Anybody looking for a GWR project ?

The Museum announced that they would be unable to restore 'The Major' a while back. Whether the Aussie Gov't would issue an export licence is a moot point. Apparently if it's the only one you've got little or no chance. As a result of so many traction engines being exported to the UK the regs were tightened up some years ago. There was a recent case where some derelict traction engines were exported to the UK ( in a container) without a licence and they were seized. IIRC the outcome was that the purchasers lost their engines which were returned to Oz and donated to Australian museums for restoration.
Personally I'd love to see No 1 back here and restored but it could be a long and expensive project. Ray.

 

I've been working with some of the staff at Thirlmere quietly on this over 3-4 years and have approached established UK railways. The big issue is the cost of bringing her back, as unlike a lot of road engines, The Major is too big to put into a container. Thirlmere are quite serious though and are willing to transfer the loco to similarly serious people with the funding in place to do something (runs off to await a Facebook page being started...)

 

I would imagine that minds are feverishly working away at Didcot to see how much of it would be useful for an Aberdare conversion......

 

There must be a shipping company which operates Ro-Ro's from Australia to the U.K.. These frequently have spare capacity with the chance of a cheap deal.
The other good thing is that 'Cecil Raikes' is pretty complete parts-wise for copying of any missing bits. It's criminal that 'Cecil' hasn't been restored ,especially as it belongs to a national collection.
I have quite few detailed photos of 'The Major' showing close-ups of various parts of the loco. These were kindly e-mailed to me by a Thirlmere member.

Bob.

 

Would Cecil Rakes be a realistic proposition ?, the way Liverpool Museum have resisted all attempts on Lion despite it having a working history suggest it might be difficult.

 

'Lion' was always destined to be displayed in the new Museum of Liverpool Life. The museum has however loaned the Liverpool 'Baby Grand' tramcar to a local preservation society for restoration to working order. I think that they would probably be prepared to talk to somebody relatively local , on the basis that it the restoration doesn't cost them anything. They also have a cosmetically restored Mersey Docks & Harbour Board Avonside 0-6-0 saddle tank stored out of public view.

Bob.

 

Cecil was originally donated to the BTC and was on Scholes' famous list in the late 50's/early 60's. At some point (mid 60's?) it came into the possession of Liverpool Museum and hence Merseyside Museums. I wonder what the terms were? I thought the policy was that National Collection locos had to be available to the public. Just as an aside the Aussies might be more amenable to granting an export licence for a ROD as there are three of them and one is dismantled following a stalled restoration attempt. A Swindonized 30xx 'Dirty Gertie' anyone? It'd make more sense than some of the new-builds. Ray.

 

Not more Frankenstein GWR loco proposals! How about an LNWR Frankenstein version instead?

 

And there was me thinking I was joking when I mentioned the Aberdares!

 

Cut 49395 in half and have two "Mediocre D's"

 

The question of transport is an interesting one and yes to ship the complete loco would be difficult due to the size. You would need an over height open frame container which can only go on certain ships and certain locations (usually very exposed...). Anything out of standard costs much more money.

After having their fingers burnt on a number of occasions, shipping companies are very wary about offering cheap transport or sponsorship on international freight for 'good causes'. Just to give you an idea of some of the horrors that have turned up over the years on 'special transports'
Items with illegal goods inside (cigarettes in the case I dealt with but I have heard of hard drugs as well)
Items without export licences having to be returned at the shipper's expense
Rusted items that collapse during transit falling on other loads causing damage
Forgetting to inform customs and evading import taxes
Not having the money to pay for onward transport so leaving a container blocked

In many of these cases the shipper ends up with a load dumped on their property and/or legal/disposal bills when the good intentioned new owner has no money. Sometimes these can take years to settle and recover the money

So now you know why when you call up a shipping line and explain why this relic is the last one/most important/deserving case you get the stonewall treatment. But once you make it clear that you will pay the going rate all of the doors open up and you may find that the person on the other end of the phone is actually interested as well. Container loads around the world are pretty cheap these days but you must fit in with the standards.

On one load back from India it was overall cheaper to strip the item first and put it in a container, could this be an option for The Major?
The loco would need to be stripped back in the UK anyway so dismantling in to major parts locally could save time and money.

Obviously you need someone dismantling the loco who knows what they are doing so that no damage occurs but it may be a win-win to pay the museum to strip it with volunteers so that they get an additional income for other projects.

 

Ro-Ro's to Australia is not something that I have ever dealt with but you have got me thinking so I will make some enquiries, maybe not a direct service but I am pretty sure that I've seen a base in the Philippines that did Europe and Australia through a hub operation. However a transhipment and extended hire of a trailer might make it expensive.

 

How did they get Flying Scotsman and Pendennis Castle back if it is so difficult?

 

Perhaps I should have stated container shipping, as Anthony said once you get out of container based loads the costs go up alarmingly. You can ship most things around the world but to do it economically is quite a fine art.

 

4472 sailed to and from Australia on as deck cargo on P&O container ships IIRC. 4079 came back to Britain by ro-ro ferry - so Didcot really might be the best people to ask for advice!

 

Interesting, I can't find details of these on the VCT database - in fact I wasn't even aware any MR coach bodies still existed!

Recreating a complete MR train would certainly be a worthwhile project. If Liverpool Museums want a "local" base, how about the East Lancs? Ok, the latter is really in Manchester but Bury is still only about an hour from Liverpool. (And the ability to offer a complete Victorian train would really improve the ELR's visitor offer, IMHO!)

It's also worth thinking about the huge public interested generated by the LU 150 celebrations last year, where "Met 1" and her Victorian train were, of course, the highlight. With the right publicity, could similar enthusiasm be generated in Liverpool?

What we need is a "Mersey Railway Society"...!

 

Llan could also be a possible location, very quick to get to from this side of the mersey. When down there with the sales stand there is always a massive scouse attendence. If a three coach and loco set could be achieved anywhere it would be a massive pull for visitors

 

Merseyside Museums can be very parochial. I seem to remember that they refused to allow Cecil Raikes to move to Preston with the rest of the Steamport collection because it was out of Merseyside! Now no-one gets to see it. Ray.

 

You joke about this but I bet someone is out there thinking "thats a really good idea" and makes a facebook compagin about it!

 

a fascinating loco! there is an awful lot 'down under' of considerable interest and pedigree to the UK. havent they got quite a few ex- GCR Robinson 2-8-0s 'down there'? there is a Beyer Peacock loco 2-4-0T 'preserved' that is identical (virtually) to the extinct locos that the IWR had and of considerable historic importance.
cheers,
julian

 

Of considerable historic interest to AUSTRALIA. We already have the Elgin marbles....