A busy period indeed for our no heat machine 47367. July saw some engine room and power unit painting (in between its duties) followed by an air vacuum isolating valve being swapped out. It has improved matters, but more investigating is required. Into September, and a start on the engine's "B" exam begins. On the 2nd the troublesome panel on the lower part of the driver's door at No.1 end was re-attached, and a start on disconnecting the injectors began. Back on the 9th it was 'over the pit' time and checking of the traction motor brush lengths. On motors 2 and 3 the insulator rings got a well-deserved clean and motor 2 had its Motak topped up in the gear housing. On the 12th the injector change began with B2 being taken out and replaced and B4/B5/B6 being removed. Three days later the whole of "A" bank injectors where removed, and the last two from "B" bank were taken out the following day With refurbished injectors being fitted. A return to site was made three days later with all new washers being fitted to the spill pipes and all the final connecting done and 367 was fired up. At the beginning of October the long overdue oil change was completed, with 150 gallons of oil swapped. Towards the end of the month some minor running repairs were done on the load regulator, and a check on the speedo unit was made after some reports of an intermittent fault. On the operational side 367 has was in use in the September diesel gala then followed by the railway's hosting not only of the regular Gin specials but also the Halloween-themed Scream train nights. 367 has also been involved with P.Way workings for MNR's project Hedgehog to install new sidings for Grater Anglia to store its new and then old trains. 367 also has seen some use on Santa/Polar Express trains mainly with 596 T'n'T and twice T'n'T with protype HST power car.

Essex returned to Southall and continued to work charters, most of which involved being tucked inside steam locos to get over the steam ban. All went well until returning with a charter on 30 June when a wheel slip light came on when leaving Bedford. The on board fitter identified a problem with No.5 traction motor which he then isolated and 580 completed the job and returned to Southall depot. Investigations revealed that the coil on the No.5 traction motor contactor had burnt out and was swapped out with a spare with this the problem was resolved, and Essex was put back in traffic. After further charter work off Southall 580 was booked to work the Dorset Coast Express with A4 60009, this being a vacuum-braked train. The train reached Weymouth with no problems and 580 took the empty stock into sidings and was shut down. Three hours later when the crew returned to restart the loco 580 would not start, the control circuit breaker tripping every time the engine start button was pressed. 47580 was declared a failure. Being a vacuum-braked train the nearest assisting locos were at Southall apart from the Swanage Railway's 33012. The later was the preferred option, and the loco was given a FTR and dispatched to Weymouth arriving some 3 hours later. 33012 worked to train back to Southampton before being sent ECS to Southall. 60009 returned light engine to Southall via Salisbury. Essex was collected from Weymouth by a WCRC class 37 and returned to Southall. The fault was narrowed down to the No.2 wire from No.2 cab: isolating this wire seemed to solve the problem, but the No.2 wire from No.2 cab also fed the SSF safety system and after carring out further tests reconnecting the SSF system. With 580 was declared fit for traffic. Essex then worked further charters until 11 September, when - returning from Hellifield leading 47760 and 33207 plus load 10. South of Chesterfield the crew were alerted to a potential traction motor fire and the train was brought to a stand but this was not the case. The source of the burning was traced to the main generator and the crew fired two CO2 fire extinguishers into the inspection hatches and then then let off the three large CO2 fire bottles in the engine compartment. These actions had the desired effect and the fire was put out. 580 was then pushed into Morton loop and left behind. The train then carried on behind 47760, arriving at Radlett in the early hours of the next morning having been diverted via Corby because of an engineering block on the Midland main line. Essex was collected the following day by 47826 which was sent from Carnforth and then was taken to Burton for assessment, 826 returning to Carnforth. A visit Burton to inspect 580 was the carried out and the commutator and brush gear although discoloured do not appear to have been damaged by the fire. Any damage has to be under the generator in areas that you cannot examine without removing the generator from the loco. Therefore, have no choice but to remove the generator from the loco and send the generator to a specialist repairer for assessment and repair. Nemesis Rail have been contracted to remove the main generator.

