Sunday 2nd had Alan and Chris on site for the majority of the day. Alan continued overhauling the latest brake cylinder whilst Chris worked on the electrics. At the end of the day, we had both headlights working on the loco - something we hadn't achieved up until now!

Sunday 9th saw Joan, Doug, Alan and Chris on site. Alan refitted the latest overhauled brake cylinder back together and this will be installed on the loco during this month, replacing the worst condition brake cylinder on the loco. Once Alan had dealt with the brake cylinder, he continued working in the fan room getting more area ready for painting. Joan continued with the painting of the engine room ceiling assisted by Chris. At the end of the day the area we have been working on was fully painted in undercoat and just awaited a top coat of paint. Doug cleaned out the inside of the Secondman's control panel in Number 2 Cab and then painted the area with anti corrosive paint. After Chris had finished the ceiling in the engine room with Joan, Chris took a seized DSD holdover switch apart, freed the mechanism and then found new bolts for the switch. New mounting holes were drilled in the back of the switchbox and the hole switchbox was then rubbed down and painted into primer. A plate off the bottom of the Secondman's control panel in Number 2 Cab was removed by Chris and straightened out as it had becone rather out of shape over the years.

Saturday 15th saw Chris on site on another scorching hot day. Some remedial work was carried out on the headlights before the loco was started up and moved to the normal location on the test track. Movements of some of the steam loco bits stored alongside us mean that the loco keeps having to be moved as wherever it is parked one day it is in the wrong place the next day. At least it gives us a reason to have a play! The Secondman's seat in Number 1 Cab had been bolted down temporarily using the same crews that bolt the floor panels down. Doug managed to obtain the correct type of bolts from a local hardware shop and so Chris took the opportunity to install the correct bolts. The bolts were a straight swap for the screws used previously so it wasn't to long a task. Next on the list was a top coat of paint for the ceiling that we have been working on in the engine room. Due to the high temperatures it was decided to commence rubbing down Number 2 Cab as at least there was a draft in the cab not like the sauna of the engine room. One section of the front of Number 2 Cab was rubbed down and then painted with a coat of primer. Rather than stripping all of the paint off in one go, each surface will be rubbed down one at a time and then painted with primer. This will save a lot of time having to re-rub down parts that would go rusty if all the cab was rubbed down at once. A couple of redundant brackets from the windscreen washer system were removed from inside the Cab and put into store incase we need them again one day in the future.

Sunday 16th saw Alan on site continuing with the painting of the fan room. The weather is definitely helping the painting of various places this time of the year.

Sunday 23rd saw the annual barbeque for the restoration team. The majority of the team were able to make it with only a couple of exceptions. After a morning working on the loco, we had a barbeque in glorious sunshine followed by golf and football afterwards. Doug and Joan started top-coating the engine room ceiling and got about half-way through before the heat got too much in the engine room. Alan and John adjusted the tappets on the engine and it certainly sounds a lot better afterwards. Chris jacked and packed the track before the running session in the afternoon as the track had sunk slightly in a couple of locations. After the barbecue, the loco performed many runs along the test track much to the surprise of a couple of visitors. Thanks to Pat Seale for the action shot of the loco.

Sunday 6th saw Doug, Joan, Adrian and Chris on site. Work continued on the repainting of the engine room with the first top coat of paint being completed on the ceiling in the first area tackled. Doug made a floor for the new trolley and also assisted Adrian and Chris with the engine room painting. Joan provided the lunch as usual and also mucked in with the painting operation. Chris commenced preparing the roof hatches for painting on the engine room side. Over the years the amount of dirt and soot that had been accumulated was unbelievable - a sign of an exhaust leak at one time perhaps? About half of the paint on the inside of the roof hatches peeled off in Chris' hand - no doubt loosened by the hot temperatures experienced by this part of the loco.

Wednesday 9th saw John, Dan and Dave Downer on site working in the electrical cubicle. Dave examined around half of the wiring in the cubicle and then removed some of the redundant cables that were still installed in the cubicle. It is a sound idea to remove redundant cabling as this reduces the chances of damage occuring should a short circuit occur - the old cabling could pass the electricity to another part of the cubicle and cause serious damage. There is more redundant cable to be removed on Dave's next visit to the loco. The loco was moved up and down the test track to ensure that the remaining electrical components worked without any problems occuring.

On Friday 11th, Peter from Carlisle arrived on site with Chris to begin 4 days of work on the loco. As a treat for Peter, the loco was run up and down the test track quite a few times as Peter had never seen the loco with the engine running let alone moving under its own power! A proud day for our longest-distance volunteer. Preparation for painting in the engine room continued with more ceiling panels cleaned up ready for the first coat of primer.

Saturday 12th saw the area of engine room ceiling that had received the first top coat previously given a second top coat. This area of ceiling is now completed and all that remains is to paint the electrical conduit and fire circuit pipework when the rest of the engine room ceiling has been completed.

Sunday 13th saw Peter, Chris, Adrian and Alan on site. Alan continued with the brake cylinder overhaul programme with the stripping-down of another cylinder. The previously overhauled cylinder being fitted on to the loco on one day earlier in the week. Pete and Chris continued cleaning the engine room ceiling. Chris also spent some time working on the roof hatches in between the heavy rain showers that came and went during the day.

Sunday 20th saw Alan cleaning up the latest brake cylinder and then began building up the inside of the cylinder using a liquid metal product. This brake cylinder had become badly pitted over the years where water had laid at the bottom whilst the loco was in store, so we decided to use it as a test bed to see if we could bring the inside back to a fully cylindrical smooth surface once more. If we are successful we will treat any other brake cylinders that we find with similar defects. Chris continued beavering away in the engine room assisted by Joan and Doug.

Sunday 27th saw Adrian, Alan and Chris continuing the rebuilding process of 37254. Chris and Adrian completed the cleaning of all the dirt on the roof hatches and prepared the surfaces for painting. All four roof hatches received their first coat of primer and certainly look quite different compared with how dull and dirty they looked before. Alan continued with the overhaul of one of the brake cylinders. The cylinder interior was honed down to the correct diameter and the components painted on the outside. The other parts of the engine room ceiling that had been cleaned received their first coat of primer.