Boiler Manufacture - May 2017

Our Chairman, David Bradshaw, was informed on Tuesday 9^th May, that LNWR Heritage had decided to end all sub contract work and concentrate on its own fleet.  As a result LNWR Heritage will not be continuing work on constructing the boiler for The Unknown Warrior. The Board of the LMS Patriot project is naturally very disappointed with this decision by LNWR Heritage, the impact of which is still not clear, though it is highly likely that there will be some delays in getting the boiler completed.

On 10^th May, our engineering team visited Crewe to undertake a full engineering assessment of all the boiler componernts. At the meeting LNWR Heritage agreed to complete work on the boiler that has already been started, by the end of June. This covers the completion of the riveting of the copper inner firebox and the welding of the outer throatplate to finish this component.  All approval paperwork for the work so far undertaken will be provided.

The news broke just after the recent Warrior had gone to press, so we were unable to inform our membership at that time. Also, as it was very soon after the announcement, the full details and implications were unknown and it was decided to wait until things were a little clearer. Although it is still early days we feel it is now time to inform our membership before the story appears in the railway press.

Since being informed of the decision, the project’s engineering team have been working hard to identify an alternative builder for our boiler. Within a week, all possible suppliers had been sent a comprehensive document providing details of the project and the current state of the boiler build, including drawings, photographs and technical details. We asked each supplier to reply with just an expression of interest as a first stage before entering into more detailed discussions. It is expected to be a while before final announcement can be made on the way forward. Initial discussion with a number of potential suppliers has been encouraging. This work is on-going and we will make full announcement once a decision has been made.