Aldeburgh Festival has remained in traffic throughout the summer and autumn without too many issues. A vacuum brake fault caused a few problems, this eventually being traced to the air vacuum isolation valve. For mentioned valve we had a refurbished valve in stock and were able to replace it. Also, both of the driver's FV4 valves have also been replaced by refurbished FV4 drivers train brake valve to improve reliability. A oil leak was found under the floor on the triple pump supply side, with a flexible hose had perished and was leaking between the rubber and the metal ferrule. A replacement pipe was purchased and fitted and has solved the problem. On one of the halloween specials 596 lost a second man's droplight. A temporary piece of Perspex was inserted before a replacement glass droplight was installed. 596 has seen use in the September diesel gala then followed by the railway's hosting not only of the regular Gin specials but also the Halloween-themed Scream train nights. 596 also has seen use on MNR's Santa/Polar Express trains mainly T'n'T with the protype HST power car but also some trains with SF 467 groups class mate 47367.

November 47367 had been used on engineering trains on the northern section of the railway delivering sleepers for the works team extending the line further North towards North Elmham having had reached Worthing. During the period of December 47367 was as the thunderbird during the Santa special season but was not called upon. The Winter Gala followed, and again the loco performed with no problems. Since the fitting of the working hours meter it has run for 138 hours has been accumulated. Some running repairs have taken place over the winter months, and this has seen the battery isolating switch have new linkage fitted for the pull cord. This was caused by the Bakelite connection breaking after many years of the outside pull cord pulling on it. The coarse fuel filters have been cleaned out and a new windscreen wiper fitted to the second man’s side on the No.2 cab. A replacement dummy for the main reserve air pipe has now been fitted to the loco and the painting crew have busied themselves with painting in the generator / electrical cubicle areas.

After arriving back at Carnforth at the end of October Essex carried out various shunting and carriage heating duties until early December. A new set of batteries where fitted after discovering that two banks a number of cells would not hold a charge making 47580 reluctant to start. It must also be remembered that 47580 is an EP (Electro Pneumatic) start and uses compressed air to start the engine, and drains the batteries on starting more so than EM (Electro Mechanical). A replacement set have been fitted by mid-March. By mid-February work had started on on removing the exhaust and water connections. All twelve heads were removed and cleaned, the liners were checked for leaks, new ‘soft’ iron rings, water and exhaust gaskets were fitted, and the twelve heads were then refitted. Water and exhaust systems were then refitted to the engine, the work being completed by the end of February.

December has seen 47596 working the Santa season and has performed faultlessly throughout completing all the diagrams without any issues. The Winter Gala followed, and again the loco performed with no problems. Following the Gala 47596 received a B exam. The loco had been suffering from a heavy oil leak from the governor drive shaft which required the removeal the governor and carry out the necessary repairs. Work was also carried out on the inline governor oil filter with new seals and reassembled. With all the work completed and the batteries recharged 47596 was restarted. The loco fired up and ran with no problem, but it soon became apparent that the all the auxiliary equipment and the battery charging circuit were not working. Investigation revealed that the over voltage relay had tripped out, preventing all the auxiliary equipment from running. The fault was traced to one of the electronic modules and was exchanged and the problem was solved. Other work carried out during the period under review included checking all the traction motor brushes, greasing the traction motors and cannon tubes. Repairs were also carried out to the AWS Baldwin valve in No.1 end cab. drained without removing the filter bowl. All motor gear cases were topped up with Motak.

July began as all months do with a small hitch. At the beging of the month the handbrake for No.1 end was found to be jammed on. The upper gear casing was checked and lubed, then the lower gearbox was checked and lubed. Then the universal joint above the bogie was next, which proved that the fault was within the front mechanism. This was removed and inspected and was cleaned and was found to have been wound off too tightly, which had caused it to jammed. The one on the spare bogie was removed as a possible replacement but in the event it wasn’t used. The original was freed off and has now been fitted with a rubber washer on one of the surfaces to stop it from jamming up again. During August 47367 had a failure to start. It was found that one of the battery cells had died and the cell was replaced but proved to be no better so the whole set was strapped out (by-passed) and 367 started. After a few hours running and shutting down all cells were checked and found to have poor voltage readings. Three days later 47367’s 51st birthday and she was presented with a brand new set of batteries – Happy Birthday and starting issues resolved. The old set dated from 2004 when 47596 was made opperational for the first time at Tyesely with the set being swaped with 47367 back in 2010 as 47596 was undergoing a engine overhal with 47367 being made ready for traffic for the NNR at the time. Into September, and preparations for the diesel gala included slack adjuster and handbrake linkage greasing. During the gala itself Kenny failed to take power from the No.2 end cab, but by the time they went to look at it the fault had resolved itself. The rest of the weekend ran as advertised with no more issues. After the MNR autum gala weekend work began in earnest. The ammeter gauge in the No.2 end cab was found to be sticking. This was removed and cleaned, and flaking paint was found to be the culprit getting under the needle. The roof drains from the radiator compartment were unblocked which allowed the errant radiator element that had been leaking to be identified and was changed. Whilst working at this end the chance was taken to fix the hinges on the Serck shutter panels. October continues very much in the same vein. The roof drain on the other side that was totally blocked was next to be cleared, and hinges were repaired on those shutters. The main generator was next in line for the paint brush with all the covers cleaned and painted and the air filters replaced. Perspex inspection covers in the auxiliary room were removed, fitted with new bolts and replaced with mastik to seal, an engine hours clock fitted, the battery charge rectifier cleaned and the cover straightened out. An investigation was conducted as to why only half the engine room lights worked. This was eventually traced to the time out switch fitted frim its Freightliner days. There are two switches, one times out after 15 minutes and kills half the lights, the other turns the rest off after 30 minutes. The 15 minute relay had jammed – hence why half the lights didn’t work. The month ended with a good cleaning session – this centred around the fuse covers and light covers before replacing all of them.

