Welcome to the 82045 Locomotive Fund website. Practical Steam for the 21st Century.

December 2024 Chairman’s Chat

82045By Neil Taylor

Dear Members, Observers and Supporters,

Many of you now have come to expect my commentary on the season. I feel like a very poor weatherman. However, it is most relevant this time as I am typing in order to keep warm! I love living in a 150 year old cottage, but I am still getting used to holding off the urge to light the fire before four o’clock. I have succumbed now and lit the wood burner, if only so that I can get rid of the woolly hat. I now appreciate my collection of heritage ‘Beanie Hats’ that can be rotated for each day of the week. Powys has had a particularly surprising amount of snow and we nearly couldn’t get out of the track this week. Anyway less of the weather more on the “Whether”!

82045As year-end approaches I thought that I would provide some reflections. The great news is that it is relatively easy. This time last year I was writing to thank everybody who had contributed to the appeal for the boiler components. Well, twelve months on, we nearly have a completed boiler. The boiler inspector is due in next week to appraise the construction prior to us tubing the boiler and entering the test cycle for the whole unit. I don’t think that we could be any more positive about the boiler than that. I do hope that in the first quarter of next year we are able to say that the boiler is complete.

On the mechanical side, you will have seen multiple updates from Tony demonstrating more great progress and with a boiler fitted we will be able to really crack on with major pipework and adding the many valves and unions to some shiny new faces. Also, we will be able to advance the cladding, which has just started. I am pleased to say that the motion components have started to arrive, but we do not have a complete set as yet. The best news is that we are about to start aligning the slide bars and from there we will start to assemble the first components in the “train”.

On the fundraising front we have had a very productive year. Again this time last year we were anticipating the SVR Winter Gala, and I have to say that this was a great event. Between the Galas we must have raised over £10,000 which again is mostly thanks to donations of items to sell and the hard work of the sales team. Also in the year we did what we said we were going to do (which is always a good thing). We developed a new branded clothing range and commissioned a painting of the loco. More on the painting in the New Year suffice to say that it is now complete and will go on display prior to sale.

I have been in contact with the main Heritage Press publications and will do more of that next year. They have become more hungry for information as they sense that we are making good progress. I do hope you will be able to read their take on our project in an upcoming edition of Steam Railway. They are appraising the status of the various New Builds in the UK. It is very interesting to understand where everybody is, and to celebrate the diversity of the products that are currently in build. It just proves how much passion and enthusiasm still exists for our heritage. One of the big challenges still remains to bring “our” heritage into the 21st Century, and I think that this will be a determining factor in future projects. We need to be able to capture the hearts and minds of a very different generation. I have no doubt that this can be done and you only have to look at the work done in places like the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railway to see what can be achieved.

There is a lot to look forward to next year and I will be wishing for a similarly successful year in 2025. For now the Trustees would like to wish you all a Happy Christmas and a joyous New Year.