LNER Class A4 4496 Dwight D Eisenhower - Preservation

Preservation

Earmarked for the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin in the United States, the locomotive was cosmetically restored at Doncaster Works 19 July 1963. The following spring, it was shipped to the US, arriving in New York Harbor on 11 May 1964 Shipped by rail, it arrived at the museum later that month. In October 1990 it was moved to Abeline, Kansas for the celebrations of the centenary of Eisenhower's birth. The move both ways was done as a special train at slow speed, since the locomotive and two cars from the command train used the British vacuum braking system incompatible with the American air-braked trains.

The locomotive is displayed with two British passenger carriages once used as part of Eisenhower's Command Train. These have been restored to the condition they were in when used by Eisenhower.

There have been some efforts to repatriate the locomotive back to the UK, most of which have been unsuccessful. However, the National Railway Museum has recently announced plans to repatriate the engine, along with 60010, which has been preserved in Canada, as part of a plan to reunite all six preserved A4s of the class for 75th anniversary of the class's world record breaking 126 mph run. Both 60008 and 60010 will be loaned to the National Railway Museum for a period of two years, returning to America in early 2014. Whilst at York the loco will receive cosmetic restoration where it will retain its British Railway's Brunswick Green liviery.

In Early September 2012 60008 left its base in Green Bay and travelled all the way up to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where she would meet up with 60010 arriving by rail in late September. On Wednesday 3rd October 2012 60008 and 60010 arrived back in the UK at Liverpool Docks where a Press Call had been arranged. On Thursday 4 October 60008 began its journey to the NRM's outpost Locomotion in Shildon arriving that evening. The loco will move to York soon after for its cosmetic restoration.