❖ No offers for NRM ‘Barnum’ coach
‘Barnum’ restorers the GCR Rolling Stock Trust turn down offer to acquire rare 1910-built vehicle.
There have been no offers so far for the National Railway Museum’s rare Great Central Railway ‘Barnum’ – one of only four surviving examples.
1910-built Third Open No. 666 was one of several items of rolling stock advertised for disposal by the Science Museum Group in June (SR507), but at the time of going to press, the NRM had received no bids for the vehicle.
Surprisingly, one organisation that has already ruled out a possibility of acquiring the ‘Barnum’ is the GCR Rolling Stock Trust, which – despite owning the other three surviving ‘Barnums’, and having been custodians of No. 666 while it was stored at the trust’s Ruddington base on the Great Central Railway (Nottingham) – has said it is “not in a position” to take on the NRM’s example.
The trust’s deputy chairman, Tony Keeble, said: “We are aware of the NRM’s offer of disposal… however, this trust is not in a position to take it on again.
“In view of the time and funding requirement that has emerged in the restoration of our first ‘Barnum’, No. 228, which is currently awaiting the return of its two extensively rebuilt bogies from Nemesis Rail, the trustees concluded that there was no likelihood that it could undertake the rebuild of the NRM ‘Barnum’ ahead of our two other ‘Barnums’. We have more than enough to keep us busy for years.
“In these difficult times when funding, craft skills and space are all in very short supply, we as a trust still hope another restoration group will step forward to ensure a future for this vehicle and we will be very happy to share our experience and knowledge.”
The other GCR-based carriage restoration group – Rail Vehicle Preservations – has also said that it is unlikely to submit a bid for No. 666, as “most of the trustees feel that we have plenty to be getting on with,” said chairman, Phil Payne.
The deadline for offers for any of the vehicles advertised under the current disposal list is August 31, after which “senior curatorial and collections staff will review the offers,” said an NRM spokesman. “There are no set conditions for storage or restoration as such, but these are important factors that will be considered when comparing competing proposals. The final decision to transfer an item from our collection is taken by the Science Museum Group’s Board of Trustees.”
The museum added that, despite the current lack of offers for No. 666 so far, “it’s unlikely that we won’t receive any suitable offers.”
According to the SMG’s collection management guidelines: “In rare circumstances, if attempts to find an alternative public home via a transfer are unsuccessful, we may sell an item (reinvesting the proceeds in the collection) or remove an item from the collection, recycling the item whenever possible.”
●● The NRM has confirmed that it has so far received four offers of interest for its 3ft gauge Hudswell Clarke 0-4-0ST Works No. 573 Handyman, which is also up for disposal, but said it was unable to identify those submitting bids at this stage.