The North Eastern Railway 1903 Electric Autocar Trust has been awarded a grant of £20,000 from PRISM. This will finance the restoration of the body and the newly acquired (historically accurate) underframe within twelve months. Part of the balance funding was a grant from the Ken Hoole Trust. While these two grants will restore the electric autocar as an unpowered coach, they in turn act as balance funding for a Heritage Lottery Fund application. If this is successful, the autocar will be equipped with an engine, controls and brakes and the autocoach will be restored as a driving trailer.
Trust chairman Stephen Middleton said, ‘We are immensely grateful to both bodies. In such tough times competition for increasingly limited funds must be intense, so it is wonderful to see our work valued. Trust members are excited at the prospect of beginning restoration work after so long and would welcome new volunteers to help us achieve our tough deadline.
’Editorial Note: “The Fund for the PReservation of Industrial and Scientific Material (PRISM Fund) is administered by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council on behalf of the Department of Culture, Media & Sport. It supports the acquisition and/or conservation of any object or group of objects illustrating the history of any branch of science, industry or technology.”
