Winston Churchill Appeal

A £35,000 APPEAL has been launched to give the York-based iconic locomotive Winston Churchill a new look for the 50th anniversary of the wartime leader’s death.

Millions of mourners watched as the British Railways No. 34051 Winston Churchill hauled the former Prime Minister’s funeral train from Waterloo to Hanborough, in Oxfordshire, on January 30, 1965.

Churchill was the first statesman to receive a state funeral in the 20th century, and after the locomotive bearing his name fulfilled its duty, it joined the National Collection in 1966.

It is now on display at the National Railway Museum in York and is in the same condition it arrived in, in urgent need of a cosmetic overhaul.

The Friends of the National Railway Museum are behind the fundraising campaign.

Ian Harrison, chairman of the south of England group, said: “We are hoping to raise £35,000 by the end of the year and are planning a number of fundraising events across the UK.

“We are starting proceedings with a grand gala dinner at the National Railway Museum on April 9, where our supporters can enjoy a four-course dinner, musical entertainment and the chance to win a number of unique prizes.

“We are determined that the work be carried out in good time for the 50th anniversary of Churchill’s death and the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in 2015.”

A special guest at the gala dinner will be James Lester, who was the fireman on Churchill’s funeral train.

Mr Lester’s railway career began in 1957 as a cleaner at Nine Elms, and finished in 2004 as the traction officer at Eurostar.

He explained: “The steam days were always special to me, and my journey on the funeral train stands out in particular.

“My memories remain with me today and I am giving the proposed restoration of Winston Churchill to its former glory my full support.”

Winston Churchill was one of 44 Battle Of Britain Class locomotives produced by the Southern Railway between 1945 and 1950.

Tickets for the gala dinner cost £55 or £500 for a table of ten.

 

Can you give a bit more detail about what the £35k will be spent on? Seems an awful lot for a new paint job.

 

What will the cosmetic overhaul entail? Will it be a repaint or just conservation of its existing paintwork? Nobody yet seems to have said.

Of course conserving the loco is the most important thing, but the fact that it's still in exactly the same condition as it hauled the funeral train is surely now a fundamental part of its importance? If it was repainted, then in some ways it becomes 'just another' preserved Spamcan.

Are there any plans to reunite the surviving vehicles from the funeral train? With the van, Lydia and Isle of Thanet on the Swanage railway, Perseus part of the VSOE fleet and Carina on the NYMR, having the whole train (bar Car208) re-united NRM would surely be a wonderful way to mark the half century of the sombre event?

Incidentally, if anyone's interested, there's an account of the day from the footplate of 34051 here.

 

Anyone got any pictures of 34051, everytime Ive been to the NRM (albeit several years ago), I seemed to have missed it.

 

its tucked away alongside the 2-8-0 in the other hall mate as i remember

 

I do. She's in the dark in Station Hall so she doesn't look too bad in the photo. http://www.flickr.com/photos/spinner673/3385096383/

 

I have a recollection that 34051 was repainted at Derby before she went to Didcot. Can anyone confirm this?

 

I recall when she first came to Didcot she was in "as withdrawn" condition and then went to Derby for a repaint, returning after a few months.

 

IIRC when I visited the NRM a few years ago, although from a distance the condition of 34051 looks ok (especially in the darkness of the station hall!), look up close and it is fairly rough round the edges. I seem to remember there not even being glass in some of the windows or spectacle plates in the cab for instance.

I agree though, £35K does seem a lot of cosmetic work so would be interested to know what's actually being done.

 

I also thought that 34051 had received at least some attention in the preservation era, Didcot certainly rings a bell.

In terms of the extant stock from the funeral train, 'Lydia' and 'Isle of Thanet' are not yet at Swanage; they are still at Carnforth.

 

Yes, 1979. I have seen the invoice in the loco's file.

 

I can't confirm it but that is my understanding, as well.

 

No answer to the question yet, so perhaps a bit of speculation won't come amiss. As recall, this loco has been more or less untouched since it was withdrawn, so I would imagine that it still has asbestos lagging, and that a significant proportion of the 35K is for the removal of that. If it doesn't, I can only assume it's going to be gold plated all over!

 

Found this posted on a model railway website where the appeal was mentioned last week - email reply from the Friends of the NRM

In response to your email the following work will be done:

Repair of platework

Replacement of missing platework, cab fittings and window frames

Arresting and treatment of corrosion

Total repaint of locomotive

This will put it into the condition it was when it pulled Churchill’s funeral train.

I also asked about the possibility of temporarily reuniting the funeral train, with all the vehicles (except Car 208, I believe) surviving and now back in the UK. The response was:

Early discussions are taking place regarding the other vehicles.

 

Picture taken at Didcot on 10th October 1981

 

Like this, you mean?

http://www.tri-ang.co.uk/TT/clan1.htm

 

A bit late notice, but there is a gala dinner in aid of the Winston Churchill appeal at York on 9th April,

details here: http://www.nrmfriends.org.uk/

Do think about it if you can please! Thank you.

 

I visit the museum about once a year, typically in the week between Christmas and New Year when the short daylight makes it even harder to view Winston than would otherwise be the case. The fact is that Winston is in poor condition, and far from a fitting memorial to her great namesake. I do not agree that she should remain in her current state.

After noticing her generally shabby condition several years running I actually emailed the museum last year to grumble about it, and to my surprise received a reply saying that they did have a plan to conserve, repaint and redisplay the loco. The appeal wasn't mentioned at the time but would appear to be further evidence that they really do mean business.

Like others here I do wonder why a clean and a repaint would cost £35K but if this is within a larger context of repairing damage, replacing missing parts and glazing, perhaps even a preliminary assessment of whether it could be returned to steam on some far future date (I presume it was given to the collection straight from service, in which case it would have been in working order when received?), and to redisplay the locomotive in a manner more appropriate to its historic status, then I'll be happy to donate what I can.

Looking further into the future, wouldn't it be great if, on some future significant anniversary of the Battle Of Britain, a resplendent Winston could be lined up outside the NRM with every other surviving 'Battle Of Britain' named member of this class? (Manston, Tangmere, Sir Archibald Sinclair, Sir Keith Park, 92 Squadron, 257 Squadron, etc)

 

Have I missed something? It does though appear to me that the plans for a cosmetic restoration of 34051 might not be going to plan. A quick Google search revealed that last October No 34051 Winston Churchill restoration appeal another c£15,000 was still needed and I can find no subsequent updates. Anyone able to give an update?

 

A repaint into Southern Green would be very fitting and allow the NRM a unique 1930s/40s line up of British super power from all the big four in original liveries...