BRITAIN’S National Railway Museum has “borrowed back” two of its historic locomotives from museums in the USA.
LNER A4 Pacifics No. 60008 Dwight D. Eisenhower or 60010 Dominion of Canada arrived at Liverpool Docks on October 3 after being shipped from Halifax in Nova Scotia.
They were exported after being withdrawn by British Railways in the 1960s.
Dwight D. Eisenhower found a home at the US National Railroad Museum in Wisconsin while Dominion of Canada went to Exporial in Montreal.
It is planned to stage a line-up of all six A4s at the NRM in York next year, to mark the 75th anniversary of sister locomotive Mallard’s 126mph world steam speed record, after which the pair will be shipped back across the Atlantic to their museum homes in North America, complete with cosmetic refurbishment as part of the deal.
As an official media partner for the repatriation of the two A4s from North America, Heritage Railway magazine is trying its best to keep a running update of the events on the ground. The return of these two locomotive sis one of the biggest events in the history of UK railway preservation and we owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the North American museums for making it happen. Without those two museums, these locomotives would have been scrapped in the Sixties.
Regular updates will be posted at facebook.com/heritagerailway including museum statements.
There are also videos of both being unloaded from the cargo ship Atlantic Conveyor at Liverpool Docks on October 3 at www.heritagerailway.co.uk
Last time I looked Montreal Exporail museum was located in Canadaland, they shipped out of Halifax and there is a great video on youtube, heard there was talk of restoring one or both locos to operating as live steam on their return, maybe a big bad rumour eh?
Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if the Brits got them running again, say when nobody’s lookin’?
I understand only the Dwight D. is being restored to operating status and the Canadian loco is being restored but NOT operating, this in exchange for lending them to the Brits.
That’s great! Can’t wait to see some video of the “Dwight D.” in action!
I’d be very surprised to see the DDE restored to operating condition, and think perhaps somebody has misinterpreted the extent of what is planned. Without a tear down (lots of work) the present condition of the boiler will not be known, and I am sure that would be mandatory before even thinking about steaming. Various other modifications will also be required to run on today’s mainline network. Unless the loan is for at least four or five years it would be hard to justify the probable cost of returning it to operation.
John