Plymouth train restored in memory of 11-year-old boy Oliver
A team of volunteers has spent the last five years restoring a steam train in memory of an 11-year-old boy who died from a rare blood cancer.The train at the Plym Valley Railway is due to make its first journey in 17 years on 9 March - on what would have been Oliver Brown's 17th birthday.Oliver died from Myelodysplastic Syndrome which affects only four in a million children worldwide.Oliver's father Mike Brown, from Plymstock, said: "This train can only make you smile. It's brought so many people together, made new friendships and memories, which is just what Oliver did through his life."
He said losing Oliver was "the worst thing that has ever happened to us and will ever happen to us". "So to bring a bit of Oliver back - his colour, his enthusiasm, his spark - with something like this, is just the best feeling," Mr Brown said.He said his son "loved trains" and when he had breaks from hospital he would ask to go to see the West Hoe miniature railway in Plymouth.Oliver's brother Ben,14, has helped with the restoration of the engine which has been named the Lord Oliver Brown.Ben said Oliver's "goal in life was to leave an impact which he has clearly done"."Even years after he left us, the number of lives he's touched and the people he has brought together to do all this stuff and help others is just amazing," he added.
The 1959 Polish Tkh engine has been painted in Oliver's favourite colour - hot pink - and the shades of green which represent Children's Hospice South West, where Oliver was looked after before he died. The train belongs to Marc Bellin, who said he found out about Oliver through a friend of a friend.Mr Bellin said: "When the chance came to work with the hospice, it was an absolute no brainer, and it's been an enormous privilege to be working with Oliver's family in his memory." The plan for the train's inaugural journey is for Oliver's friends and family to board at Coypool for the trip up the Plym Valley Railway to Plymbridge.There will be four more journeys during the day with all profits going to the children's hospice. The train is then set to run as part of the railway's regular timetable.Annabel Roberts, area fundraiser for Children's Hospice South West, said: "It's the most amazing tribute to Oliver, to the love everyone had for him, and the legacy he leaves, having made such an impact is sadly so few years."
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