HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF OUR VISITORS AND SUPPORTERS!

Sunday 7th saw the first working party of the year with Alan, Adrian, Chris, John, Chris Stuchbury and even a very rare appearance by Dan! Dave Downer came down specially to work on the electrical cubicle sorting out the few remaining gremlins as well as removing redundant wire and generally tidying up the electrical cubicle. Dave brought with him a new relay to replace one of the old relays that had given up the ghost after all these years. John, Alan and Adrian removed the frost grille and radiator louvres from A-Bank side of the loco so that the area hidden behind the grille and louvres could be cleaned of any debris that had collected and then repainted with anti-corrosive paint. This work is all part of minimising corrosion where possible as Class 37s tend to rust in this area quite badly. Most of the nuts and bolts came apart quite easily when you consider how long they must have been in there without moving. The steam loco lads on site seemed very keen to lend us their gas axe for us to work on our loco - ulterior motive perhaps? Dan and Chris S assisted Dave with the electrical cubicle. Chris finished off a few outstanding small tasks on the loco such as removing the remaining glass cover for the fire pull handle at Number 2 End so that replacement glass can be cut to size.

Sunday 14th saw Joan, Doug, Adrian and Alan on site continuing with cleaning the area that had been revealed since the radiator louvres and frost grille had been removed the previous weekend. All of the debris and dirt has now been removed and the area is almost ready for painting. The louvres are in the process of being cleaned of the accumulated dirt and the louvres have been found to be BR Blue! Obviously this area wasn't touched when the loco was painted into "Dutch" livery by BR! Thanks to Joan, the troops were kept fed yet again!

Sunday 21st saw just Alan on site due to other members having prior commitments or sickness. Alan continued working on the radiator louvres preparing them for dismantling.

Sunday 28th saw Adrian, Alan, Doug, Joan and Chris on site. Alan and Adrian continued with overhauling the radiator louvres and surrounding area that had been exposed when the louvres were removed revealing blue and green paint in the process. Joan commenced stripping the paint off the aluminium strips that surrounded the frost grille whilst Doug blasted as much dirt off the louvres as possible. Chris commenced removing all of the dirt and brake dust that had accumulated on the frost grille over the years. The grime was caked on really thick and took a lot of effort to get it all off. Alan and Adrian ended the day with priming the area that they had been cleaning. Thanks to Joan and Doug for providing the food to keep the volunteers working!

John and a friend worked on site on Thursday 1st February working mainly on the vacuum system. The vacuum chamber pipework was traced around the loco and it was found to be more intact than was previously thought. Under both cabs, some cowboy (before the loco was preserved) had disconnected the pipework for the small diameter vacuum chamber pipework and then burnt off the connections from under the cab floors but leaving the pipework connected to the rest of the pipework! John fitted the 2 inch diameter vacuum train pipe between the brake valve and the connection under the floor in Number 1 Cab. There are three more pipes to connect in Number 1 Cab - two of these need to be made specially due to the situation described before. Enough components are in store to complete the task together with the new pipework required.

Sunday 4th saw Adrian, Alan and Chris on site. Adrian continued working on the area vacated by the louvres painting the area with undercoat at the end of the day. Alan dismantled the radiator louvres as around half of them had seized in position and wouldn't budge regardless of how much pressure was applied. By the end of the day, all of the louvres were freed and moving easily. Chris continued the work on the vacuum pipework in Number 1 Cab managing to fit one pipe between the vacuum gauge and the 2 inch vacuum pipe fitted by John on the previous Thursday.

Sunday 11th was a miserable day weather wise and this impacted on the amount of work that was possible. Regular heavy downpours accompanied by hail at times disrupted the plans but such is the fun of working outdoors - the sun appeared at various times during the day. Adrian and Chris worked on the vacuum pipework at Number 1 end. Where the connection had been burnt off under the cab, the area had to be cleaned of slag and then the hole was gradually reamed out to enable a new pipe to be run through the hole in the floor to connect the vacuum chamber side of the vacuum gauge to the vacuum chamber pipework underneath the loco. Alan removed the necessary connections from spare pipework in the store and prepared them for fitting onto the new pipework when it is in situ. Joan continued stripping the paint from the aluminium strips that surrounded the frost grille as well as cooking a lovely lunch for the troops! Doug started cleaning the louvres of the dirt that wouldn't shift with the power washer. In the evening, Chris McNaughton kindly soldered some components into one piece to make one of the pieces of pipework that is missing in Number 1 Cab.

Sunday 18th was a strange day weather wise. It was overcast all day and we occasionally suffered from drizzling rain. Adrian, Alan and Chris were present for the day's events. All three volunteers worked together on getting some more vacuum pipework in Number 1 Cab. The pipe that Chris McNaughton had kindly soldered last Sunday evening was fitted and was a perfect match. The new pipe that had been run through the floor at Number 1 end last weekend had the fittings and nuts attached and then the pipe was plumbed in to the gauge and other pipework. We are unable to test the vacuum system until all the remaining missing parts are replaced. Alan then started reinstating the vacuum pipework at Number 2 end. The 2 inch diameter pipework was fitted in Number 2 Cab but there are some alterations required before it will fit correctly. A route for the vacuum chamber pipework was planned and the components required will be obtained during the next week. Adrian refitted the floor and one of the seats in Number 1 Cab as well as assisting Alan with removing a pipework fitting in Number 2 Cab. Chris cleaned up the frost grille of any remaining paint on the inside surface and then removed all of the rivets that had sheared off over the years. Chris then painted one side of the grille in primer.

April has been a busy month for the Restoration Team's Members (and likewise the last few months have also been busy!), but Working Parties have been taking place and more progress has been achieved.

On Sunday 22nd April Adrian, Alan, Chris, Dave, Emily, Joan and Doug were on site and various jobs were undertaken.... including reassembling and then testing the first of the two Air Intake Assemblies (this Assembly has been coated in primer pending a decision on the locomotive's livery - will it be BR Green, BR Blue, "Dutch", or something else? Watch this space!). The experience we gained in dismantling, overhauling and reassembling this unit was very welcome and will help us when we start work on the locomotive's other such unit; some photographs of the work should be appearing on this website in the next few days.