TYSELEY IS DEFIANT
HELP BRING 5080 BACK TO THE MAIN LINE
Want to participate in the future of a main line express passenger locomotive? How about helping to revive an engine that has lain dormant for nearly 20 years? By the time ‘Castle’ No. 5080 Defiant returns to steam it will have been out of traffic for over two decades and since it was withdrawn in 1997, Defiant’s limelight has been stolen somewhat by its Tyseley stablemates, Nos. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe and 7029 Clun Castle, the latter in the final stages of overhaul. But once No. 5080 returns to traffic in a few years’ time, it and the other ‘Castles’ in the Tyseley fleet will form the backbone of Vintage Trains’ main line stable. If you want to see a trio of ‘Castles’ performing top link express passenger work on a regular basis, then Tyseley needs your help in raising the funds for Defiant’s planned rebuild. As previously reported in Down Main (see SR459), No. 5080 requires an estimated £1 million before it can return to traffic, but as Vintage Trains Chairman Michael Whitehouse points out, this is a chance to restore a genuine GWR single‑ chimney ‘Castle’ to its rightful place on the national network. Defiant will complete the Tyseley set: a single‑chimney GWR example, a GWR‑built engine in BR double‑chimney condition, and a BR‑built double‑chimney model. The plan to overhaul No. 5080 has been driven by VT’s desire to become a TOC in its own right, as well as expand its ‘Shakespeare Express’ services to Stratford, as well as Oxford, the Welsh Marches and beyond ‑ trips to York and over the Settle & Carlisle haven’t been ruled out. So how can you help turn the dream into reality? Vintage Trains needs the equivalent of 1,000 people to join its ‘Defiant Castle Club’, £1,001 towards the of restoring donating each cost the Collett 4‑6‑0. Tyseley recognises that such a sum is out of reach for many people, so in order to encourage younger enthusiasts, it is allowing groups of up to ten people to pool their financial resources to raise the required funds. According to Mr Whitehouse, £67,000 had already been raised before Christmas, three months after the appeal was launched. Yet this sum is still a drop in the ocean compared with the £1m needed before Defiant steams again.