Our West Shed colleagues went back to work on August 3^rd.  Since then, alongside various smaller engineering tasks, PRCLT have been carrying out thorough engineering assessments of principal Unknown Warrior components that are critical to the sequence of the locomotive build. These include the bogie, the driving wheels with weld repairs, and the motion components which have been transported to West Shed from Statfold Barn this month.  The assessments are identifying all outstanding design and construction issues and the quality certification requirements for these subsystems.

We are pleased to report that West Shed will re-open for business on Monday 3^rd 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. 

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 1^st)

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'.