RAILWAY enthusiasts are appealing for help to save a famous 91-year-old steam locomotive that hauled the late Queen’s Royal Train from Worcester to Oxford as part of her Diamond Jubilee Tour in 2012.
Thousands of flag-waving people turned out to watch crimson-painted Princess Elizabeth steam majestically over the route as the monarch and Prince Philip waved through the windows to the excited crowds.
In recent years the privately-owned loco, named after the late Queen when she was still a seven-year-old schoolgirl, has regularly operated special excursions trains around Britain.
But then “Lizzie”, as she was affectionately nicknamed by footplate crews, suffered a major boiler failure just hours before pulling the luxury 1930s-style Northern Belle train over the picturesque Settle-Carlisle line.
Now a £165,000 appeal has been launched to pay for a major overhaul at West Coast Railway’s depot in Carnforth, Lancashire, in a bid to get her back on track next year.
Clive Mojonnier, chairman of the Princess Elizabeth Society, has warned that the final bill could be nearer half a million pounds.
He said: “We have already removed her boiler to investigate but we won’t know the full situation until after the overhaul.
"Whatever the cost, it will be worth it because Lizzie is not just a locomotive, she is part of our nation’s heritage.”
Built originally for the old London, Midland and Scottish Region at Crewe and costing just £11,685, Princess Elizabeth still holds the record for the fastest non-stop steam train journey between London and Scotland.
In 1936 she reached 100mph and averaged 68.2mph to complete the 401mile trip in five hours 53 minutes, smashing Flying Scotsman’s six-hour record for the journey. Driver Tom Clarke, from Crewe, was later honoured with the OBE,
Originally numbered 6201, she was renumbered 46201 when the railways were nationalised in 1948, but was withdrawn from service in 1962 after British Rail began turning to diesel locomotives.
Lizzie was destined for an ignominious end in a scrapyard before a group of enthusiasts bought her for £2,160 to save her from being turned into pots and pans.
For more details about Princess Elizabeth Society and to donate to the appeal, see www.6201.co.uk
Fares on the Northern Belle, which operates from stations all over the UK, start at £295. For more details, see www.northernbelle.co.uk
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