Adrian Shooter’s two-foot gauge replica Indian Hill railway up for auction.

The Late Adrian Shooter succumbed to Motor Neurone Disease (MND) last December aged 74.

Adrian was, from a teenager, a volunteer at the Ffestiniog Railway (FR). He became a director aged 31 and became Managing Director. He was also President of the UK based Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society (DHRS).

His professional career, for which he was awarded a CBE for services to the rail industry, enabled him to create the Beeches Light Railway (BLR), built in his extensive garden near Banbury and operated by volunteers for almost 20 years.

The BLR, a two-foot gauge railway with a ruling gradient of 1 in 22 and minimum radius curves, is modelled on The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and will be sold at a unique auction on 21^st June.

Just how much the winning bid will be for the 1889 0-4-0ST Glasgow built locomotive by Sharp Stewart ‘B' Class No. 19 locomotive is subject to much speculation. Additionally, Mr Shooter's railwayana also goes under the hammer but not his fleet of vintage vehicles which he drove in over 70 countries.

Built for the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, No. 19 is the sole UK example of the 34 strong class and restored 20 years ago. It was overhauled nine years ago renewing its Victorian cast iron boiler boiler ticket which expires in seven months time.

Only minimum work carried out to the mechanical elements of the locomotive so the upcoming overhaul is anticipated to be expensive given complete mechanical disassembly required plus the required statutory boiler work.

The BLR was operated by a team of dedicated volunteers drawn from across the UKs narrow gauge railways led by Jeremy Davey supporting Mr Shooter, but who assumed total responsibility when the MND was diagnosed.

When it was announced that Mrs Shooter was to auction the whole railway Mr Davey and three members of the supporting group formed The Darjeeling Tank Locomotive Trust aiming to raise £250k to buy, overhaul and operate the engine. If you want to help support the society, you can do so by clicking here.

Mr Davey said “If successful at auction, we will build on Mr Shooter's legacy maintaining and operating the 19B enabling public access via an educational project looking at why it was built and for what purpose in the Himalayas.”

The other three Trustees, colleagues and volunteers for five decades through involvement with both Mr Shooter and the FR, were behind the successful project to fund and build the replica single Fairlie steam locomotive ‘Taliesin'. Their collective stated aim is they are doing this to carry out Adrian's wishes, for the public and the enthusiast community but not for themselves.

The other trustees are:

• Andy Savage MBE with over 50 years on narrow-gauge railways culminating in being Deputy Chairman of the FR Company. Professionally he is Chair of the Railway Heritage Trust.
• Peter “Fuzz” Jordan is a Chartered Accountant, owns Darjeeling Tours, a long-standing Director of the DHRS, has been Chair of the FR Society and a Trustee of the F&WHR Trust. He is the Treasurer of the Darjeeling Tank Trust.
• Gordon Rushton has been General Manager of the FR.

With one month to go before the auction, Mr Jordan said “Significant five figure donations, loans and covenants have been received including from Mr Shooter's sister, guaranteeing a significant six-figure bid if required. If the Trust is unsuccessful at auction, it should be noted all monies will be returned to donors and costs borne by the Trustees.”

Despite this Trust Chairman Mr Davey expressed his worries: “Concerns that bidding may involve the Ffestiniog as a proxy bidder have been raised by Trust members. These are based on a Californian vineyard novelty railway whose owner has close long-term footplate connections with The FR.”

Mr Savage explained his involvement. “I knew Adrian for decades via the FR and in our respective professional railway careers at the highest executive levels. He was always keen to show off the engine around the UK's two-foot gauge lines.”

“The team behind the bid wish to deliver Adrian's wishes operating 19 B on other railways for historical and educational purposes.” said Mr Rushton.

The Trust has pledged to keep the 19 B in its original condition if safely possible and maintaining Mr shooter's legacy operating the locomotive for the pleasure of others. Trustees visited the Statfold Barn Railway (SBR) near Tamworth on 12^th April and quickly reached agreement this would become the operating base for the No. 19 with mutual support promised between the groups.

Mr Davey made the following announcement after the meeting: “Friends of DHR 19B… I can't tell you how delighted I am to make this announcement. We've said previously that we hoped to base 19B at Statfold, recognising it as the leading narrow-gauge museum in the world, and the ideal location to achieve many of our aims – including making the loco accessible to the public, maintaining her in excellent condition post-overhaul and operating her for everyone to enjoy. We also appreciate that she would very much complement their collection.

We also recognise the long-standing relationship between the BLR with the SBR becoming good friends, and our visit last year for their Indian Steam event was one of the most-memorable we've had.

Statfold Trustee Henry Noon added; “Statfold Narrow Gauge Museum Trust are proud to be associated with the project to safeguard the future of Adrian Shooters iconic narrow gauge locomotive. We've had a long standing relationship with Adrian borne from the friendship and business relationship of Adrian and our Chairman Graham Lee.

We wholeheartedly support their policy of showcasing the loco at other railways giving it maximum exposure to the enthusiast and railway fraternity.”