March

37254 worked its first vacuum braked train in preservation on the 8th April. Doug, Alan, Adrian, John and Chris were there to witness the event. The load consisted of 3 bogie carriages and 33065 (for insurance - but not needed). Three round trips were undertaken in between cups of tea.

16th April saw 254 out on light loco runs as part of the mileage accumulation programme to iron out any potential problems and also for route learning/crew training purposes.

26th April saw 254 work its first passenger train in preservation. The loco seemed to attract a lot of positive comments from the visitors to the diesel gala with many people telling stories of 254's former life on BR. A wedding party that was taking place at The High Rocks took a journey on the train - the loco hauled its first wedding special on the same day as its first passenger runs in preservation! 254 was rostered out on the fish and chip special and the passengers enjoyed the two booked runs, a non-stop additional return trip was quickly organised much to the surprise of some of the people present. The noise 254 produced that evening was superb with the loco thrashing away in the dark bringing back memories of runs on the mainline from years gone by. The Organisers of the diesel gala had very kindly reserved the seating in the bar car for our restoration team to have their fish and chips in - a most welcome gesture!

27th April saw the loco perform faultlessly for a second day of the diesel gala. At the end of the day, a freight was worked to Birchden Junction top and tail with 33065 on its last run before a long overhaul. The light loco run back with 33065 brought many people out of the pub at High Rocks when we went past.

The brake valves finally returned from overhaul in mid July and were refitted on Sunday 13th and Sunday 20th.

Sunday 20th saw the loco over a pit at Tunbridge Wells West having various work performed in advance of the August diesel gala which was fast approaching. During the day, an air leak was found underneath the body at Number 1 End - we ran out of time in whcih to cure the fault but it will be dealt with before the gala.

Friday 25th saw the loco on shed having attention to the newly-found air leak. The pipework involved was removed from underneath the body and repaired in the loco shed before being reattached to the loco with success as no leaks were present after reinstalment. Rectification work to a defective windscreen wiper on the secondman's side in number 1 cab was done at the same time. After the work had been completed, two light engine test runs were performed to prove that the reinstalled components were functioning correctly.

Thursday 31st (the day before the Summer Diesel Gala), 37254 took 3 coaches to Groombridge on a test run to check the vacuum brake side of the loco after the recent overhauls of the brake valves and the distributor by a contractor. Unfortunately the overhauled distributor did not work as it should so the old distributor was refitted to the loco before the test run departed. The "overhauled" distributor will be going back for more work to be done on it! Once at Groombridge, the 37 was used for shunting the sidings to retrieve a class 101 DMMU driving trailer and to put into store one of the mark 1 vehicles that we had brought from Tunbridge Wells West earlier in the evening. The loco made its way back to Tunbridge Wells West in the pitch black towing the three coaches and arrived rather late into the evening! The loco was stabled ready for the gala to commence.