SEVEN ‘Castles’ is Tyseley’s aim: Defiant needs £1m first
Five ‘Castles’ could be taking turns to haul ‘shakespeare express’ tours at the end of the decade, if Birmingham Railway Museum’s ambitious £1 million appeal to restore its long-silent 4-6-0 No. 5080 Defiant gains public support.
And, with the support of other owning groups, an open day featuring SEVEN of the eight survivors is also on the cards, Chairman Michael Whitehouse has revealed to Steam Railway. First of all, Tyseley wants to promise a large GWR design four-cylinder 4-6-0 for every ‘Shakespeare’ turn to Stratford-upon-Avon by 2020, as well as Vintage Trains dining excursions to places such as Oxford, Hereford, Chester, York and Llandudno. It needs all three ‘Castles’ it owns to do this. No. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe is already available, and the assembly of BR-built sister No. 7029 Clun Castle is nearing completion. The third, Defiant, has been exhibited at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre since 2002, and its smart external appearance may belie some extensive boiler and ‘bottom end’ work. As explained in detail in Down Main (pages 82-87), 1,001 Defiant donors - as individuals or in groups of ten - will pay £1,001 to become ‘trustee shareholders’ in a new owning company, with privileges such as tickets on the ‘Shakespeare Express’. “If there’s significant interest then it’s likely it will come back from Quainton Road this winter,” says Mr Whitehouse. ‘Castle’ number four for these runs could be Jon Jones-Pratt’s newly acquired No. 7027 Thornbury Castle, for which Tyseley is contracted to carry out most of its major overhaul. It will need running-in on ‘Shakespeare’ duties before moving to its intended new home at the West Somerset Railway. Number five is No. 5029 Nunney Castle which has been dismantled at Crewe, and is being prepared for an early return to main line running. Mr Whitehouse says he is on ‘excellent’ terms with its owner, Jeremy Hosking. Completing the seven-up could be Didcot’s Nos. 4079 Pendennis Castle (under repair at Didcot) and static 5051 Drysllwyn Castle/ Earl Bathurst, whose boiler ticket expired in 2008 and is not currently a priority for a return to steam. Tyseley launched its appeal for No. 5080 at its September 16-18 open weekend, which was a major success, partly due to the well-promoted visit of ‘A3’ No. 60103 Flying Scotsman. Sixty people an hour - over 1,200 in total - paid £10 to walk through its corridor tender. ❚❚The eighth ‘Castle’ preserved is the pioneer No. 4073 Caerphilly Castle, which is part of the National Collection and displayed at Swindon’s STEAM Museum.