Steam Railway Mini Magazine

BUTLIN’S
Eleventh hour rescue
Royal Scot was within days of being towed to Crewe for
cutting up, and might not have made it to Skegness at all had
it not been for Brian’s father’s intervention.
“My father, Percy Walker rang the shedmaster at Nottingham
(16A) MPD in January 1963, before I wrote to Butlin’s on
January 16.
“As a consequence, Royal Scot was held back, apparently
with a ‘mechanical defect’ and a ‘NOT TO BE MOVED’ sign
appeared on the locomotive, It was at that crucial stage when
the PEPF had effectively told A.B. Macleod it was not going to
raise the money to save Royal Scot.
“My father’s phone call to the shedmaster afforded me
time to write to Butlin’s with my suggestion. What possibly
helped is that, by chance, he was acquainted with Mr Smith,
the Hasland shed foreman.”
Just over three weeks after informing Brian that No. 46203
had been saved, Mr Ogg wrote to him with the news that
Butlin’s had “been successful in obtaining Royal Scot, which
will be positioned at our Skegness Camp in three weeks’ time.”
“Unfortunately, I was unable to take up Mr Ogg’s invitation
to the ceremony at Skegness Camp when Royal Scot was
piped onto the camp by the Royal Scot Regimental Band.
The initial object
of Brian Walker’s
preservation
attempts: No. 6100
Royal Scot, on display
at Butlin’s Skegness
camp. On the running
plate is, presumably,
Bill Starvis, an
ex-Camden driver,
who was hired by
Butlin’s to educate
visitors about the
locomotives on
display. BUTLIN’S
“However, he invited me to a day at the camp in the
company of Mr Bill Starvis, the renowned Camden (1B)
driver. Listening to Mr Starvis relate many of his footplate
experiences, including his record-breaking run on the Up
‘Caledonian’ with No. 46244 King George VI, gave me a most
unforgettable day.”
Brian had achieved his original objective in saving both
a ‘Lizzie’ and Royal Scot, and no one could blame him if he
had stopped there. But this was not the end of the story.
“All I wanted to achieve was the saving of some important
steam locomotives from the scrapman and, hopefully, into
posterity. I thought that in the long term, the more steam
locomotives that could be saved the better - regardless of
duplication.
“My approach, rightly or wrongly, was to try to save as
many steam locomotives as possible, even if they were static
exhibits and duplicated. Without Butlin’s and ‘duplication’,
we wouldn’t have had all these wonderful years of seeing
No. 6233 on the main line.”
Enter the ‘Duchesses’
After acquiring Nos. 6203 and 6100, Brian and Mr Ogg
had set the wheels in motion, and Butlin’s set its sights on
purchasing further locomotives.
“It was great news when he later said that money was
going to be available for a display at their number one
camp - Minehead - and also Ayr in Scotland.”
Mr Ogg, who was possibly more inclined towards
the LNER than the LMS, was interested in preserving
prototype ‘A4’ No. 2509/60014 Silver Link. However,
negotiations with the Eastern Region fell through; it
wanted twice as much as A.B. Macleod for cosmetic
restoration and transportation to the camps. Thus, Silver
Link was condemned to be one of the greatest losses to
preservation.
Brian says: “I think that if the purchase of Silver Link
had been successful, then an ‘A1’ would have been a
possibility. There had been passing conversation on
one of my two visits to Butlin’s Oxford Street HQ about
Nos. 60134 Foxhunter and 60160 Auld Reekie.”
The idea of Butlin’s purchasing an ‘A1’ to complement
Silver Link was possibly driven by the list sent to Mr
Ogg by Roger Bell, in which he suggested preserving ‘A1’
No. 60162 Saint Johnstoun, as it was the last ‘Pacific’ built
by the LNER.
Brian admits: “I suppose I was pleased that Silver Link ➛
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August 12-September 8 2016 Issue 457 49