Fresh appeal from SRPS to complete overhaul of troubled Morayshire

THE Scottish Railway Preservation Society (SRPS) has launched a new £100,000 appeal to complete the overhaul of its beleaguered LNER ‘D49’ No. 246 Morayshire.

This follows the locomotive’s sudden eviction from the Llangollen Railway’s (LR) workshops earlier this year.

The 4-4-0 was an unfortunate victim of the

LR’s recent financial troubles, having been sent to Wales for a fixed-price contract overhaul in 2016.

A requirement for additional boiler work resulted in the original 2018 completion target being pushed back by a year, but the SRPS says despite work originally progressing well, issues emerged in 2019 with the contract price, and also the LR’s ability to meet the target dates on the contract.

Under-priced

The SRPS worked with the LR to reach agreement on how the contract could be completed, but to no avail.

The LR’s general manager Liz McGuinness said: “The contract was grossly under-priced and if we had continued to work on the locomotive we would have gone in to administration.”

Consequently, in February of this year the SRPS was asked to remove the dismantled and incomplete

from the railway as part of Llangollen Railway Plc’s bid to stave off the need to call in the administrators.

Negotiations are still on-going between the SRPS and LR in an effort to resolve the situation, but in the meantime, No. 246 remains in storage in the Midlands until work can restart.

However, with the society’s finances under strain as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, it is hoping the Back on the Rails appeal will provide some or all of the estimated £100,000 needed to finish Morayshire’s overhaul.

Rolling chassis

The SRPS hopes to engage a contractor to get No. 246 back to the rolling chassis stage in order to transport it back to its home base at the Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway.

This work will involve significant repairs to the axleboxes and horn guides before the loco can be wheeled, and the society hopes to get the boiler to the hydraulic testing stage at the same time.

Once home, the project will be completed by Bo’ness staff and volunteers.

When complete the Apple green-liveried Morayshire will run at Bo’ness, and also be made available for hire by other heritage railways within the UK.

For further details on how you can help, write to SRPS Morayshire Appeal, c/o 4 Baberton Mains Avenue, Edinburgh, EH14 3EQ. Alternatively you can donate online at: www. virginmoneygiving.com/ fund/246Morayshire