NE Region DMU Destination Blind

Having become considerably involved in other matters (mostly German steam, and ringing church bells), this matter had slipped my mind, but I'm now hoping that NatPres can be of assistance despite the passage of time, and provide some clarification.

Below is the self-explanatory text of a letter sent to the former MD of NYMR, which was acknowledged, but produced no information. My reference to upper-case characters is incorrect should read "mixed upper & lower case"!

​

 

Whilst the apparent loss of the blind is regrettable, I do not see what you will be achieving by posting this on Nat Pres. You did donate the blind to the railway and, unless you stipulated that, if not wanted, it should be returned to you, it became there's to do as they wish. I get the impression that you simply turned up with the blind and did not first ask if it was actually wanted. That happens all too frequently with heritage railways. I have donated things to railways which have subsequently been disposed of as unwanted. Whilst disappointed, I have not pursued a vendetta.

 

This falls into the category of learning from one's mistakes. As Steve has said, by its nature a donation means that whatever you are donating becomes the property of the organisation it is being donated to, to do with as they please. If you wanted the blind back, then you should have stipulated as such.

Turning up at the railway five years later and being disappointed that 'your' blind has not been used in the way you wanted - which may or may not have been stated at the time - and then writing to the railway another three years on... and then on here two years after that (a total of eight years after the initial donation) does seem a bit strange.

Perhaps the NYMR did use it for a few years and it got torn or tangled in the DMU mechanism (it happens in old headcode systems)? Perhaps they have it as a museum exhibit (which is what I would have done, had I been the NYMR)? Perhaps it was sold to raise funds for some particular project?

I suspect that you will never find out, so my advice is to let it go, swallow your disappointment and put it down to experience.

PS By the way, if I were you I'd have redacted all the contact information on that letter before posting it here. Identity theft is a very real issue and that nice list of railway relics with your address is an open invitation to any unscrupulous member of NatPres who may be lurking...