In tribute to Andy Davies, Clan Line’s unsung hero
THE late Andy Davies is likely to be unknown to most people, but his work has been appreciated and admired by railway enthusiasts for 40 years.
Over that time and as the chief engineer of the Merchant Navy Locomotive Preservation Society (MNLPS), he has been responsible for the maintenance and successive overhauls of No. 35028 Clan Line, which is recognised as a consistently reliable performing locomotive of the preservation movement.
Andy served his early years in the Admiralty Dockyard at Chatham, where he developed his engineering and machine skills in the building of submarines and later as a tool room manager for a leading company serving the military and aerospace.
He joined the society at a time in the 1970s when Clan Line was being prepared for main line operation under the guidance of a team of former BR mechanical engineers, fitters and a boilersmith. As he took on more and more responsibilities, he also developed what has become both the ethos and the trademark of the way in which Clan Line is maintained, serviced and operated.
Under his leadership and as a superb engineer, Andy has ensured that Clan Line has remained a fine example of excellence in heritage steam and his loss will be immeasurable. Never one to seek the limelight, his worth as an engineer and trainer of others has never really been appreciated outside of the society, although the locomotive itself is testimony to that.
Andy stepped down in 2015 and handed over to Chris Ellick in whom the quality and tradition lives on.
Andy passed away just before his 80th birthday.
From the MNLPS point of view, he was a classic case of ‘cometh the hour, cometh the man' and someone who will be much missed by us all – both as an engineer, and as a friend.