The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust has announced that they have formed a new subsidiary, the V4 Steam Locomotive Company, ahead of the project launch.
The trust, which is behind A1 No. 60163 Tornado and P2 No.2007 Prince of Wales, has set up the new project to build new steam locomotive No.3403.
The A1SLT has also confirmed it has acquired over 500 drawings for the V4 from Malcolm Barlow.
In October 2015, the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust announced it would follow up the building of A1 60163 Tornado and P2 2007 Prince of Wales with the construction of another extinct LNER locomotive.
In January 2018, the trust also confirmed that it had acquired the complete set of tyres for the V4s pony. They were purchased from David Buck, who is the owner of B1 61306 Mayflower, along with a chimney, two BR class 08 shunter speedometer drive generators and two two-stage single spindle air pumps of Finnish origin including lubricator pumps and check valves for use on No. 2007.
What is a V4?
The LNER V4 class is a 2-6-2 steam locomotive which was designed by Sir Nigel Gresley, the man behind Flying Scotsman, for mixed traffic use. The V4 was the last design by Sir Nigel Gresley before he passed away in 1941.
What did the officials say?
Mark Allatt, Trustee, The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, added:
“We are now in the pre-launch phase of the project to build our third new main line steam locomotive, with the formation of The V4 Steam Locomotive Company to actually build No. 3403, the opening of both the company and charitable bank accounts and the detailed review of over 500 acquired drawings.
“We want to be ready to start assembling our new Gresley class V4 as soon as our new class P2 is completed. If we're in our new and much larger base at Whessoe Road by then – and there's a good chance we will be – we could even start work on No. 3403 before No. 2007 Prince of Wales steams in 2021. We anticipate the project costing around £3m and taking around five years subject to the pace of fundraising. Our new Gresley class V4 is an ideal locomotive for regional main line tours, repeat main line itineraries and the longer, main line connected heritage railways.
“Unlike the class P2, where we have had to do a considerable amount of development work to complete the job that Sir Nigel Gresley started in 1934, there will be very little redesign work needed as there were no known problems with the Gresley class V4s.
“Although there is no specific appeal open for No. 3403 yet, any donations made towards it will be ring-fenced for the project. The next steps will be to launch a website for the project and The Founder's Club to fund the early stages of the project. More announcements will be made during 2018 as the project builds up steam.”
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I sincerely wish this project well and hope that this new loco will be able to run over the West Highland Railway to Fort William sometime after 2026 by which time I will be in my seventies; something I would love to experience having been a traveller on the WHR since 1964. I should like more details of how to contribute.