Essex returned to Carnforth on 29 June for a B exam and compressor change and was fitted during the first week of July with work commencing on the B exam. With a shortage of vacuum braked locos at Southall meant a very quick turnaround for 580, and the following week she was despatched back to Southall to take up various railtour duties mainly involving steam engines. During the latest period at Southall very few issues arose. A brake fault reared its head on a return trip from Bristol, the problem being put down to a driver’s FV4 # brake valve. With a replacement FV4 valve curing the problem and 580 was back in use the following Saturday. During September a blowing cylinder head was discovered on the engine. This head was isolated and 580 soldiered on using 11 of her 12 pistons, but another blowing head was found during October so 580 return the loco to Carnforth for attention. The problem has been identified and it appears that the supplier of the soft iron rings used a laser to cut them out, and the heat generated by laser cutting the rings has caused the metal to harden so that they are no longer soft. The original rings were stamped out, so very little heat was generated and the metal stayed soft and therefore compressed more when the head was tightened down. This discovery of this will mean that all 12 heads will need to be removed and replacing as new soft iron joint rings were fitted to all 12 heads when 580 topend overhaul was carried out. So I it will be well into the New Year before we see 580 back in action.

Aldeburgh Festival has enjoyed three months of good reliability with virtually no major engineering issues. The only problems that needed addressing were moisture in the air control system and resetting of the brakes. Moisture in the control air system causes the control air which should be 75 psi to build up very slowly. This valve has been dismantled, the moisture removed and the valve reset.The brakes required resetting after they caused overheating by rubbing on the No.1 wheel set when no brake application had been made by the driver. Apart from normal checking of fluid levels and draining of the sumps nothing has needed repair. Let’s hope it keeps that way with the busy Santa season coming up. Both our locos at Dereham will need antifreeze added to their coolant to prevent freezing up during cold spells as 596 was required over the MNR's Santa season in December.

47367 has by and large been fully fit and available for traffic. During this period a few niggles have appeared that required more than one bout of attention. The pilot valves from under the power desk have been stripped and cleaned after problems with the regulating air supply and found a cracked casing in the No.1 end valve which has been replaced. The valve in the No.2 end became seized but a strip down and clean made a repair was possible. During early March the slack adjusters for the brakes needing unwinding, but due to the small size of the fitted brake blocks they decided to self-adjust. This caused brake binding on the number 2 end bogie which ended with fitment of new brake blocks. April began with use at the railway’s Spring Diesel Gala with no problems reported on the first day it was the last trip on the Sunday when a regulating air issue reared its head back to the valves again. The next small issue was the driver’s side window washer on the No.1 end. With the pipe from the pump had developed an air lock. With the pipe trimmed and refitted working order was re-established, only for the muck at the bottom of the washer bottle to be sucked into the pipe needing another strip and clean. A couple of weeks later the pipe itself gave up and split, needing replacement. Other work carried out during this period included fuel filter sediment bowls being emptied and cleaned, and traction motors being checked for Motak levels and topped up as needed with seven tubes used. The engine room side doors have some attention required to the bottom of the door aperture with rust and dirt that had collected under them cleaned out, so you don’t have to kick them to open them. Another replacement BIS cord has been fitted due to the last one being pulled too hard and breaking. The batteries have been checked and voltage charge checked, coming in at 108 volts. Also during the period 25 litres of engine oil were added to the sump first top up this year, and all brushes checked on smaller electrical machines, compressors and traction motor blowers. The brushes will need replacing shortly. The handbrake universal joint has been greased to ease movement, and the cab heater switch in No.2 end replaced due to being stuck in “on” constantly.

