Company launched to build ‘V4’
A project to build a new Gresley ‘V4’ is preparing for its official launch, with a new company formed and over 500 drawings collected. The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust (builders of ‘A1’ No. 60163 Tornado and ‘P2’ No. 2007 Prince of Wales) has formed a new subsidiary, the V4 Steam Locomotive Company Limited, to construct its planned 2-6-2 No. 3403.
It is estimated that the project will cost around £3 million and take about five years, depending on fund-raising. It is scheduled for construction after the ‘P2’ is completed in 2021, although this could be brought forward once the group’s planned new base at Whessoe Road becomes available. The trust has acquired more than 500 original drawings from Malcolm Barlow (a Doncaster scrap dealer who launched the now defunct Gresley V4 Society in 1994) and scanned other drawings at the National Railway Museum to begin the process of converting them into 3D Computer Aided Design form.
Malcolm Barlow had also collected a number of parts for a new ‘V4’ – a set of pony, Cartazzi and 5ft 8in driving wheel tyres and a chimney. These were later sold to David Buck, owner of ‘B1’ 4-6-0 No. 61306 ‘Mayflower’ who, in turn, sold them to the A1 Trust in January. Trustee Mark Allatt said: “We are now in the pre-launch phase of the project to build our third new main line steam locomotive, with the formation of the V4 Steam Locomotive Company to build No. 3403, the opening of both the company and charitable bank accounts and the detailed review of over 500 drawings. “Although there is no specific appeal open for No. 3403 yet, any donations made towards it will be ring-fenced for the project. The next steps will be to launch a website and a founder’s club to fund the early stages of the project. More announcements will be made during 2018 as the project builds up momentum.”