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John Downes is a painstaking engineer and a real perfectionist who is not afraid of speaking his mind. A master builder who works on prestigious restoration projects around Yorkshire, he is chairman of the Mechanical Horse Club.
John's interest in Scammell Scarabs started after he became involved as a volunteer with the Keighley and Worth Valley preserved railway. He eventually became clerk of work, taking on massive projects like refurbishing the historic signal box and moving a whole station, brick by brick, and rebuilding it on site.
He has had direct experience of the Scammell Scarab – a classic railway workhorse that he remembers fondly from his childhood – as he had purchased a wrecked example and lovingly restored it to use on the railway.
Since then, John has worked on the restoration of several Scarabs and mechanical horses – so he was a natural choice to be an expert for Salvage Squad. However, even he is shocked by the amount of work that's needed on the Scammell Scarab that Claire brings him.
John is only interested in perfection: he wants to create a vehicle that is literally as good as new, and will not compromise this principle. He likes his Scammells to be correct in every detail, as if they have just come out of the factory.
This generates some heated discussions with Claire during the Scammell Scarab restoration, as she is keen to retain some of the wear and tear on the vehicle, arguing that it is part of the vehicle's history. However, they finally manage to hammer out a compromise and both are delighted with the end result.
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