March

The 37254 Fund have purchased 2 bogies from CF Booth Rotherham. Last year 254 developed some cavities that we were unable to turn out due to the thickness of the tyres. We decided to purchase a set of bogies as and when a reasonable pair came up for sale. These will still be sent away for tyre turning so they start their life with a clean profile, which will hopefully extend the life of the wheelsets.

EWS produced a tender list late last year, which saw a large number of Class 37’s coming up for sale. With a bit of investigation we soon found out that one of the 37’s (37196) on the list had reasonable bogies. The tyres were only a couple of mm under ‘new’ so we soon decided that this would be the one we would go for. All we had to do now is hope that CF Booth would win the tender for this loco… On the 19th February the locomotive was delivered to Booths! Dan and I decided to go up there the next day to inspect and disconnect the bogies. Not the easiest job in a scrap yard with no pit…

We couldn’t miss the opportunity of getting some other spare parts whilst we were there. Some of which included a brake frame, ammeters and load regulator spares…

As soon as the locomotive has been cut will we retrieve the bogies and take them away for turning before fitting them under 254. The lift will hopefully take place before the operating season starts in April, all progress on the ‘Lift’ project will be posted here so please keep checking back for updates.

On Monday the 23 Dan, Chris and myself took the opportunity to refill the locomotive with water prior to the start of the operating season. Unfortunately this didn’t go quite according to plan, as both brass 1” gate valve water fillers had been severely frost damaged (see photographs below). The system had been drained down for the winter, but with the server cold snap the loco still suffered. New valves were sourced and fitted on the 24th (and rapped in rag to prevent damage) and the locomotive was once again restarted for the first time since October. Brake system work has also been carried out over the winter and full line testing will be undertaken before the locomotive re-enters service.