BULLEID Pacific No. 34092 City of Wells is now owned outright by the East Lancashire Railway (ELR) after the outstanding balance was paid off. The news comes as the heritage line is recovering from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
ELR chairman Mike Kelly, who is now in his seventh year in the role, told The RM: “Thanks to our super staff and fantastic volunteers we achieved strong half-year trading, massively supported by very good revenues from the 2021 Santa season and skilled financial management, and the ELR Board has been able fully pay off the balance of the loan.
The locomotive is now in full ownership of the ELR and has been added to company assets. This is a remarkable turnaround of events, given the financial predicament through the pandemic and the loss of Santa revenue in 2020.”
A sell out Santa Specials season and record revenues was delivered with 43,000 passengers from 114 trips over 14 days. Another highlight was revenue generated by raffles in 2021, which totalled £17,000 over eight draws. By far the most popular prize was the footplate ride on No. 60009 Union of South Africa, which generated approximately 50% of the raffle revenue.