Trevor Tuckley

Chairman of Trustees
Chairman of the Duke Management Committee

Like a lot of boys of my generation my interest started as a train spotter. The school I attended was in Wednesbury in the West Midlands and was close to the GWR mainline and I was therefore hooked on all things GWR. One day in late 1954, I along with other boys from school, spent our usual lunch times beside the tracks. We saw approaching what we all assumed to be a Britannia class loco but in fact it was the Duke, an extremely rare occurrence. I learnt in later years that this must have been its moving run from Crewe to Swindon to undergo trials on their test bed. My love of this unique machine started then and has continued to this day.

My background, having served an engineering apprenticeship, is that of a qualified engineer but over the last 35 years I have been involved in going into Companies with problems. These have ranged from heavy engineering through automotive extruded rubber parts, pressure measurement manufacturing, defence and aerospace, children’s knitwear, bakery capital equipment manufacturing, a pet food manufacturer and now the Duke. The first four as Managing Director and the next three at the request of finance houses, banks and venture capital companies to review the performance of businesses they were concerned about. There were other businesses where my experience was seen to be of some help.

I have been involved with the Duke since August 2007 carrying out various roles in the ensuing years.

In January 2014 I was appointed Chairman of Trustees and in June 2014 Chairman of the Duke Management Committee in order to focus solely on BR Class 8 Steam Locomotive Trust and it’s well being.

My passion for the Duke is as a trained Engineer. I appreciate the ground breaking developments that went into the Duke only to be abandoned by the rush to eliminate steam from BR. I want to help to ensure the long term protection of what was envisaged by Riddles as the ultimate BR express steam locomotive for the enjoyment of future generations.

The continuing support of our members provides the life blood required to sustain the long term future of the Duke.

During 2024 and following the changes to the market we expected the Duke to be operating in following Covid etc, discussions about the future with Vintage Trains were opened at their request. They wished to revisit the 2018 understanding and proposed a new arrangement. Following this the Trustees decided to open discussions with other TOC’s to try and determine the best arrangement for the long term security of the Duke which resulted in an agreement being reached with LSL located at Crewe. This agreement will start at the end of 2024 and run for an initial 10 years with the option to extend this if both sides agree it is in their best interests. The Duke will be located at Crewe, following a month of running in on the SVR and a number of loaded test runs. It will be limited to around 12,000 miles per year in order to balance income with maintenance costs and will operate tours from Crewe, London and Carlisle which will meet one of the Trusts responsibilities to the Charity Commission which is to make it widely available to the Public. 2024 will be a memorable year as it will be the Duke’s 70th birthday, 50 years since his recovery from the Barry scrapyard and the completion of the “Impossible Dream” which started those 50 years ago. The completion of the “Impossible Dream” will mean that the Duke will return to hauling loaded passenger trains on the UK mainline in the condition Riddles, his designer, envisaged when he designed the prototype for the final development of British Express Steam locomotive in the early 1950’s. The Duke remains unique as the only one of an intended class of Express Steam locomotives which would have been the mainline traction until electric locomotives took over sometime during the 1980’s.
29 January 2016 (updated July 2024)

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