January

Sunday 8th February was spent connecting 'B' bank's turbo back to the loco again. A couple of hours were spent working on the loco on Sunday 22nd February. Various pipework / conduit were primed on this day. Work has eased off a bit this month due to work commitments and a railtour on the 14th of the month.

The turbos were finally connected together with all the other pipes that are required to run the engine. The oil priming pump was run and the engine barred over to ensure that there weren't any problems. Painting of the fire-circuit conduit continued and a new shade of grey paint was trialled in Number one cab. Once everything had been connected, the exhaust manifolds and the exhaust stacks from the turbos were resprayed silver to add a little touch of class!

Painting of the fire circuits was completed this month and a massive effort was made to complete No. 1 cab in time for the annual steam fair on Saturday 29th - Monday 31st of May. The annual steam fair is well worth a visit - there's so much to see during the day (apart from 37254 of course!) Various shades of grey paint were tried in No. 1 cab to try and get the best match to the colour the cab was painted. The air pipework in the engine room has been 90% glossed as well. The loco now sports a Welsh dragon sticker on the nose at number 2 end. Work has been slow this month due to having to catch 37s on the mainline while we can before it's too late! Overhaul and repainting of the numerous bodyside filters has commenced with the first seven being completed by the 18th of the month. The cooling system was filled up on Friday 23rd after having to be drained out for the turbo overhauls. Repainting of no. 1 cab was recommenced with the correct shade of grey paint after all the trial shades. The batteries were charged up to enable a possible start up during the next few days. The fuel pump and lubricating oil priming pump were test run and no problems were encountered. Sunday 25th April - Engine refused to start after all the effort that had been put in. Some of the battery cells have died and need replacing before another attempt at starting can be made. An impromtu barbeque was held in the field next to the loco. The obligatory seminar shots just had to be taken!