Sad farewell to popular new-build powerhouse Chris
TRIBUTES have been paid to new-build locomotive trustee and fundraiser Chris Proudfoot, who was found dead at Holyhead station in May.
Chris, 71, who had trained as a teacher and taught languages, lived locally. He was a director of the 82045 Steam Locomotive Trust, which is completing an example of the extinct BR Standard 3MT 2-6-2T at Bridgnorth on the Severn Valley Railway.
In a special June edition of the trust’s monthly newsletter, a statement from longtime friend Neil Taylor said: “After a battle with mental illness, Chris took his own life on Tuesday, May 24.
“His family are devastated by the loss, and I would include his 82045 family who are still reeling from the news. I think I can speak for all of us, who will find Chris irreplaceable.
“For the 82045 group he was part of the glue that binds folk together and for our financial health he was an inspirational fundraiser. Sadly we will now have to make our way without him.
“We have already had some preliminary discussions and we have a trustees meeting to plan our way forward. I am also working on a project by which we can contribute to the memory of Chris.”
Working together
The project started life in the late 1990s under South Devon Railway fireman John Besley, who in 2003 handed control of the project to Cheshire-based SVR footplatemen driver Tony Massau and fireman Chris.
Tony, who met Chris more than 40 years ago when he started volunteering at Bridgnorth shed, worked with him on the restoration of LMS 2-6-0 No. 42968, with both of them later joining the Stanier Mogul Fund committee.
He said: “Chris wrote various imaginative articles about No. 82045 for the railway press and was responsible for appeal leaflets, all of which paid off handsomely in the support that No. 82045 received, resulting in such good progress being made with the construction of the locomotive.
“He was the friendly face at our outdoor work site at Bridgnorth during SVR galas, ever ready to talk to visitors and explain what we were doing. Although he had fairly recently decided to retire from firing, he was nonetheless looking forward to an opportunity to pick up a shovel and put a round on No. 82045’s fire. Sadly, this pleasure has now gone.”
Another friend, Rod Derry, said: “I first met Chris in the mid-1990s when I acted as a footplate rider on the loco he was firing. Our paths crossed only occasionally until 2008, when Chris asked if I would act as driver for the SMF footplate experiences, on which he was the fireman. We worked together for several happy years on this duty, and again it was noticeable how he had such a relaxed manner with the (anxious) participants.
“Chris suffered from bouts of deep depression, which he kept well hidden. Losses of family members and close friends in recent years fuelled the demons that tormented him, and tragically, that torment drove him to the path he eventually chose.”
Inquest opened
British Transport Police and paramedics attended in response to reports of a body on the track, and Chris was pronounced dead at the scene. All Avanti West Coast and Transport for Wales services between Holyhead and Bangor were suspended at the time.
Police said they were not treating his death as suspicious. At a subsequent inquest at Caernarfon, a provisional cause of death following a post mortem examination was given as a catastrophic injury.
North West Wales assistant coroner Sarah Rile said: “The investigation into Christopher David Proudfoot’s death remains ongoing and while the inquest has now been formally opened, it will be adjourned pending further investigations.”
Chris’s funeral was held at the Vale Royal Crematorium in Northwich on June 15.