The Class 507 Preservation Society has announced that it has reached an agreement to take on ownership of a Class 507 when its working life comes to an end later this year.
507001 has served the Liverpool City Region for the last 46 years but will now find a new home at the Nant Mawr visitor centre, 15 miles south of Llangollen.
Built in York, the train is set for conservation work at its new home. The train hauled Queen Elizabeth II when she officially opened the Merseyrail network.
The society are to launch an appeal to cover the cost of transporting the train, expected to be around £10,000, to storage at the Nant Mawr Visitor Centre.
Nant Mawr is a terminus of the Potteries, Shrewsbury and North Wales line which opened in 1866 to link the quarries of Criggion and Nant Mawr with the town of Shrewsbury.
Fast forward to today, and the site at Nant Mawr consists of a short narrow gauge line and over a mile of standard gauge track.
Details on how you can donate can be found on the Class 507 Society website.
“It's fantastic news that we will be preserving this train for future generations. They have served the Liverpool City Region well in the 46 years since Elizabeth II travelled on this very train in 1978, be it taking people to and from work, for a day out to the seaside, or home after an evening out.
But we need to raise money to move the train from the mainline network to its new home at Nant Mawr or it faces being sent to South Wales and turned into razor blades. If everyone who remembers travelling on a train like this were to donate just £5.07 then we would be well on the way to saving this train for the people of Merseyside.
Society Chairman Robert Hampton
“I am thrilled that a train that carried Elizabeth II is coming to Nant Mawr. The area has many historic connections with Liverpool – lots of the city's water comes from Lake Vyrnwy which is just 20miles away from us. We look forward to hosting this very special train.”
Mark Hignett from the Nant Mawr visitor centre
