Prince George Moves Home!

Being towed into loading position                                                             Ready for the road

Today our locomotive No. 2013 Prince George has moved.  After two seasons on display at Crewe Heritage Centre we needed a site where we can get on with the build.  Our long-term allies at Keyte Smith Ltd offered to rent some hard standing to us, with permission to erect an industrial tent as our erecting shop.  Our haulier, J Swingler, offered to do the move at a bargain price today, so this morning I had to jump into the car and drive to the Heritage Centre, arriving just behind the low loader at 10 this morning.  There was a bit of debate about how to turn the engine round for loading chimney first, till our driver Danny told us he could fit a front towbar to the tractor unit and tow it out to a suitable position.  Everyone agreed, the rain came on and we suffered it while the tractor unit was unhitched and our loco was towed out.  Once in position, the tractor was hitched up to the trailer and the loco winched up and secured down.  Between the rain and the extra operations to tow the loco out, it took a full 2½ hours, and a warming cup of tea was required before hitting the road.

Your writer cunningly avoided the unloading operation by calling to buy some finger food.  Trying to avoid queues, a navigational error meant that the unloading was complete on arrival.  It only remained to remove name and number plates for security, and move the loco to its allocated patch.  In view of forecast winds (and the cold!) it was decided to leave fitting the tarpaulin till another day.

We are very grateful to all at Crewe who were involved with the display of the locomotive, particularly its arrival and departure.  Out low loader driver Danny did an excellent job, and above all our thanks are owed to Jamie and Paul at Keyte Smith ltd.

       Arrival at Kirkby in Ashfield                              In the allocated position

The tent to protect the locomotive is now in the hands of the German carrier, so we hope to have that soon.

Other news is that our motion plate and frame stretcher are complete ready for delivery as soon as we are ready. Erecting the tent must take first priority, but possibly in a month’s time we will see them bolted up between the frames.

More news shortly!