A2 60532 Blue Peter

Been suggested on the Works that the A2 has been bought by Jeremy Hosking's Trust....

 

Railway Magazine has a headline article suggesting this has happened...

 

Good, about time the old girl was back in the news! Look forward to one day seeing her back on the Mainline or even better, at a Gala with Tornado in matching liveries!

 

It's been rumoured since last Wednesday that it has happened. Great news; it's over 13 years since she last graced the main line. I was on her last run; I hope to be on her first one when she returns to service. Now, about that A1/A2/A3/A4 Gala...

 

Excellent news. Last I heard about her some time ago was that NELPG were trying to raise £600,000 for her overhaul.
At least Jeremy Hosking will have the money to get her back on the ML as soon as possible.

 

He may have the money, but how soon could work begin on her whilst 6024, 46100, 34046, 4464, 35027, 35022 and 70000 are all either awaiting or undergoing work?

 

How long before we become concerned that the nations privately owned collection of class 8s are all slowly becoming owned by one collective ?

 

I remember more than one millionaire getting into loco ownership and hitting hard times. Hopefully this won't happen to this guy, or a big slice of the preserved scene could hit the rocks.

 

That could be one option, you're quite right.

I have wondered what will become of this huge collection of locos and now a works and storage facility if Mr Hosking wasn't there to pour the money in, but if he's astute enough to build up the required wealth to get this far, then he will be astute enough to have safeguards in place to ensure the long term future of the Trust.

 

Possibly more like two, but it could end up being a bit of Smith & Hosking show I guess. Provided their respective income streams don't dry up such arrangements should provide long term security. Lets face it, owning and operating a main line steam locomotive is a rich man's game these days !

 

Work could start pretty soon at Crewe:
The WSR and 6024 volunteers are working on 6024.
46100 is apparently nearly finished at Crewe.
34046 is hopefully a straight forward boiler re-tube job as a lot of work was done on her at Ian Riley's works last year.
4464 is rumoured to be working out her ten year ticket on a Preserved Railway before going in for overhaul.
Don't know what's going on with the two Merchant Navies. 60532 would surely be quicker and easier to overhaul than restore 35022?
70000 was undergoing some work during the recent MHR Gala.

 

Well it is claimed he is worth £330m or there abouts so I guess he has a bit of cash left over at the end of the month.

 

The difference being all/the majority of Jeremy Hosking's locos are owned by a trust, so that should afford them some protection if things go wrong.

 

Depends how busy they are. Overhaul and repairs to boilers for 73082 and 34059 are taking longer than expected.

 

It takes a substantial sum to keep one class 7/8 in working order. At one, short to medium term level, this news is good. But at the longer term?

A Trust is one thing. Long term finance is another. Relationships break down. I know of one heritage owner who casts a very jaundiced eye of trusts. When people have different views . . . . and it doesn't take many of them.

I just hope that when John Cameron gives up on his small fleet another operator rather than JH or WCR is able to step in.

 

Very pleased to hear that a deal has been done for Blue Peter, and I await news of of JH's plans for her with great interest. Somewhere I still have a membership card for the Blue Peter preservation society that my Grandad gave me for my 6th (?) birthday, after seeing Peter Purves "helping" with her overhaul at Doncaster on the Blue Peter TV programme.

 

Happy Days!

A secure and I presume working future for a brilliant machine!

Chris

 

I have had a look on companies house and each loco owned by JH is set up as its own business, with the loco as an asset (with the sized of values placed on the locos, I am guessing the value is based on the loco with a full 10yr ticket), for example Bittern Net worth £1,610,469 and 34046 Net worth £1,539,381

It appears as if each loco effectively starting off with no debt and with all revenue for each loco being put through the business, I am guessing the advantage of this is that the cost of the previous overhaul being tax deductible via profit vs loss means all profit is effectively tax free, I am sure that the locos are pretty much a close as any to being self sufficient.

Hopefully the above makes sense?