What comes up must come down… lifting the boiler on 35011 General Steam Navigation… “Sponsor an inch or more” including prize draw.

Since The General Steam Navigation Locomotive Restoration Society, last year, moved their locomotive, Merchant Navy Class 35011, to Blunsdon on the Swindon and Cricklade Railway, great progress has been made in removal of the old boiler tubes and fittings in preparation for the next big step of removing the locomotive boiler for the first time since it was withdrawn by British Railways. This will allow thorough restoration of the locomotive frames and wheel sets to achieve a complete rolling chassis.

“Sponsor an inch or more” campaign.

To cover the cost of the crane hire to carry out the lift of this important major next stage in the restoration of 35011, currently aimed to take place during this coming Summer, the Society is launching a “sponsor an inch or more” campaign.

As with all things in life what goes up must come down… and the boiler is no different and will be both be lifted clear of the chassis, swung away, and then lowered to its new temporary location.

The approximate cost of the crane hire will be £1500 which also equates to approximately the distance in actual up and down travel of 150 inches of the boiler by the time it has been raised to clear the chassis and lowered again.

We are therefore offering supporters the opportunity to sponsor a part of the lift for as little as £10 per inch, of course supporters can also sponsor multiple inches!

Free prize draw

As a further incentive each “inch or more” sponsored will be entered into a free draw to win a number of prizes, including: a star prize of a Graham Farish N Gauge Merchant Navy Pacific locomotive, a years free membership to the GSNLR society, GSN merchandise and other prizes.

A lucky ‘inch sponsor’ will be drawn at random at pivotal points during the boiler lift such as: The moment the first inch has been lifted, point of maximum lift, being clear of the chassis and then lowered to its new location. The more inches sponsored increases the winning chances.

Once you have Sponsored via https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/35011boilerlift and to enable us to contact you if you are a winner please email your name, email address and contact number to graham.muspratt@35011gsn.co.uk and you will receive your ticket via email.

For more information go to: www.35011gsn.co.uk

Note: the prize draw is registered with Plymouth City Council in accordance with the Gambling Act 2005 for non-commercial Society’s