The £100,000 appeal for P2 No. 2007 Prince of Wales’ Cylinder Blocks has reached the Two-Third milestone in just three months.

If the project is to be on track for completion by 2021, the Cylinder Blocks had to be ordered by early 2018.

Back in September 2017, the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust set itself the challenge of raising £100,000 in a few months by 100 supporters donating £1,000 (plus Gift Aid) by eight standing order payments of £125.

In return for supporting the appeal, the members of ‘The Cylinder Club’ will receive:

• Opportunity to buy tickets for the first trains hauled by 2007.
• Access to No. 2007 at all times
• Opportunity to buy exclusive Cylinder Club badge
• Opportunity to join one of the teams building the locomotive
• First choice of other components to sponsor
• Special Cylinder Club day with Tornado
• Special signed/numbered print of John Wigston’s new painting of No. 2007 Prince of Wales alongside No. 2001 Cock o’ the North and No. 2002 Earl Marischal.

The project’s objectives for 2018 are to:

• • Complete wheelsets
  • Continue the boiler procurement
  • Order the cylinder block
  • Design and order the first motion parts
  • Progress work on the tender
  • Commence the electrical design.

To become a member of The Cylinder Club. You can email [email protected], call 01325 460163 or visit their website (at the end of this article) for more information.

What did the officials say?

Mark Allatt, P2 Project Director, and Trustee, The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, commented, “We are delighted with the level of support that the project to build Britain’s most powerful steam locomotive has received since its launch. Thanks to our supporters’ continued generosity, over £2.7m has now been donated or pledged. Our team at Darlington Locomotive Works has been focused on creating and assembling the boiler cladding and fitting the roller bearings and cannon boxes to the axles over the past few weeks.

He added “We have now turned our attention to the cylinder block which is our next major design and manufacturing challenge. If we can raise £100,000 through The Cylinder Club over the next few months we are confident that we will be able to place the order for the cylinder block for No. 2007 Prince of Wales in the first quarter of 2017 and remain on-track for completion of the new locomotive in 2021.

“Achieving pledges of over two-thirds of our target within the three months means that we are well on the way towards achieving this. I would encourage all steam enthusiasts who haven’t yet contributed to this exciting project to help us to meet these deadlines by becoming a member of The Cylinder Club or a monthly ‘P2 for the price of a pint of beer a week’ covenantor. It’s time to get on board! This year will see further major announcements as the construction of new Gresley class P2 No. 2007 Prince of Wales gathers pace.”

Recently we did a Project Information on the P2. You can see this by clicking here – we cover the history, aims of the project and also the progress (correct at the time of writing).

• Visit the P2 Steam Loco Website
  For more information