The restoration of Sir Winston Churchill’s funeral carriage reached an important milestone this week, as staff, volunteers and trainees at Locomotion; the National Railway Museum at Shildon, finished the comprehensive structural work required to bring it back to its former glory.
The museum currently has two students on one-year placements through the E.H.S.I and another on an eight-week placement through the Job Centre.
Southern Railway’s parcel van S2464S carried the great statesman’s coffin as part of the funeral train which transported the illustrious former Prime Minister from Waterloo, London, to his final resting place in Long Hanborough, Oxfordshire. Churchill was the only statesman to be given a state funeral in the 20th century.
The vehicle, which is on loan from the Swanage Railway Trust, is being prepared in the workshop at Locomotion to be an integral part of the National Railway Museum’s Churchill’s Final Journey display.
The York museum will mark 50 years since Churchill’s state funeral at St Paul ’s Cathedral in 1965 by reuniting the funeral train in the museum’s Great Hall.
The display will include archive footage of the funeral, which was televised to millions worldwide and will also showcase the newly cosmetically restored locomotive No. 34051 Winston Churchill, part of the York museum’s collection.
The Battle of Britain Class engine was chosen to haul the former Prime Minister’s funeral train on 30th January 1965.
James Lester, the fireman on board the train during the solemn final journey, will be helping the museum to commemorate the 50th anniversary by reliving his memories of that historic day in 1965 when people stood at station platforms and clustered around their TV sets to give their final farewell. As part of its preparation for its 50th anniversary commemoration of the state funeral, the museum is also appealing for other first-hand memories of the funeral train.
Richard Pearson, Workshop and Rail Operations Manager at Locomotion said, “We’ve reached an important point in the project to get the vehicle back to its best, ready to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Sir Winston Churchill’s state funeral. All that remains is the painting back to its original shade of umber and cream by our dedicated team of staff, volunteers and trainees. We anticipate it will be back to its former glory by mid-January.”
Churchill’s Final Journey runs from 30th January – 3rd May 2015. The cosmetic restoration work on the locomotive and Southern Railway Van has been supported by the Friends of the National Railway Museum.
For more information, including how to share your memories, visit www.nrm.org.uk/churchill.
Shildon & District's local community newspaper.
