24.09.19
‘My mission is now complete’ - Ex train driver succeeds in 17-year pursuit of lost railway history
A lost piece of railway history is on its way home thanks to dedicated, retired train driver and his transport police friend.
The Manchester & Birmingham Railway plaque was a high-quality copy of the 1839 original, which resides in the National Railway Museum in York. The replica was hung in Manchester Piccadilly in the mid 1960’s.
In 1998 the historic station underwent an upgrade which saw the ‘temporary’ removal of the plaque. But the missing piece of the jigsaw was never re-erected when the work was complete in 2002.
At the time, a hawk-eyed railway aficionado, Mel Thornley, now 72, was driving trains and immediately observed that the sign was missing.
Despite being retired, he felt he still had work to do and had been pursuing the lost artefact since 2002. His 17 years of hoping came to a victorious end, when Mel spotted an eBay listing he immediately recognised.
The person who listed the plaque was asking for £3,700 to take it home, but it did state that you might need a forklift truck to get it home from its current home in Nottinghamshire.
The observant Mel said:
“When I spotted it on eBay I couldn’t believe my eyes. I checked with Dave, my ex-copper friend, who said ‘I know that plaque. It’s the missing one!’
“I hoped nobody else recognised the artefact’s significance because I didn’t want it to go missing for another 20 years, or for eBay to remove it.”
A few weeks after the discovery, 12 September, the plaque was retrieved by British Transport Police, naming Network Rail as the item’s rightful owner.
It won’t be long before the plaque is returned to its home in Manchester Piccadilly.
Tim Shoveller, managing director of Network Rail’s North West and Central region, said: “Thank you to Mel, Dave and others for hunting down our missing plaque. We will get it cleaned up, painted and put back up where it belongs, at Manchester Piccadilly, as soon as possible.”
Mel added: “I’m chuffed. My mission is now complete.”