‘HAMILTON’
Time to revive the dream?
here now for future overhauls of National Railway Museum engines, now the bruising process of resurrecting Flying Scotsman is (all but) completed? Here’s the good news: York professes itself open to the idea. Spokeswoman Catherine Farrell told me in midJanuary that the museum “will review any future opportunities on their individual merits”. Given all that’s happened in recent years it’s no surprise the home of the national collection says it’s unlikely to take on a major restoration job in its own workshop - but instead “would
Wmost likely seek to use external contractors rather than complete the work in-house.” York’s facility, she adds, “will return to the purpose for which it was set up, to maintain and conserve our collection.” What that could mean, in practice, is a dusting-off of the collaborative ventures and partnership approach that’s served the NRM well in the past - of which there have been many, not least the revival of engines Steam Railway readers are central to, such as Oliver Cromwell and City of Truro. Now, given we’ve waited a decade for Flying Scotsman and that the new Brunswick Green paint hasn’t even yet been applied, you might think any consideration of ‘what next’ is premature. Yet surely, as ‘Scotsman’ finally starts to shift from headacheinducer to headline-grabber, now is exactly the right time to start thinking seriously about possible future projects. One organisation glad at York’s readiness to consider future ideas is the 229 Club. That’s the outfit that for years supported Duchess of Hamilton on the main line, came up with the major slug of cash for the ‘Pacific’s’ re-streamlining (another SR readers’ project) and which even now is quietly raising cash every month from loyal supporters. Chairman Rob Tibbits says it “has
always been the aim of the club to advocate and support a return to steam” but adds the realistic point that “the engine is part of the National Collection, so any decision lies with the NRM and Science Museum Trustees.” Now, the fact the 229 Club still exists, with members donating regularly, is remarkable given it’s 20 years (!) since ‘Hamilton’ last ran on the main line, 18 years since it steamed, and almost exactly a decade since SR announced that readers and the club had together raised the re-streamlining cash. Neither can there be much doubt its ranks would swell if the prospects for a revived ‘Hamilton’ became real. Even though it’s not been in steam, in all those years No. 6229 has never been totally out of mind. In 1999, earlier proposals to streamline the just-outof-ticket engine to run it with the ‘Northern Belle’ fell through. Then, while only a “non-committal letter”, in 2011 then NRM Director Steve Davies mooted to lapsed 229 Club members that resurrection of the engine “might be sooner than people think.”
Main liner
That was in reference to talk that the Stanier ‘8P’ could be revived and paired with a matching train in time for its 80th anniversary in 2018 (SR388). In terms of practicalities, there’s little more capable than a ‘Duchess’ for the main line, and ‘Hamilton’ already has a history of running rather than being on the ‘too fragile’ list. What’s more, the streamlining was done in such a way that No. 6229 fits today’s network - and there’s even a pretty good idea of what needs doing to steam it, because a survey was carried out as part of the ‘Northern Belle’ proposal. Yet those aren’t the real arguments for steaming Duchess of Hamilton; York has in the past mooted that it should only be doing things that only it can and a streamlined ‘Duchess’ falls into that camp perfectly. Indeed, the uniqueness of re-creating an LMS streamliner was part of the argument for the project in the first place. That was worthy in its own right - but also increases the argument for returning it to steam. After all, with classmate Duchess of Sutherland having picked up ‘Hamilton’s’ mantle, in non-streamlined form the national collection engine was never likely to gain another ‘day in the sun’. However a working streamlined ‘Duchess’ - not to mention one that travelled to the New York World Fair, then sat tight for fear of U-Boats - would certainly have plenty of ‘wow’. Duchess of Hamilton now represents a unique aspect of Britain’s glorious streamliners in the days the railways really were the way to travel - and there hasn’t been a working one of these since 1949. Clearly there are others it would be wonderful to see return - not least Green Arrow. Yet No. 4771 steamed fairly recently (its last ‘ticket’ ended in 2008), it has a crack in the monobloc cylinder that was part of the reasoning for saving it. Anyway, the ‘V2’ is already pledged to the Great Central Railway’s Leicester Museum. There are obstacles with No. 6229 of course: a streamlined ‘Coronation’ without the ‘Coronation Scot’ is only half the fun - hence the talk of a dedicated train in the past. Plus, taking it out of the Great Hall would come up against the perennial problem for the museum - that visitors can’t see engines that are not on site. Yet that issue is now being worked through with ‘Scotsman’ - and you could have a similar scheme whereby No. 6229 was at the NRM at certain times (maybe alternating with the ‘A3’). With any overhaul likely to cost hundreds of thousands, of which the money raised by the 229 Club is likely to be but part, this of course is the big issue. But there are plenty of examples that show money can be raised - if the project is exciting enough. There seems little doubt that after its torrid time with ‘Scotsman’, York would want to consider critically the ‘individual merits’ and be seen to do so. Duchess of Hamilton is packed with unrealised potential - and there’s unfinished business. Lots of issues need resolving - but 20 years after it was last on the main line, the time to start thinking about this is surely now.
Now is exactly the right time to start thinking seriously about possible future projects