The LMS Patriot Project – John Hastings-Thomson

On 10th October we held our first afternoon meeting when John introduced the Project to build a new Patriot class locomotive to be known as The Unknown Warrior’. The reason for this name was that originally the Big Four railway companies devoted one of their locos in memory of the First World War sacrifices and ‘Patriot’ was the loco chosen by the LMS. Unfortunately this loco was scrapped along with the rest of the class in the 1960s

The Project has been beset with difficulties in respect of location, poor quality workmanship by suppliers, supply of wheelsets, supply of the boiler etc. However these issues have gradually been overcome although several targets to have the loco in steam were missed due to these issues

A fascinating talk of triumph over adversity which terminated on an optimistic note for the future. Highly recommended!