Dominion of Canada and Potential Disposal Story/Rumour

And there are people with the money and enthusiasm who aren't well-known names. Look at Jon Jones-Pratt. West Somerset people would have known him as he volunteers there (and now has quite a senior role at the railway, so I believe), but until he bought 7027 Thornbury Castle, I'd never heard of him and I'm probably not the only one. If the rumours are true, and DoC does become available my money would be on another person that most of us probably haven't heard of who intends to run it on the main line.

I'm glad that amid all the hubbub about DoC, Waddon was not overlooked. Not so glamorous as an A4, but given it's named after a place in South London rather than the country which is its current home, I'd say that the likelihood of the Canadians deciding to de-accession it is probably greater and even if neither the Bluebell, KESR nor Isle of Wight lines would probably want a third Terrier, I'm sure some other lines would be interested. Anyway, after the excitement of the SR article, I guess everything will go quiet on both engines for a while now. Still, it's always a bit of fun to speculate on Nat Pres - as long as we don't take ourselves too seriously!

 

I was thinking along the lines of the shortage of class 8Ps in conjunction with the retirement of Number 9. Shouldn't have overlooked the Terrier. Apologies to Terrier enthusiasts and appreciators.

 

Repatriate!

 

There is no shortage of 8P locos in this country - just a shortage of working 8P locos. I'm not sure that adding to the list of non-working 8Ps is going to help matters that much.

Peter

 

Are the engines actually up for sale? and would the Canadians want to see them return to the UK ? Might they prefer to see them remain in Canada? and what are relations like between out governments ?

 

David Buck was the person, who it was later reported her ( I believe he confimrmed it)was after , at the time of the Grest Gathering.

 

If someone made you a donation would you be happy if they asked for it back, especially when it had been in your possession for 54 years?

 

Probably more Fakebook news!

 

Until a decision is made about the loco it will remain in the realms of conjecture and fantasy. However, there is no reason why we should not indulge in conjecture and fantasy. To my knowledge there is more than one person out there with both the desire to own an A4 and the wherewithall to make that happen. We are also not talking scrap value prices. If the Canadian museum decides it doesn't want it, the loco is going to command a premium price well into seven figures. Bringing it back and putting it into working order is going to be the cheaper end of the whole job. I'm sure that a new build would be a cheaper option but that is not the point; it's akin to owning an original nameplate as distinct from having a new one cast.

 

The CRHA is undetaking a 3 year review, options could include displaying non national items elsewhere within Canada or hiring out, thus :-

 We will rationalize our rolling-stock collection into line with our capacity to support it properly. While there are varied views on our collection, it is beyond argument that we will have to take action to protect and preserve those parts of it which are in sadly deteriorated condition. With limited financial resources to do so, we will nevertheless come up with a plan to determine what to save and what to jettison, and how to prioritize fixing what we decide to save.
o Perform rolling stock collection audit of condition piece-by-piece.
o Prioritize pieces for restoration and deaccession.
o Review non-Canadian pieces and make recommendations.
o Decide pieces to be deaccessioned and then remove them from the site.

 

The above is from this paper:- http://www.exporail.org/fileadmin/images/ACHF/CRHA_Strategic_Plan_2018-2021_version_6_final.pdf

Their mission statement is
"Mission
"The Canadian Railroad Historical Association is a volunteer non-profit charitable organization, founded in 1932 and incorporated in 1941.
"Its aims are the preservation and dissemination of information concerning railway heritage in Canada as well as the acquisition of artefacts and archival material that depict the historical or technological development of Canada's railways."

The document also contains:
"Unfortunately, success in acquiring vehicles has not been equalled by success in preserving them. Only the pieces in the Angus Pavilion can be truly said to be properly protected (and even some of them require work) and this is less than one third of the total. [snip] Pieces of the collection which are rotting away, hazardous, and not available to be shown to the public are not adding value. Quite the opposite—they are a liability, and represent a failure to adequately perform one of the most important tasks of an historical preservation society."

In the light of the above is easy to believe that a substantial offer for the UK rolling stock from an appropriate person/organisation would be given very serious consideration.

 

From what I've read it's boilers not that good.

 

I don't think we'll be mobilizing tanks or scrambling Typhoons anytime soon Martin, in fact after the news a former resident of Toronto's expecting a royal baby, I'd say they'd be rather good!

 

Indeed, and yet they rejected what was presumably a reasonable offer only a few years ago.

 

Not a problem. We are continually repairing or building them.

 

I think we should get our submarine ( ex Royal Navy ) , destroyer escort and our 2 F15 s and blockade the North Atlantic if you want DOC back ! .......that's how bad international relations will get ! ...........lol.....joking aside , if it will be of use in Uk , don t think too many people over here in Canada will object , not a big enthusiast community to worry about it & the general population doesn't know it exists .........

 

Christening present for the next royal baby with Canadian connections ??

 

I might feel affronted. I might feel relieved. It would depend on how keen I was to hold onto the artifact. Look what happened to Pendennis Castle.

 

That was then and this is now. Quite possibly different people in charge too. Its obvious from the paper that CRHA took a long hard look at their situation and didn't like what they saw.

 

Circumstances, attitudes and policies all change over time. If the museum decides it wishes/needs to dispose of the loco then it's not akin to asking for a donation to be returned.