I am on record as saying authenticity is the reserve of Model Railway Enthusiasts in the hope they would at least recognise a real train shoukld they ever see one. In certain respects, carefully culivating one's repertoir of E. Trads & Ballads is like maintaining your 00-scale model of Battersby Junction circa 1935; you know what fits and what doesn't, what belongs & what might be considered extraneous

More misunderstandings Sweeney, I'm afraid. Railway modellers come in all guises- some try to recreate accurate historical scenes, some try to create a scene that could have existed but didn't, some try for an impressionistic view of their subject, some don't really care whether it's authentic as long as (to them and their mates) it's exciting. Now what other minority interest community does that remind you of?

I've known guys who ballast their tracks with stone taken from the exact quarry that the LMS used in "his" area in 1935 (Ashover if you must know); and I've seen the Far Twittering and Oysterperch. And glad of both.

And Tradition (which tradition?) vs Revival (which revival, with knobs on) is rather like that.