The Unknown Warrior to steam in 2027?
UNDER-CONSTRUCTION LMS Fowler ‘Patriot’ No. 5551 The Unknown Warrior could steam in 2027 – but only by deferring main line running.
The revised estimated completion date for the beleaguered new-build 4-6-0 was revealed at the LMS-Patriot Project’s recent AGM on November 11. Originally intended to steam in November 2018 to mark the centenary of the Armistice, the target for steaming The Unknown Warrior was initially revised to December 2026 at the project’s AGM in November 2021 (SR526), after serious defects were discovered in the frames, wheels and cylinders following its relocation from the Llangollen Railway to the Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust’s workshops on the Midland Railway – Butterley in August 2019, requiring rectification work and an additional
£1.5 million. This target was revised again to 2029 at the 2022 AGM – more than a decade beyond the project’s original aim.
At the 2023 AGM, it was announced that, in order to save an estimated two years on No. 5551’s estimated completion, the project would be deferring both the certification of the locomotive to main line standards and the fitting (and cost) of the equipment necessary for main line running. Project spokesman Pete Sikes said: “We are now focusing on getting the locomotive running on heritage railways first. We will then look to complete the engine to main line standards. Not going main line immediately will take about two years off the completion date.”
The news comes as the part-built ‘Patriot’ was relocated on December 6 to Tyseley Locomotive Works, which will become the locomotive’s new engineering base. The move to Birmingham was prompted by the PRCLT’s decision in July 2023 to cease all third-party contract work, including the construction of No. 5551 (SR548).
Although the frames, smokebox and cab of The Unknown Warrior will be stored outside at Tyseley until Spring 2024, “there was nothing to be gained by staying at West Shed until the new wheelsets were available next year, to allow rewheeling,” the project said. LMSPatriot Project chairman Colin Hall said of the move to Tyseley: “We are now much better placed to go on to re-wheeling at Tyseley when the new wheelsets are delivered by Riley and Sons of Heywood, Bury, in 2024.”
Also moved from Butterley is the project’s box van, which has been transferred to the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway “where it will be accessible to the project under the care of the new EVR General Manager Simon Scott, who is now supporting the project as a volunteer following his resignation as PRCLT CME in July 2023.”
Meanwhile, project income for 2022/23 was £244,000 – its lowest annual figure in a decade, and significantly below the circa £420,000 achieved in 2016-2019. However, the figure was higher than the £210,000 forecast for 2022/23, and income for 2023/24 is projected to be £320,000.