Press Release
Posted on 26th March 2024 at 5:07 pm
Liverpool based society reach agreement to preserve the Merseyrail train that carried Elizabeth II when she opened the network in 1978.
The Class 507 Preservation Society have reached an agreement to take over the ownership of a train that has served the Liverpool City Region for 46 years. Due to be scrapped later this year, subject to funding the train will now be taken to the Nant Mawr visitor centre 15 miles south of Llangollen for conservation work.
Train 507 001 was built in 1978 by BREL at their Holgate Road Works in York and has spent its entire life working on the Northern and Wirral lines of Merseryrail. On 25th October 1978 Elizabeth II unveiled a plaque at Moorfields station to open the Merseyrail network, before travelling on 507 001 to Kirkby. Now, the Class 507 Preservation Society are working to save 507 001 from the scrap yard and are about to launch an appeal to cover the costs of moving the train to secure storage at the Nant Mawr Visitor Centre.
Nant Mawr is a terminus of the long gone Potteries, Shrewsbury and North Wales Railway, (known informally as the ‘Potts Line’), which opened in 1866 to link the quarries of Criggion and Nant Mawr with the county town of Shrewsbury. Today the Nant Mawr visitor centre is home to the UK's largest collection of industrial monorail equipment (including some used in a James Bond film), a short narrow gauge line and over a mile of standard gauge track. There are also award winning nature trails through the surrounding woodland with many parts of the site having step-free access.
Funds needed
Whilst the Society have secured agreements with everyone involved for the train to be preserved, funds now need to be raised to move the train from the National Rail network to the Nant Mawr site. Expected to cost in the region of £10,000, the society is about to launch an appeal to cover the transport costs.
Society Chairman Robert Hampton said:
“It's fantastic news that we will be preserving this train for future generations. They have served the Liverpool City Region well in the 46 years since Elizabeth II travelled on this very train in 1978, be it taking people to and from work, for a day out to the seaside, or home after an evening out.
But we need to raise money to move the train from the mainline network to its new home at Nant Mawr or it faces being sent to South Wales and turned into razor blades. If everyone who remembers travelling on a train like this were to donate just £5.07 then we would be well on the way to saving this train for the people of Merseyside.
Mark Hignett from the Nant Mawr visitor centre said:
“I am thrilled that a train that carried Elizabeth II is coming to Nant Mawr. The area has many historic connections with Liverpool – lots of the city’s water comes from Lake Vyrnwy which is just 20miles away from us. We look forward to hosting this very special train.”
Notes to editors
- Donations can be made by visiting the Society’s website (www.class507.org.uk) and following the links to the appeal.
- For several years people online have said that someone should do something to preserve a class 507 train; in September 2023 Robert Hampton decided to try, so set up a website and mailing list. Over 200 people expressed an interest so just eight weeks later a meeting was held in Liverpool where those assembled agreed to form the Class 507 Preservation Society and appointed a Committee.
- Since the inaugural meeting in November the society has steadily grown and now has over 70 members from Bristol to Dundee.
- A class 507 train can often travel over 300miles in a day, following its introduction in 1978, it is estimated that 507 001 has travelled over 5million miles – that’s more than ten trips to the moon and back.
