Appeal for ‘Merchant Navy’ trailing truck
THE General Steam Navigation Locomotive Restoration Society (GSNLRS) has launched a new and exclusive club to help finance the overhaul of the trailing truck belonging to ‘Merchant Navy’ No. 35011 General Steam Navigation.
The truck was removed from the frames at the Swindon & Cricklade Railway last October and has been assessed by a third party industry and certification advisor.
The resultant estimate for its overhaul and certification is £15,000, prompting the GSNLRS to set up the Trailing Truck Transformers.
The club seeks to attract a maximum of 30 members to purchase a ‘lot’ for £500. Members are welcome to purchase as many lots as they wish up to the maximum target amount, and these can be bought as a single payment of £500 or by five monthly payments of £100 each.
An incentives package for club members offers a certificate of membership, the donor’s name engraved on a brass plaque attached to the refurbished trailing truck and also on a Roll of Honour, and an invitation to a VIP day at Blunsdon to see the completed truck once it is returned to the railway, plus regular updates on the progress of the overhaul.
Information on how to become a Trailing Truck Transformer can be found at www.35011gsn.co.uk/ funding-campaigns/trailingtruck-club.html or by emailing info@35011gsn.co.uk
■ No. 35011’s trailing truck is unique in preservation, being one of the later fabricated type that replaced the original cast truck in 1955. All of the other preserved ‘Merchant Navies’ have the cast type.