The journey begins…
In November 2019, we were chuffed to be granted planning permission to create a new vehicle entrance to the front of our 130,000 sq foot former warehouse, the first step in creating a new visitor attraction for Kent.
Churchill’s Final Journey
SR S2462 Luggage Van – the Churchill funeral hearse
In September 2019 we were thrilled to take delivery of the SR S2464, the 1931-built luggage van whose eventful life saw it carrying everything from World War II casualties to the body of Winston Churchill on its way to his final resting place.
We’re lucky enough to have been given access to some fascinating research written by T.Bye for the Pullman Car Services Archive, so over the next few months we’ll be sharing some of S2462’s extremely varied history, which saw it ‘lost’ in the USA for three decades before being rediscovered and repatriated to the UK.
A Museum in the Making – work to start soon
As anyone who visited The One:One Collection on our first Open Day in August (part of the Hornby Open Day) knows, the collection is taking shape in Hornby’s former distribution warehouse. We’ve already done some conversion works to allow the locos and rolling stock to be housed there, but with around 130,000 sq feet of space, we’re excited about the potential for adding more precious examples of rail and transport history.
The warehouse itself is an impressive example of mid-century industrial architecture, with vast concrete pillars supporting the roofspan and giving the building an almost cathedral-like feel.
Original Eurostar on track to arrive in Margate
The first Eurostar test train ran on 20 June 1993, and the full daily service began running on 28 May 1995, achieving an average end-to-end speed of 171.5 km/h (106.6 mph) from London to Paris.
Now, thanks to the generosity of Eurostar, The One:One Collection is delighted to announce that we’ll soon be welcoming an original Eurostar power car vehicle and First Class carriage (with standard and articulated bogie at each end) to the collection’s home in Margate, Kent.
The Churchill funeral hearse arrives at Margate
On Thursday 12 September, another guest of The One:One Collection arrived in Margate, on loan from the Swanage Railway Trust. This smart, but rather unexceptional-looking carriage once played a unique role, making it a truly historic addition to the collection.