The Friends of Vintage Trains is the volunteer support organisation for Vintage Trains. Friends of Vintage Trains was formerly known as Vintage Trains Society and prior to that as the Friends of Birmingham Railway Museum.
The Friends of Vintage Trains consists of members who want to offer support to Vintage Trains Limited (main line operations) and the Tyseley Locomotive Works (the home base for the Shakespeare Express). All members share a common interest to preserve steam and railway heritage for the current and future generations.
Funds raised by The Friends of Vintage Trains are donated to restoration projects, and to support the activities of The Friends of Vintage Trains, Vintage Trains Limited and the Tyseley Locomotive Works, including site projects. The Friends also sponsors membership of the Birmingham Heritage Forum.
Membership subscriptions finance a newsletter and magazine plus administration costs and any surplus is used for donations to other projects; The Friends of Vintage Trains sponsored the restoration of Swindon Works Shunters Truck and made a sizeable donation to the restoration appeal for 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe.
If more people join The Friends of Vintage Trains then it would be able to offer more financial help to the Trust for projects such as
- restoration & maintenance of Tyseley collection locomotives
- restoration & maintenance of the Vintage Trains coach fleet
- Tyseley Locomotive Works site maintenance & improvements
Please download the Friends of Vintage Trains leaflet (PDF, 342KB) which describes the work of The Friends of Vintage Trains and includes a membership application form for more details. The Friends of Vintage Trains Constitution (amended March 2019) (PDF, 335KB) is also available for download.