Now Meet Our People…..
Let’s introduce you to our working Members, especially those who come from far and wide to make the restoration work happen – at times against some ticklish attitudes and aggravating road traffic.
Roger Penson, appointed Chairman in 2023. Roger is a specialist in all aspects of upholstery. Roger has already proved a crucial and invaluable member of the MS&L no.946 6-wheeler restoration team, having completed the transformation of the interior voids into fully furnished passenger compartments with the able assistance of the woodworking team. Roger continues to head up the research and restoration process, relating to the Barnums.
On site and more local is Clyde Pennington, applying the glue that puts the coordination effort into enabling it all to happen, with the maintaining of a treasure-trove of expanding archive material. But much more than that, Clyde is actively involved in the realities of conservation, .The dummy gas lighting supply for compartment lighting in 946 is so inventive that you can be forgiven for failing to realise that it works on electricity. Although such innovation is less required for the comparatively highly technical needs of the Barnum’s, his advice, suggestions and ability to identify useful research and supplier date remains invaluable.
Andrew Horrocks-Taylor leads the GCR 567 Locomotive Group while developing a close relationship with our Trust. This is with a view to running Barnum No.228 & No.695 with locomotive No.567 for the true, authentic Edwardian experience.
2016-09-25 – 946’s 1st outing with Clyde Pennington
Company Secretary Mike Firth who has transformed our accounting and governance needs.
Andrew David, who spent hours, flat out, on the concrete scraping ancient layers of bitumen and detritus from the wood/metal Mansell wheels. Andrew is now an essential link between Ruddington and the Buckingham Railway Centre at Quainton Road and a potent GCR promoter as a heritage rail writing specialist.
Joining in the research and recording for the major tasks confronted by the four Barnum carriages, translating of original GCR works drawings is engineer Keith Stimpson who has come to our aid in a big way, using his skills to transfer to electronic record all our technical engineering drawings – the original elevations and plans of GCR rolling stock and those created by the North Yorks Barnum Group’s set as directed by Mark Lloyd. Keith is at the heart of the Barnum research group being led by Trustee Roger Penson. Keith has already extracted from the engineering records to enable some fine proof model making, on a 1:4 scale Barnum seat and table set. He is also engaged in the setting out of the restoration plans for the Barnum saloons with spread sheet and flow charts.
Our GCR history guru and eminent model maker of GCR originals is Trustee John Quick who, as an analytical chemist, researched not just the colour, but also the paint composition to produce as near an authentic livery of French Grey and Dark Oak for no.946, including the tracing a reproducing of the identifiers, He is following up now with similar work on the brass numerals and identifiers for the Barnums.
2013-10-20 Happy with progress – Roger Penson (right)
Mike Lang is currently working on the Barnum with Peter Wilson. He joined the trust in 2018 from GCR Plc, where he spent 40 plus years in the Carriage & Wagon department. He is a invaluable ace in preservation of Gresley and earlier Robinson designed carriage stock. He is also a Trustee/Director at Railway Vehicle Preservation Ltd at Rothley.
Miranda Maton-Jenner is aiding and abetting the Barnum seating project, creating exquisite mannequins to match the quarter-inch scale model of the Barnum seats built by Keith Stimpson, to be used to help the estimating of material quantities for the padding and coverings as well as the construction and assembly of the structures.
John Rodmel of Big Tops fame is a quite excellent occasional support, especially in supplying and placing weatherproof materials over the otherwise unprotected carriages in open storage.
Kate Tilley joined the team from Great Central Railway, Loughborough, where she fulfilled a very exacting sales, marketing and PR function for GCR PLC. She is now engaged in the sorting the PR and marketing of the Trust.
Pat Sumner and Tony Keeble have won very many well deserved accolades for leading the long term restoration of the MS&L 6 wheeler, bringing Bob Hanson with them from Cambridgeshire. All three have now retired from physically active work, but remain a vital resource for encouragement and advice as we work on further carriages. Read Tony’s & Pat’s memoirs here: I was there
2012-12-16 Tony Keeble and Pat Sumner working on 946