61662 Manchester United "To be restored"

[S.A.C. Martin]

Press Release from Manchester United.com

1/01/2012 11:36, Report by Mark Froggatt
United train back on track

Plans to restore the iconic Manchester United Steam Locomotive are back on track following a 62-year absence from British railways.

Originally built in the early 20th century, it was one of several steam engines named after Football League clubs and travelled almost one million miles until it was taken out of service in 1959. Now, with the help of the North British Locomotive Preservation Group (NBLPG), the United vehicle – also known as ‘Engine 61662’ - is set to be restored following huge interest and enthusiasm for steam railways in the UK. Ken Livermore, honorary secretary of the NBLPG, explains the decision to rebuild was completely unanimous.

“There were originally 25 trains named after football clubs so we had a vote amongst our membership to decide which one should be restored,” said Ken. “Obviously we have supporters of other teams from all over the country but United was the clear winner. This is going to be our main project in 2012 and for want of a better phrase, it’s all about to kick off!”

The project will be partly funded by donations and with costs expected to reach an estimated £1.8million, Ken is calling on the support of United fans to help restore the famous old train. “We hope to work over a five-year period but it’s all subject to fundraising. If the money was there we could have it done in five minutes, but realistically we expect it to take about five years,” he added. “We are taking donations and people can buy shares in the engine which are available for £25. There is also going to be a £1 text appeal which will be set up in the coming weeks.”

If you would like to find out more or make a donation, visit engine61662appeal.co.uk.

[jwealleans]

'Restored', eh? Have they had it in a shed all this time and never said anything?

[Rlangham]

Blimey, that's a new one. Can't help but wonder it would be better if resources were poured into fewer projects to guarantee success. Either that or I welcome donations to my replica EE1 North Eastern Railway Express Passenger locomotive for use on London-Edinburgh services

[60800]

The fact that 'Manchester United' is to be rebuilt instead of a less 'conflictively' named B17 has put me off the project completely

[S.A.C. Martin]

'Restored', eh? Have they had it in a shed all this time and never said anything?

My thoughts exactly - however I gather they (if it is the original lot who were doing a B17 before) do have one of each of the original type tenders, so "rebuild" though perhaps a bit of a stretch, not an entirely outright lie per say.

Blimey, that's a new one. Can't help but wonder it would be better if resources were poured into fewer projects to guarantee success. Either that or I welcome donations to my replica EE1 North Eastern Railway Express Passenger locomotive for use on London-Edinburgh services

It's interesting because I'm fairly certain this must be the same lot who were building the B17s before...? Or are they?

The fact that 'Manchester United' is to be rebuilt instead of a less 'conflictively' named B17 has put me off the project completely

Not my favourite team by any means either, but good luck to them. A B17 would be a great engine to have in preservation. Lovely prototype, good route availability and no doubt with that particular name, it will prove very popular.

[60800]

The fact that 'Manchester United' is to be rebuilt instead of a less 'conflictively' named B17 has put me off the project completely

Not my favourite team by any means either, but good luck to them. A B17 would be a great engine to have in preservation. Lovely prototype, good route availability and no doubt with that particular name, it will prove very popular.

I'm put off by Scotsman's popularity, so you needn't listen to me anyway

There's that new build LMS patriot and a rebuild of a GWR (county?) loco steadily progressing too, which I'm looking forward to.

[richard]

Yes the NBLPG are the group that announced the plan to build 1.5 B17s two years ago. It sounds like the real news is one of hooking up with Manchester United to provide the name of one of the locos and sponsorship / fundraising. I'm on the NBLPG email list for B17 news but haven't received anything yet about the new development.

The plan was/is to build one functioning locomotive and one static locomotive. The tenders would be fully functional and one to each design. So by swapping tenders, they could have a functioning Footballer or a functioning Sandringham.
The static locomotive would be used for display purposes.

Of course if the tender is swappable, one assumes the nameplates are swappable and the numbers are easy to add / remove as well?


Richard

[giner]

Well, Ken Livermore may be Hon. Sec. of the NBLPG, but, "The project will be partly funded by donations and with costs expected to reach an estimated £1.8million, Ken is calling on the support of United fans to help restore the famous old train." Huh? The lad needs edumacating.

I reckon they should get SAF involved. 1.8 mil is chump change these days in football. You can hardly get a third team goalie for that.

Right on, there Richard. It could be marketed very well for various events with a quick switch of nameplates and numbers for various teams. Maybe even all of the clubs whose names appear in the class could chip in a 'small' donation and receive an allocated amount of time to use the loco - sort of a timeshare arrangement.

Tell ya what. It'd cheese Citeh fans right off. They couldn't keep their name on it in the first place.

Anyway, as long as it appears as 'Arsenal' now and again, they have my full blessing. After all, we were the pioneer name of the batch.

[PinzaC55]

Maybe they need a home for the "Manchester United" nameplate which recently at Sheffield Railwayana Auction for £40,000 only to be later found to be a FORGERY?

This is their statement on the SRA website:-

Unfortunately, following a rigorous scrutiny of the “Manchester United” nameplate with our customer, we have had to withdraw the item from sale. When removed from the backboard it would appear to be very clean and does not have the usual knocks and scrapes normally expected from a loco built in 1937. The football also appears to have been manufactured to fit. We were reluctant to remove the plate from its backboard prior to the sale because we believed in its provenance and did not want to spoil the paintwork on the front of the plate by removing the bolts. We are sorry to say that in this situation we were caught out.

We feel that under these circumstances, this course of action is the correct one to take as we would not wish to be associated with the sale of an item that we could not prove was 100% genuine."

[60044]

Didn't they change their minds after a further inspection and decide it was kosher?

I'd love to see a B17 rebuilt, preferably with the LNER tender as I don't think the GER tender really suited them, but my head says this project won't go anywhere unless it gets some heavyweight fund raisers behind it. The real success of "Tornado" is that they raised the money to do it, there's nothing about the engineering that is particularly special.

[Trestrol]

Get the Man U team to give up a weeks wages and you would have the funds in no time at all.

[60800]

I think one days worth of wages would do it for the B17. A weeks wages and you could build a few P2's

[Blink Bonny]

Ay up!

As a footy hater, I'd be happier if a Country House name was chosen meself.

A publicity stunt?

[PinzaC55]

Ay up!

As a footy hater, I'd be happier if a Country House name was chosen meself.

A publicity stunt?

Eminently practical. As other posters have pointed out all you have to do is get a football club behind you and you could possibly get sponsored.
Personally I would have called it "Richard Branson" or "Bill Gates".

[52A]

If they do build this Man U train I hope I will be able to see it at my local train station!