Alistair Macdonald tells us how he got involved in the project to restore Buffalo 47.
My involvement started when Daniel sent me a message that the Buffalo was being pulled out of the ground. I didn’t quite know what to expect, would it just be a lump of rust and oxidised metal? It wasn’t until I saw the photos of the Buffalo being bought through the streets of the nearby town of Crowland that I thought that is actually an LVT and looks like it went in the ground yesterday. After it arrived at its new location I went on-site a few times to help remove the clay that had protected the Buffalo for so long.
Having a young family I’m not able to spend every weekend working on the Buffalo so I took on the task of restoring the seats. Unfortunately, the seat pans were too far gone although still remarkable considering, so I made new seat pans as close as I can get to the original with the help of my workplace, Multifab*.
The frames that hold the seats to the deck are currently soaking in diesel to get them ready for restoration.
I’ve always respected those that have fought in wars which is why I got involved. I cannot devote huge amounts of time but every small piece that can be restored will hopefully help with the restoration of the Buffalo and its history. There are others that spend a huge amount of time on this project and full credit to them, especially Daniel, and one day all the work will pay off. It’s a unique project that doesn’t happen every day.
Alistair MacDonald
Editor: As Alistair says even if you don’t have a lot of time you can support the project, you can help in so many different ways. Please get in touch if you think you can help.
* Multifab is a metal fabricating company based in the nearby city of Peterborough. the company provides high-quality structural steelwork, bespoke & one-off fabrications, so they have a wide range of equipment for this type of work.
Crowland Buffalo LVT 