Eustace Forth, which has been on static display at Locomotion, will be repaired in the museum’s new conservation workshops following on from the Avonside locomotive Woolmer, which underwent a successful restoration last year.
"Built in Newcastle in 1942, Eustace Forth is a relative youngster in the Locomotion collection,” explained Anthony Coulls, Locomotion’s curator. “However, this small engine has a big role next month and is now being repaired ready to play the part of "Percy" at the NRM’s Thomas the Tank Engine event at the site at York.”
The Locomotion conservation workshop opened early last year as part of the Learning in Motion Project, funded by the European Social Fund. Three trainees and a workshop coordinator have been recruited with the aim of helping young people learn traditional engineering skills.
By making repairs to Eustace Forth, the trainees will practice some of the skills they developed during the Woolmer restoration project. A third project begins shortly on a Great Eastern Railway director’s saloon coach.