“Essex” returned south to Southall at the end of March and was soon put on a charter working from Euston to Crewe with 47245. The loco has performed impeccably during the period under review and there have been no real maintenance issues.

Work continued to prepare the loco for the fitting of B1 cylinder head and the replacement roof section. We were working to a very tight schedule as the loco was required to work at the MNR Gala at the end of March. The lift was planned for 11 March, which gave us around three weeks to complete the work. Using the usual Hiab lorry we refitted the B1 head, making sure that all the necessary gaskets and washers were in place. This went without a hitch, so we were able to turn our attention to the main event the fitting of the refurbished roof section ex-47791. New rubber seals we fitted to the top of the body sides and also fitted the large air tank to the new roof – easier to do this before the roof was fitted to the loco. With the roof horizontal we started the lift. We positioned the roof onto the body sides and, as expected, the roof radius had slightly different dimensions to those of the loco. We had a gap of 20mm between the roof and the body sides, so the roof was bolted down on the field divert equipment side (A side) of the loco as the bolts on this side had to be accessed from the outside through the inspection hatches. On the B side the bolts are accessible from inside the loco, so we were able to use clamps to pull the roof down. Further sealing took place both inside and out to ensure there were no leaks. Next the control air receiver was fitted fitted the to the bulkhead and connected the air pipes to both the tanks. When we pressure tested the tanks the control air tank was found to have a small leak around one of the welds: this tank had to be removed and another spare tank cleaned, painted and refitted. Painting inside the boiler compartment continued and the almost-complete compartment looks very smart and is watertight. With the Spring Diesel Gala approaching we turned our attention to completing the work on B1 head. The first job was to refit the sections of the water rail and fill the system to ensure we had no leaks. After filling we left the system full for two days, but when we returned alas the header tank had dropped. We investigated and found that one of the water gaskets had a small leak. This was on a section of rail that we had not removed, and this meant that all the water rails had to be removed and resealed using a thicker gasket material. The system was then refilled with no leaks this time, so we could set about tightening down the head bolts. With this done all the exhaust sections were refitted to the engine, together with the rocker box, push rods, fuel and lubricated pipes. The engine was restarted on 27 March with no issues, and 596 made the MNR spring Gala with three days to spare. After the gala attention turned to the Automatic Warning System (AWS), with the suspected cabling between the two cabs had been damaged by water ingress and these cables had not been repaired when we sorted out the other fifty or so cables that were damaged. This indeed turned out to be the case, and so four cables were repaired. Further problems with the Baldwin valves and air horns were found; replacement parts were sourced and fitted. Further testing took place and the AWS in 596 now works from both cabs. Other work completed have been fitting of refurbished light fittings in the boiler compartment, Replacement vacuum hose No.2 end, Replacement rocker box cover to B3 head, Top white NSE line repainted, Orange line painted on the new boiler room roof section and a final external coat of Silver Grey on the new boiler room roof section.

During December some work was undertaken firstly the coolant system had 5 gallons of anti-freeze added. The windscreen washers at No.2 end are now operational, and both cabs have benefited from a good clean out in the space under both control desks. The No.2 end cab has received a modification of drilled holes above the buffer beam to release the water that had collected there. Over the week of Christmas / New Year more painting taken place in both cabs and the engine room. Over the weekend of 2nd and 3rd January the loco took part in the winter gala, performing faultlessly. Other work taking place during the month included the addition of new chains for the main res air pipe and coupling chain at No.2 end and adjustment of the slack adjusters on the No.1 end. February turned out to be a quiet month, with just one small hitch on Valentine’s day when the second man's window was opened at the No.1 end. This jammed when it reached the bottom and after removal of the cover it was found that the framework had caught on the end of the bolt affixing the builder’s plate to the side. With the bolt removed and shortened an easy fix was done.

