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How safe are ‘preserved’ items of stock?

Congratulations are due to Mr Reid, the haulage contractor, who realised the crane’s importance and arranged a stay of execution with the scrapman, and Dave Lewis, who stepped in and secured its future.

Although the crane is now safe, the circumstances of its near demise still give rise to serious concerns about the long-term security of many important historical items scattered around heritage railways and museums throughout the country, particularly at a time when scrap metal prices are at their present levels.

There are many questions about this case to which one would like to hear answers.

For a start, was the Churnet Valley Railway a ‘registered’ or ‘accredited’ museum when it obtained the crane from the NRM? Were they so when they sold it for scrap? Are they now? If so, what does this say about the credibility and value of the museum’s accreditation scheme?

Also, I think we are owed an explanation by whoever put about the untrue story that the crane had been robbed to the extent that it was beyond repair, which initially deterred a number of potential purchasers, including, I understand, the eventual buyer.

John Jolly,
Mangapps Railway Museum,
Essex