HRH The Duke of Gloucester met with 71000 Duke of Gloucester on 28th September at Nene Valley Railway.
The visit followed several days of preparation and cleaning by the support crew and volunteers, with special attention to the cab where new arm rests were fitted in anticipation of the Duke spending time on the footplate. As well as all the cleaning of the tender and boiler, the front of the loco was polished twice and the buffers were quartered.
On the day of the visit the support crew were up early to put the finishing touches to the engine including the four lamps on the front. The Duke was then moved up to the turntable. At a weight of 160 ton it was over the limit for the 140 ton turntable and assistance was required to push the turntable round. After some last minute cleaning the support crew changed out of overalls into their suits.
HRH the Duke of Gloucester arrived on time and was welcomed at the front of the station before being escorted along the platform to the engine. The Duke was presented with a framed 71000 print as a reminder of his visit before climbing up on to the footplate for a ride down to Yarwell Junction. On the return leg, after being shown around the new station, His Royal Highness climbed back on to the footplate to take his turn at the controls.
Back at Wansford the Duke officially opened the new tea room extension and thanked everyone for all the hard work done on the loco by its volunteers, past and present, over the years and complimented the presentation of the engine.
Following a tour of the sheds, the Duke departed.
Four days hard work went into preparing for the visit but, as you can see from the photographs, it was well worth all the effort. A big thank you to everyone who was involved.
On the day of the visit the support crew were up early to put the finishing touches to the engine including the four lamps on the front. The Duke was then moved up to the turntable. At a weight of 160 ton it was over the limit for the 140 ton turntable and assistance was required to push the turntable round. After some last minute cleaning the support crew changed out of overalls into their suits.
HRH the Duke of Gloucester arrived on time and was welcomed at the front of the station before being escorted along the platform to the engine. The Duke was presented with a framed 71000 print as a reminder of his visit before climbing up on to the footplate for a ride down to Yarwell Junction. On the return leg, after being shown around the new station, His Royal Highness climbed back on to the footplate to take his turn at the controls.Back at Wansford the Duke officially opened the new tea room extension and thanked everyone for all the hard work done on the loco by its volunteers, past and present, over the years and complimented the presentation of the engine.
Following a tour of the sheds, the Duke departed.
Four days hard work went into preparing for the visit but, as you can see from the photographs, it was well worth all the effort. A big thank you to everyone who was involved.
1 comment:
71000 looks absolutely stunning.
A real credit to their support crew.
Well done everbody
Richard
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