Annex
FEDECRAIL
THE RIGA CHARTER
Adopted by unanimous vote of FEDECRAIL members
at their Annual Meeting held at Anse near Lyon on 16 April 2005
having been first proposed in Riga, capital of Latvia.
INTRODUCTION
This charter has been created to guide decisions
that will result in Heritage Railways being able to be enjoyed
by future generations.
Heritage Railways have been very successful
in rescuing, restoring, preserving and operating historic equipment.
We hope that this charter will help everyone
involved to see opportunities for making wise decisions.
It has been created to accompany the several
other charters relating to Heritage Conservation.
PURPOSE
The Riga Charter is a statement of principles
which guide the conservation, restoration, maintenance and repair
and use of historic railway equipment, which is being operated.
It is hoped that this will help our members make wise decisions.
DEFINITIONS
Heritage Railways referred to in this Charter,
may also include historic or preserved railways, museum railways
and tramways, working railway and tram museums and tourist railways,
and may extend to heritage trains operating on the national network
and other railways.
Railway Equipment referred to in this Charter
may include buildings or infrastructure which form part of the
railway ensemble.
Preservation is the process of keeping an object
safe from harm and decomposition, by maintaining it properly so
that its condition, quality and memory is retained.
Conservation is the process of stabilising the
condition of an object without compromising the historical or
material evidence in any way.
Restoration is the process of repairing or replacing
missing parts in an attempt to regain an earlier state of the
object. The restoration may increase the strength of the object
before work started, and may generally go further than conservation.
It should neither be invisible or glaringly obvious.
Repair is the process of adjustment or replacement
of the components. The specified standard of mechanical condition
is achieved irrespective of the historic integrity of parts that
may be altered or discarded.
Article 1
Scientific and technical skills, together with
the facilities needed to preserve and operate historic railway
equipment, within a culture of safety, should be used to safeguard
railway heritage.
Article 2
The aim of preserving and restoring historic
railway items and associated working practices is to safeguard
them, whether they are significant technological artefacts, evidence
for transport history or a means of perpetuating traditional skills.
Article 3
Maintenance of all aspects of their equipment,
and operation on a regular basis is essential for the survival
of heritage railways. Operating historic and valuable railway
equipment with traditional operating procedures, and presenting
it to the public, is an important means of interpreting that material.
Article 4
Identifying socially useful purposes for historic
railway items will help facilitate their preservation, but such
use should involve the minimum change necessary, and such changes
should be fully reversible.
Article 5
A heritage railway should reflect not only the
importance of its own role as a transport system, but also when
appropriate, its own historic origins and its impact on the community.
Article 6
The process of restoration is a highly specialised
operation. Its aim is to preserve and reveal the aesthetic, functional
and historic value of traditional railway equipment. It should
be based on respect and an understanding wherever possible of
the original designs and specifications.
Article 7
The original or historically correct materials
and techniques should be used in the conservation of historic
railway items, unless they can no longer be adopted for reasons
of safety, legislation or availability. In such cases appropriate
contemporary substitutes for such materials or techniques should
be used.
Article 8
The restoration of a piece of historic railway
equipment does not require that it must be restored to its original
as built state. Some equipment acquires its historic importance
later on in its working life. Restoration to any period should
be executed only after thorough consideration of historic records,
and available documentation covering the chosen period, after
which a restoration plan should be written and adopted. Material
that is replaced with new should be readily identified as such
with a simple permanent marking system.
Article 9
Added mandatory safety equipment should if possible
blend harmoniously with the conserved or restored item but the
fact that it is an addition or alteration to the original make-up
of the item should be clearly indicated.
Article 10
Any other necessary later modifications to the
item that are introduced for whatever reason should be as sympathetic
as possible to the make-up and appearance of the original item.
Ideally any such modification should be reversible and any significant
original parts removed should be retained for possible future
re-use.
Article 11
Every stage in the conservation or restoration
work on an historic railway item should be systematically planned
and recorded. The resultant record of these processes retained
for a minimum of the life of the item.
Article 12
All bodies involved in the repair, restoration,
maintenance, conservation and operation of heritage railways and
railway equipment, must make proper arrangements for the conservation
of their records and archives.
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