THE excellent and successful Swindon and Cricklade Railway wants to forge closer links with the excellent but financially unsuccessful Steam museum.

Steam general manager Tim Bryan and his staff are railway enthusiasts to the last man and woman, and their dedication, commitment and ideas are superb.

However, the people in ultimate charge tend not to be railway fanatics but politicians, albeit politicians with a strong commitment to Swindon.

Meanwhile, at the Swindon and Cricklade Railway, steam is the only language spoken from top to bottom. It is run entirely on a voluntary basis by extremely gifted amateurs.

While we should remember that running a multi-million pound tourist attraction such as Steam is probably a rather more complicated matter than running the Swindon and Cricklade Railway, it seems there is a message here.

When it comes to providing a fine museum that Swindonians can be proud of, those in charge of Steam can justly be proud.

But when it comes to enticing people to visit, they could perhaps take a lesson or three from the amateurs.