Progress on newbuild LNWR George the Fifth Class 'Prince George'

For the past 18 months or so, The LNWR George the Fifth Steam Locomotive Trust has had a dedicated thread here on National Preservation answering questions and marking progress on a new build LNWR George the Fifth class locomotive for mainline and heritage rail use. Today, on what is the 1st birthday of HRH Prince George, we can reveal a important milestone for the build, which warrants a new thread as the following press-release indicates:

On Tuesday 22nd July the GCR will be operating a special Teddy Bears’ Picnic event for children. At Quorn there will be an event which celebrates the first birthday of HRH Prince George.

The LNWR George the fifth Steam Locomotive Trust is inviting guests to this celebration at 11.30 a.m. At 12.15 p.m. the name and number plate of the new George will be unveiled by Noah Cull (aged 5) and Poppy Cull (aged 3) revealing the name to be Prince George and the number to be 2013. This is being done by kind permission of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge who stipulated that the locomotive should receive its name on the first birthday of HRH Prince George.

The unveiling will be followed by a reception in the ‘Tin Shed’ at Quorn at which drinks and canapés will be served. There will be a rolling power point presentation in the Tin Shed showing the history of the Georges. Jamie Keyte is also bringing a gazebo which will feature photographs and other documents of engineering interest relating to the new build.

In addition to providing an enjoyable sociable event for our subscribers it is hoped that the profile of our project with the general public will be greatly enhanced.

We will post photos and further news following the day.

Additionally it should be mentioned that an order for the locomotive's front frames has been placed. We had hoped to have these completed before today's announcement but we are expecting them soon and we will keep everyone posted on the progress. We have also secured a temporary home in Heckmondwike in Yorkshire where we can can securely store the completed parts. The engine will be assembled in a yet-to-be determined location. Finally, we will be at Kidderminster on the 2nd August for the annual LNWR Society meeting, which kicks off at 10:30. All are invited.

 

Just having a look around your website, i see there is the monthly donor/standing order forms, so does that mean you don't actually have membership? Or 1/4 newsletters etc? Do you have agms etc?

Great news on the frames etc, and cant wait for the loco to actually start to be put together.

Kind regards Gavin

 

Hi Gavin,

Thanks for your kind words and congratulations on the progress thus far on The Unknown Soldier.

As to your query, we don't have a membership at this point. The build was commenced just on 2 years ago by a group of individuals who have status as the Trustees. Just over 14 months ago, the Trust became a registered charity. Others, such as myself have come on board to assume various responsibilities and decisions are considered openly among all involved. Additionally there is a close affiliation and synchronicity with the LNWR Society and there is technical assistance provided by a number of individuals and groups within the preservation movement. This structure has served us up to this point, however I say that there is a recognition that with the build beginning to hit another gear we need to review the structure, which has evolved beyond a group of individuals with a grand idea. Beyond that, I won't preempt any discussions taking place on alterations to the organisation but it is under consideration.

 

If the Group building this iconic LNWR locomotive think that they are going to attract more support and finance from a wider public rather than LNWR aficionados by giving it a name associated with a new generation of British Monarchy........


................then they are absolutely right!

Tip top PR!

 

So are you going to rename the loco George VII if/when the Prince becomes king?

In all seriousness, well done on the latest progress.

 

A report from the day at Quorn will follow in due course but I thought I should post some images of the fabrication of the left splasher, valance, lower cabside, number and nameplate.

Late last year, soon after the young prince's birth, we sought consent from the Royal Family to commemorate his birth by naming our new build, 'Prince George' (fitting for a class where the first of the class bore the name of his Great, Great , Great Grandfather and all subsequent members of the class were thereby known by the name, George the Fifth). This consent as granted on condition that the name would not be revealed until the date of his first birthday, at the earliest. Given this wonderful news, as we placed the order for the front frames and completed the smokebox door, we decided to have the left-splasher, valance, lower cabside, number and nameplates fabricated to mark the occasion. These parts will of course be used in the final build. The fabrication of the splasher, valance and lower cabside were performed by Keyte Smith Ltd while the number and nameplates were made by Procast Foundry.

The number 2013 of course signifies the year of HRH's birth, which we think you'll agree is fitting. Now the name was borne by an Experiment Class 4-6-0, number 1135, which emerged from Crewe in September 1907 so technically A George would not have borne them name but given this is a new build and given the wonderful opportunity to bear the young prince's title, I think you'll agree that it is a fitting choice.

 

Some more images. Note the rid lining around the base of nameplate is incorrect and will of course rectified when the completed engine receives its paint-job but I hope it gives a glimpse of what's possible.

 

Thanks for your kind words Kinghambranch. We've been developing a decent supporter base - admittedly a bit more niche than some of the state new builds. We have for example a significant amount of support arising from the large membership of the LNWR Society but I'd be lying if I didn't say that we regard the granting of permission to use the name by the Royal Family, a huge fillip. Now it's up to us to promote the build effectively and look at increasing our volunteer ans supporter-base. We all realise that the build should and must step up a gear but we feel that we're very well positioned for this to happen.

 

Now there's an idea! I might be getting a bit long in the tooth personally.

Thanks for your support 5944. I hope that we can post something about the front frames in due course. We had hoped to have had them completed by today to display.

