Gravesend MMES Loco Theft (14/02/2019)

[dhamblin]

Just seen on Facebook that four locos have been stolen from the Gravesend Model Marine & Engineering Society site:

- 5" gauge Simplex, black with red lining and a polished brass dome;
- 5" gauge electric, Metropolitan No. 9 'John Milton', LT red;
- 5" gauge LNER B1, green, unlined, lubricator on right hand running board;
- 5" gauge Speedy, BR green (?), early crest with red backed numberplates.









I've tried to link to the F/B images above but they might not appear. Links:

www.facebook.com/GravesendMMES/photos/a.374241189344971/1667984759970601/?type=3&theater
www.facebook.com/GravesendMMES/photos/a.374241189344971/1667997109969366/?type=3&theater
www.facebook.com/GravesendMMES/photos/a.374241189344971/1668003499968727/?type=3&theater
www.facebook.com/GravesendMMES/photos/a.374241189344971/1668114243290986/?type=3&theater

Hopefully getting the word out will make people start asking questions if they are offered for sale.

Regards,

Dan

[delaplume]

Hi Dan,

I've just sent the link for this thread to}---Oswestry, Wolverhampton, Rugeley Society Secretaries asking them to circulate to all their members...

It beggars belief just how these low-lifes manage to remove 4 locos without attracting attention ??.........and calls into question the security currently in use at Gravesend ??...........I don't know the Club or its' situation but obviously something is not up to standard there.....

I wish them well in the hope of a swift recovery ....

[runner42]

Just a question, the three steam locomotives to be salable require accompanying documentation , viz boiler testing certificate etc, so the lack of provenance is going to alert prospective buyers. I would imagine that it would be difficult to dispose of them. This difficulty would be at the forefront of prospective thieves if they were at least at the fringes of the Model Engineering fraternity, so maybe they are really low lives and interested in the scrap value of the copper. Too terrible to contemplate.

Brian

[Lisa]

They'll likely be either sent overseas and sold, or the boilers torn off and sold for scrap while the rest is dumped. Both have happened before.
That there's an electric loco involved could mean the former is more likely than the latter.