The 229 Club has its origin in the overhaul of Duchess of Hamilton which took place between 1985 and 1989. At that time the engine was still owned by the Butlins Organisation which had purchased the engine from British Railways for display at its Minehead Holiday Camp. In 1976 it had arrived at the National Railway Museum for display but when it was returned to steam in 1980 the operation of the D
uchess was entrusted to the Friends of the National Railway Museum. Towards the end of the overhaul which had begun in 1985 funds were required to complete the job and the Friends initiated a partnership scheme for donations. This proved to be very successful and Duchess of Hamilton returned for a second period of mainline operation which ended in 1996. However, the ownership of the engine now lay with the Museum as Butlins had decided they no longer wanted to display locomotives at their holiday camps. The Partners thus evolved into the 229 Club whose members continued to raise funds for the Duchess, and have continued to do so even though it last steamed on a Heritage Railway in 1998. All the money raised by the 229 Club is exclusively allocated to Duchess of Hamilton and cannot be used for any other purpose. In more recent times the most significant result of this has been the restoration for static display of the engine in its streamlined form, as built by the LMSR in 1938. It remains the aspiration of the Club to see the engine returned to steam once more. However, this is not likely in the immediate future. The Museum is focusing on the completion of the protracted overhaul of Flying Scotsman and until this engine has successfully returned to operation no other overhauls of Museum locomotives are envisaged. Membership of the 229 Club is open to anyone, but is likely to appeal most to those with an interest in Duchess of Hamilton or the Stanier Pacifics in general. Members automatically become Friends of the National Railway Museum and share the benefits appropriate to membership of the Friends.
