recorded how people fond of history, heritage and the railways managed to restore and promote important pieces of history and heritage of their land, through hard, persistent and on-going work. Following the bright example of ‘’North Norfolk Railway’’ and through investigative glances in similar efforts taking place in Greece, he poses the question…how easy is for something similar to be materialized in Greece? Why is it important, what are the challenges and how did the Britons overcome them? His hard work was transformed into a short documentary by VagelisPirpilis, an expert in image and sound processing and montage and by Panagiotis Giannoulas, anMA historian who performed the narration and provided translation and subtitles for the documentary. You may find the link to the documentary below. Please do enjoy, contemplate and help us in achieving our vision for the first heritage railway network in Greece.
