APPEAL FOR KOLHAPUR TO BECOME FOURTH ACTIVE MAIN LINE ‘JUBILEE’
Four main line-running LMS ‘Jubilees’ is in prospect for the first time since 1967.
Tyseley Locomotive Works (TLW) has announced that it plans to overhaul No. 5593 Kolhapur inside two years, completing a royal flush of nominally operable ‘5XPs’ alongside Nos. 45596 Bahamas, 45690 Leander and 45699 Galatea.
A dedicated Kolhapur Club has been launched for a donation of at least £5 a month, as well as sponsorship opportunities for various sizes and types of boiler tubes and stays.
The locomotive is considered by works staff to be in sound mechanical order, but VTL spokesman Denis Chick said that it would be premature to determine a fundraising target. “We have a good idea of what’s required, hence the list of items we have already listed for sponsorship, but have not yet crystallised a final number,” he told Steam Railway. “That will happen as we move forward with the work.”
He added: “Member benefits include regular updates, invitation to member only events as the project develops and also having part ownership of a great project!” (See www.kolhapur.co.uk)
Dismantling of the ‘Jubilee’ will begin “when TLW is fully back to work and settled in” following the furloughing of some of its engineering staff during the coronavirus pandemic.
It is hoped to complete the overhaul in spring if funds can be raised “soon and progressively”, thereby enabling the engine named after the Indian city to be commissioned in time to be at the forefront of Vintage Trains’ plans for charter trips in conjunction with the July 2022 Commonwealth Games that are being hosted in Birmingham.
Kolhapur will retain its LMS Crimson Lake livery, which VTL describes as “a nice contrast to GWR green!”
Famously one of the last of the class to be withdrawn in October 1967, No. 5593 became only Tyseley’s second resident engine that year, following Collett ‘Castle’ No. 7029 Clun Castle (operational).
Meanwhile, Tyseley says that the major rebuild of No. 5080 Defiant will be uninterrupted by the Kolhapur announcement and work on the ‘Castle’ will resume “first with the overhaul of the tender (including a new tank) for which parts are already manufactured”.
That project is backed by a dedicated Defiant Club.
Classmate No. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe is also under overhaul (funded by a legacy), while there are no immediate plans to return Tyseley’s Rood Ashton Hall or its panniers (Nos. 7752, 7760 and 9600) to the railtour circuit.
“We fully intend all of our locomotives to be out on the main line, as indeed each has already been, but we need to be realistic with priorities. In time each locomotive will have its own fund,” Mr Chick added.