The LMS Patriot Project
We welcomed Colin Hall from the LMS Patriot Project on 16th February to bring us up to date with the work to bring a Patriot into service, after all original locomotives were scrapped in the 1960s. The chosen locomotive is 5551, originally un-named but the new build will carry the name The Unknown Warrior. Colin was very plain that the project has not progressed as the team would have wished with contractors initially engaged for build sections found to be ‘not up to the job’. Demonstrating that a Fowler design tender could, using CAD technology, be redesigned to increase water and coal capacity, and also to include all the technical equipment needed for main line running, Colin showed images of the locomotive having been substantially trial assembled – only for the project to discover some fairly serious metal faults in components such as wheels and cylinder blocks. The pandemic caused further delays but also allowed ‘Project Reset’ to be put in place. Now, with their move to West Shed at Butterley under the watchful eye of the Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust, and with more trusted contractors tasked with manufacturing components and repairing other elements – the project is once again moving forward. We very much look forward to seeing the locomotive in steam, in due course.