Severn Valley members raise £30,000 for ‘Standard’ 82045
Members and shareholders of the Severn Valley Railway have demonstrated strong support for the line’s resident new-build locomotive - raising over £30,000 towards BR ‘3MT’ 2-6-2T No. 82045 during August. This year’s SVR Guarantee Company raffle, organised by SVR veteran and 82045 trustee Alvin Barker, recorded its best result yet, with just under £26,000 raised by the time it was drawn at Bridgnorth on August 28. The £30,000 figure is made up by additional donations, and an “excellent response” by SVR supporters to a simultaneous appeal for the Riddles tank. It means that the 82045 Steam Locomotive Trust has sufficient funds in the bank for the locomotive’s crossheads and slidebars. Chris Proudfoot, the trust’s publicity officer, said: “Both the raffle and the shareholder appeal have outstripped all our expectations, and anything left over will go towards financing further elements of the engine’s motion.” However, said Engineering Officer Tony Massau: “Our finances remain very sound, but there’s no room for complacency. Rapid progress on a number of fronts - not always obvious from what you see on the ground at Bridgnorth means that our hard-pressed engineering team can no longer keep up with it all, so some machining jobs have had to be contracted out. “This is likely to be an increasing trend, so the need to plan ahead and anticipate expenditure will continue to be of the greatest importance.” The contract has been issued to the SVR to prepare the boiler barrel for joining to the firebox, once the components for the latter have been made by South Devon Railway Engineering at Buckfastleigh. For more details, contact Membership Secretary Barbara Massau at Highlea, 4 Southfield, Prestbury, SK10 4XF, call 01625 820584 or visit www.82045.org.uk