Michael Vout

It is with the deepest regret that we have to announce the death of one of our stalwart members, Mr Michael Vout, known to many as “MLV”, who passed away in the early hours of this morning, Friday 27th March 2015, at Bath’s Royal United Hospital, following a severe stroke which he suffered in mid-February this year.

Michael made an amazing contribution to preservation in general, and in particular to the restoration of 4123 and his own ‘Battle of Britain’ class locomotive no. 34058 ‘Sir Frederick Pile’.  He had led the restoration efforts on both these projects for many years since the mid-80s, and during this time he personally constructed many new components to the highest of standards, and all employing traditional engineering methods and practices.

Michael was a unique character and touched the lives of many people with his sense of humour, willingness to assist on noble causes, and his passionate desire to see his beloved ‘Heavy Engineering’ live on through the development of youngsters and the progression of the preservation scene in general.

Those of us who knew him well were deeply saddened by the seriousness of his condition in recent weeks which had cruelly robbed a highly intelligent and articulate man of the majority of his physical abilities and capacity to communicate.  However, it is safe to say that he will live on in both the work he did on the locomotives, and in our minds which are full of his amusing stories & anecdotes, a lamentably small fraction of his engineering knowledge, and his unique outlook on life.

RIP Michael.

1939 – 2015.