RVP IN TALKS WITH TOCS OVER RUNNING MAIN LINE NIGHT MAIL SET

Rail Vehicle Preservations – the group behind the proposal for a one-off main line Travelling Post Office train (SR493) – is in talks with two train operating companies about hauling the one-off tour.

As revealed exclusively in Steam Railway, the Great Central Railway-based organisation plans to run its six-coach Mk 1 TPO set on the national network for the first time in preservation in 2021, to commemorate the 85th anniversary of the classic 1936 film Night Mail. The planned spectacle will also mark the 50th anniversary of the last TPO exchange, at Penrith.

Following the June launch of the appeal to raise the estimated £45,000 to make the project a reality (SR494), RVP is in discussions with two TOCs – GB Railfreight and Locomotive Services Ltd – about operating the service.

Preliminary talks with Crewe-based LSL have been positive, and RVP chairman Phil Payne has been told that LSL owner Jeremy Hosking “would definitely be interested, as it would be the kind of thing that ‘would float his boat’,” said Mr Payne. He added that he was hopeful that, should LSL agree to hauling the main line TPO, they could secure the services of either ‘Black Five’ No. 45231 ‘Sherwood Forester’ or LMS ‘7P’ No. 46100 Royal Scot.

The latter would be particularly appropriate, as now-preserved classmate, No. 46115 Scots Guardsman, starred in the original Night Mail film, albeit in its original, parallel-boiler guise.

Mr Payne told Steam Railway: “With GBRf, I’ve been told it’s being discussed at high level and is certainly of interest, though it would probably be with one of their two Class 50s.”

He added: “It’s now just a case of sitting back and waiting to hear from GBRf and LSL. It will give us a better idea as to how much this little project is going to cost and we’ll go from there.”