37254 was inspected at Barrow Hill before and after purchase from the Harry Needle Railroad Company. There was a lot of work to do. HNRC had already commenced getting the loco ready for work and they kindly got the engine to a run-able state ready for our inspection on the 14th March 2003.

Restoration work during March and April 2003 consisted of detailed inspections of the various parts of the loco and priorities being made as to what jobs were to be completed first. The loco was sheeted-up over the exhausts and the fan room to try and keep out as much water as possible. Thanks to Doug Barrow for the pictures of the loco being unloaded.

May 2003 was a very busy month! At the end of the month, the annual steam fair was held on the land where 37254 lives. In all there were about 200 historic vehicles on show. In the field where we are, there was a log sawing demonstration powered by traction engines. Progress on the loco was very good culminating in a start up of the engine on the last day of the steam fair. The loco drew large crowds each time we started it up and many people stopped for a chat to ask about the acquisition and future of the loco.

The track the loco was standing on was extended during June and July. This was the start of a scheme to lay around 200 yards of track so that eventually when the loco was ready it could perform low-speed test runs to check that everything works okay. After the steam fair had finished, an inspection of the two turbos revealed what we had suspected - the turbos were in a very bad condition and would have to be removed and then either repaired or replaced. Quotes were sought for the repair of the units as although we could have purchased other turbos, we couldn't be sure of the condition of the turbos that were for sale. This was obviously a setback, but it gave us time to work on other bits of the locowhilst the engine was not runable. Work continued in No.1 cab's floor and control desk.