We are pleased to report that West Shed will re-open for business on Monday 3rd August after over three months Coronavirus closure. This is a couple of weeks later than previously expected, because of staffing complications. We have been communicating with PRCLT by Zoom to agree forward work.
On the financial front, regular donations are holding up very well but the rest of the income stream is suffering somewhat. One-off donations are £8k down on budget forecast and sales stand income is, of course, non-existent. On a more positive note, the income percentage achieved against budget is about the same as at this time last year.
Following the easing of COVID-19 measures we are now able to access our office premises in Stafford. A backlog of mail and phone messages has been retrieved and processed.
Please use our normal office address for postal correspondence. For the time being, our volunteers will access the office on a much reduced basis; telephone messages will be picked up, but if you need to speak to us it will be quicker if you use our temporary number 07801 945689. Thanks to you for your patience, and to our volunteers for the improvised working arrangements since March.
Work on The Unknown Warrior has continued at various location since the last report.
Construction of 5551 continues at a number of locations.
Physical work on 5551 has been very slow since the last report as can be expected due to the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic outbreak. Virtually all our suppliers have had to close down or if they are still open they are working with reduced staffing levels and only working on safety critical or key work projects. Unfortunately for us, whatever we think of 5551 we do not fit into these categories!
Lockdown means less to report, but there is one piece of good news. At Riley and Sons, the crank pins were fitted to the main driving wheels and machined last week, and the material certification and installation has all been approved by Ricardo Certification. We’re very grateful to Simon Scott at PRCLT for helping us bring to a successful conclusion a vexed issue going back to 2018.
The rear cylinder covers have been delivered to West Shed for machining. A programme of work has been identified and agreed with PRCLT ready for when they return to work, which we now expect to be mid-July.
From 1st July, the engineers at the West Shed will be restarting work on 5551 'The Unknown Warrior' after the enforced lockdown. We are appealing for your help in partnership with our friends at the Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust.
With the PRCLT fleet including No. 6233 ‘Duchess of Sutherland’ not earning any hire fees for the foreseeable future, your kind generosity will not only see progress on ‘The Unknown Warrior’, it will crucially help to support the PRCLT in what continues to be difficult times for the preservation movement.
This Bulletin comes hard on the heels of the latest Warrior magazine, whose distribution has taken a little longer than usual because of the coronavirus emergency. (It was mailed to members on June 1st)
On the engineering front, the good news is that West Shed is still expected to re-open on the 1st July. Our contract is now signed and plans are being made in conjunction with PRCLT to establish task priorities. Funding has been agreed for three months and will continued to be managed carefully on a rolling basis.
At HBSS, we have very recently paused the work for the time being for budget reasons, but good progress has been made on the cladding.
You can now easily join The LMS-Patriot Project as a Member using our new web sign up page on our website. Simply click here to join up, then choose your required Membership type, starting from £25 for single Membership, then fill in the form on the screen with all your details. Once completed you will be directed to our secure PayPal page where you can pay your Membership Fee with optional Donation to the Project.
Members receive our award winning quarterly magazine - The Warrior, Membership Card, Membership Certificate, and an invitation to Members' Day to view the latest progress with 5551 'The Unknown Warrior'.
The Coronavirus pandemic continues to circumscribe our scope for making progress in most aspects of the Project’s activities, but I’m very pleased to be able to report that we are not yet, at least, at a complete standstill.
Although all work at West Shed has ceased, HBSS continue, on a reduced work-basis, to work on the boiler cladding. Further work has been approved, but will be on hold until HBSS can return to full-strength operations. Whilst at Leaky Finders, work on the tender frames should be completed imminently. A number of components - the dome and cover, heater-header and bracket, reverser assembly, among others, have been completed and are ready for delivery to West Shed from various contractors as soon as conditions allow.
This Bulletin is dominated by how the Coronavirus emergency is impacting on the project.
We are pleased to say that our partners at HBSS are at the time of writing continuing to work on the project, making steady progress with fitting the stays and working on the cladding assembly. Elsewhere, the dome and cover have passed their safety tests, but it is likely that the shut down will prevent transportation for machining and then return to HBSS.
The LMS-Patriot Project took an important step forward in early December with its transfer of the The Unknown Warrior locomotive chassis to its new assembly base at Tyseley Locomotive Works, Birmingham.