TOM MOORE

25th June 1940 – 11th Sept 2019

In Tom Moore we have lost another of those stalwarts who did so much to help 2857 from ‘behind the scenes’. His funeral was at Streetly Crematorium on Tuesday 29th October 2019 and was well attended by friends from the Society, the 82045 Steam Locomotive Trust, the 1501 Pannier Tank Association, various cycling clubs as well as his relatives. The celebration of his life was a secular event as he had no religious beliefs and he had left instructions about his own funeral, which his executors followed to the letter. Tom had chosen two poems to be read and, as he liked New Orleans jazz and swing, had selected three of his favourites to be played; Blue Star by Benny Carter & his Orchestra, What is This Thing Called Love? by Sydney Bechet and Wild Man Blues by Johnny Dodds.

Tom devoted most of his spare time from the late 1970s onwards to helping the ‘2857 Society’. I think I first met him when he appeared at my front door volunteering to shuttle members to and from Bescot or Walsall railway stations to our Society's forthcoming AGM at the ‘New Fullbrook’ public house in Broadway, Walsall. He joined the society committee in 1979 after Steve Goodwin had decided to step down.

Tom soon took up the reins regarding the organisation and manning of our Sales Stand at Bewdley. He got to grips with orders and stock control, not just for the sale of second hand books and magazines, but also control of our half size G.W.R. replica house numbers which became our main fundraiser for a very long time. In no time at all he also took on a lot of the responsibility for the procurement of the brass castings, helping with fettling, polishing & painting plus final inspection to guarantee the quality was perfect.

Shortly after joining us I found that, like me, he was a keen cyclist and had raced against me in the past. I never won a road race but Tom did! He rode for the Birmingham club 'Concord' for some time and went on holidays with his friend Bob Maitland who was a well-respected Tour de France rider. In later years Tom rode with North Birmingham C.T.C. and competed in cycling 'challenges' (a few times with me) mainly in the West Midlands.

After leaving Handsworth Grammar School he joined W.T. Avery Ltd. which had a world-wide reputation for making all sorts of weighing machines. After being made redundant in the 1980s collapse of British industry he retrained as a computer programmer at Sandwell College. He was then in his forties, and was justifiably proud that he learned the new skills faster and better than most of his much younger fellow students. After gaining a degree he took a job he was offered by the College and worked there, analysing student enrolment statistics amongst other things, until his retirement.

Born on 25th June 1940, Tom had two sisters, Kathleen and Eileen, both of whom pre-deceased him, and he loved visiting Ireland from time to time to see friends and relatives.

After we ran down the 2857 Society Sales Sand operation he transferred his energies to the SVR-based new-build project for BR Standard Tank No. 82045, though still remaining supportive of 2857. However, a couple of years ago Tom began to get confused and agitated so his nephew, Tim Joiner, helped find him a place in a local care home where Tom was well looked after. Unfortunately, he suffered a fall, which resulted in him spending some weeks in hospital. On his discharge he was transferred to a nursing home where, to everyone’s dismay, he died a few hours after arrival, on 11th September 2019.

Tom lived long enough to celebrate 2857 passing its 100th birthday and complete 100,000 miles in preservation - he will surely be able to rest in peace after playing such a huge part in these achievements.

Bob Kyte