As some of you may be aware, the great western society at didcot (GWS) has been embarking on their own new/rebuild project to recreate a lost breed of GWR racehorses, the saint.
Despite the majority of GWR 4-6-0s being near identical, that makes this project no less significant...
Believed to have reached 120mph, the saints were the original GWR express engines. With the last being scrapped by 1 vote, the GWS has been determined to raise the funds necessary to rebuild a hall into 2999 "lady of legend" and occasionally operate in Atlantic 4-4-2 form.
But surely the saint is years away from completion? Apparently not! The new saint could be steaming as soon as 2016. And I'll be there when she does.
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| Will they ever return to the UK? and possibly in steam? |
Rather sad news is that the pair of transatlantic a4s, 4489 and 60008 have began their journey back to their home museums, passing over shap yesterday. Although all attempts to purchase the locos have failed, there is perhaps still a ray of hope for these exiles. And if we think about it, things could be worse...after all, no one wanted either of the a4s while they were originally here, had it not been for their names, "dominion of Canada" and "Dwight d Eisenhower", they would've fallen to the cutters torch years ago! And at least they were stored undercover, as all foreign locomotives here, such as Polish 0-6-0ts that are either stored outside in disrepair or worse, at Epping Ongar railway, the four Finnish 2-8-0s being threatened with scrapping! So we can't exactly complain of how the Quebec and green bay museums have treated foreign locos when we look at our own treatment of them! Especially considering that the Quebec museum has to survive on less than the annual income of a heritage line in Britain!
That's it for today, but please keep reading and send me your feedback. Subscribe to the YouTube Channel for videos of the railways mentioned Tring's Trains Productions YouTube
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