 

Oh and if people haven't seen it, here is the smokebox door on the back of a restored LMS dray, which was completed a new months ago. Since this will be the official thread, I'll post images of all progress here.

 

I should point out that as a rule we won't be fabricating more cosmetic parts until much later in the build. The frame, spacers, wheels, hornblocks and eventually moving towards a rolling chassis are is priority from here on in. However, given the importance of the Royal consent to name the engine, 'Prince George' we think you'd agree that it made sense to have the left splasher, cab-side, valance, number and name plates fabricated to mark the occasion. We wanted something evocative and hope it will spur the imagination of our current and potential supporters.

Normal transmission will resume from here on in! Front frames are the next significant parts to be completed.

 

Bloody hell! I know it's "only" a few bits of sheet metal stuck together, but that does look rather good!

 

I shouldn't worry about such a minor detail if I were you! That paint finish looks good enough to be retained on the completed engine.

Choosing the name Prince George is an absolute master-stroke - I don't think anyone saw it coming, yet with hindsight it is a blindingly obvious choice. Looking at your Twitter feed it is clear that this PR opportunity has used to good effect and that the choice of name is genuinely generating some interest among non-enthusiasts, which is fantastic.

The news about the frames is also very exciting. I shall be watching progress with interest, and perhaps even making a small contribution when my finances permit!

On a lighter note, though, I wonder if we will now be seeing a little friendly rivalry with the Prince of Wales project...?

 

When it was proposed by Paul who is one of the trustees, to approach the Royal Family on naming the engine after the baby Prince George, we all instantly realised how perfect the choice was. While we understood that the name is a key part of the branding (even though there are very successful builds lacking names such as the NER G5 tank - a diminutive engine hardly which - and not to detract from what I consider to be one of the worthiest new builds going; a pre-grouping passenger tank class - hardly has the visceral appeal of say a massive Gresley Mikado for most enthusiasts), none of us were terribly focused choosing a name at the time and nothing that had been proposed among the members (building a new 'Coronation' was one proposal) had resonated.

The approval process took quite a few months but once assent had been granted it made sense to capitalise on it according to the conditions set down by William and Kate, and we knew that we could reach a broader audience (and we hope in the process that we can achieve something that Tornado has achieved and that is broaden the interest in British steam generally). We'd be the first to confess that not all new-builds are created equal; the interest in the LNWR despite being the preeminent pre-Grouping railway company is admittedly niche even if most enthusiasts readily concede that the LNWR is cruelly under-represented in preservation. This makes the task harder so it makes sense to appeal beyond enthusiasts. Most non-enthusiasts are even less interested in the particularities of an engine class, the CME or a given railway company, however they are, as you've seen on twitter, excited by the prospect of a locomotive bearing the young Prince's name. By this we overcomes the relative obscurity and more niche appeal of the class even though we have found great support among enthusiasts. This hopefully will help us build it quicker and if we can get some non-enthusiasts excited about and engaged with steam then we'll be especially happy.

Right now we're quite small as groups go. We need to ensure that we capitalise on this broader interest intelligently. A new website is in the works as are discussions on how to engage with supporters and as more volunteers come on board and the project enters a 'grown-up phase', we must look to our structure and organisation. The ball is definitely in our court to not rest our laurels.

As to the paint finish, regrettably it will be damaged when these parts are affixed to the engine. We are cogniscant that we need to be judicious with sponsor's and supporter's money but we hope they agree that the relatively small sum spent on the paint finish was a worthwhile investment, and one that seems to be firing the imagination for many people.

We're on good terms with them and with many people in the new-build and preservation movement more broadly. We're impressed and delighted to witness the rapid success of the P2 group. Rest assured we will be and are picking their brains. The nice thing is that there is so little rivalry amongst groups - everyone wants everyone else to succeed and I look forward to seeing all the new builds, great and small collected in one place when completed for a special occasion!

Finally Muztrem, thanks so much for your offer to make a contribution. Any contribution is welcome however small and remember that you can Gift-aid it if you're a UK taxpayer. Really appreciate it. We'll keep everyone posted on progress as and when it happens!

 

On the one hand, I get excited when I see it. On the other, it's frustrating that I'll have to wait a bit before seeing the entire thing!

 

I can't believe there's not more commentary on this. The cab side and splasher looks utterly magnificent and I think the naming - like Prince of Wales - is a brilliant bit of public relations.

All in all, the new build groups are impressing greatly in lots of different ways at the minute. We are approaching a critical mass for them and I can see a few heading swiftly towards the finish line in a few years. Just marvellous. I may not have seen the real steam railway but I am grateful I am still around to see its revival.

 

Let's not get too carried away. " A few heading swiftly towards the finish line in a few years" is not exactly "swiftly" in any real sense.

PH

 

Sorry Paul - but the Patriot project going from where they were two years ago to where they are now, and a few of the others which have started over the last five years and looking to finish within a decade - that's heading swiftly to the finish line in my book compared to the nearly twenty years of Tornado (but then the A1 Trust had to contend with the perennial negative attitude of "you can't build that bit" constantly amongst other trailblazing issues).

I think the P2's rapid construction recently says it all.

 

Lots of new chassis waiting to see if the means to build a large new boiler exist unless those involved will take a chance on the Germans again. There was a lot of harrumphing when the A1 Trust had the boiler built overseas but as businessmen they know that "a few years" is not exactly "swift".

PH