November saw the blowing head on B1 cylinder was replaced along with the other 11 heads re tightened, the loco was tested and all appeared to be OK. The axles have been retested, and a UAT certificate has been issued: this is valid for another three years. Auxiliary compartment internal lighting was repaired. Due to shortage of vacuum-braked locos in London 580 was dispatched to Southall in early December and worked several charters. During a Southend to Salisbury charter a line side vibration detector picked up a reading from one of 580’s wheel sets These are normally triggered by a wheel flat. 580 returned to Carnforth on 23 December and after the wheel set was examined and a flat was found. Wheel flats can sometimes be rubbed out by the brake blocks, but if this does not happen then the only course of action is to visit the wheel lathe to re profile the tyres. Other work carried out on 580 has included: Checking batteries and topping up the electrolyte levels, Checking screen washer bottles and Unblocking floor and radiator drains.

“Aldeburgh Festival” worked all of the Santa specials in December without any real issues, but during the diesel gala a strange wheezing noise could be heard coming from one of the heads. Investigations found that the head that had been blowing in February 2015 had started to blow again, this time from the inaccessible side. It is impossible to tighten the back four head bolts without removing the exhaust and water rail. As this head had given us problems before, it was decided to remove the head and replace the soft iron ring which forms the seal between the liner and the head. 596 was withdrawn from traffic at the beginning of January and work started to remove the head and the boiler section roof. The loco’s coolant was drained and retained as it contained antifreeze, the exhaust sections were removed, and this was followed by the water rail. With the head bolts exposed they could now be undone, and it has to be said that they were not very tight. The head was then ready to be lifted out of the loco. Work commenced on removing the boiler roof section, and the bolts holding the roof in position proved to be very difficult to get out particularly the inaccessible on the far side behind the fuel tank and field divert resistors. By the end of January we had a Hiab to lift the boiler room roof and B1 head from the engine block. Once the roof had been removed this exposed the corrosion to the top of the body side and bulkhead. It was not intended to put the replacement roof on, as we had several weeks of remedial work to carry out before this could be done. However the new roof was given a trial fit in position to make sure it fitted and that the fixing holes lined up. During the month of February work has continued on drilling out and tapping broken studs, corrosion removal, repairs to corroded metal sections, cleaning buss bars and field divert resistors, and painting bulkheads and pipe work. Other work carried out on 596 during the period includes: Re-piping and reinstatement of the driver’s and second man’s window washers, Replacement Driver’s windscreen wiper motor fitted No.2 end, Replacement Second man’s windscreen wiper control and washer button No.1 end, Radiator drains cleaned out, No.1 compressor spirex valve changed.

July begin with the replacement pipe to the triple pump was fitted but fared no better than the one it replaced. In the meantime a new pipe had been sourced and this was duly fitted. A new panel has been fabricating a to cover the missing panel in the No.1 end cab that covers the water bottles. 367 underwent its FTR (fitness to run) exam. All 6 traction motor gear cases were topped up with Motak. Next on the list saw the No.1 compressor head removed to investigate its apparent inability to make air with nothing amiss it was reassembled, but further investigation discovered a problem with the crankcase butterfly valves and with these replaced it runs a lot better and also is using less oil. August began with a regular job – this time it was B5 cylinder that needed a replacement fuel pipe. The aforementioned triple pump pipe gave up the ghost and flooded the auxiliary room with oil along with the run off tank. This was when the new replacement pipe was installed having being already been sourced. The primary fuel filter sediment bowl had become blocked and was duly cleaned out and refitted. September, and more of the same. The external run off pipe for the bed plate drain came adrift, needing the fitment of replacement metal joints. A problem with the No.2 end straight air brake valve not releasing was traced to the valve sticking which then jammed the valve in the open position. The second weekend of the month saw the railway's annual autumn diesel gala take place, and 367 performed once again without any real issues for all three days. The only work needing to be done during the rest of the month was the cleaning of the comms and inner casing of the No.1 vacuum exhauster which had been noted arcing at times. With the weather starting to take a turn for the cooler side of the thermometer 367's batteries needed attention. Over a weekend all the cell terminals were cleaned and the batteries given a good overnight charge with starting taking place as per normal the following day. It was during this weekend that the wiper blades on both cabs were exchanged.

The rebuilding of 580’s power unit commenced during August. Liners, pistons and heads were fitted back into the engine block. By the end of August all 12 liners had been reinstalled, Pistons lowered back in along with the bottom bearing caps being refitted. Next the cylinder heads where refitted and the head nuts had been torqued down. The water rails that carry coolant to the heads were then connected and the engine was filled with water and pressurised – this is to check that the new liner seals do not leak. With no leaks were found, and so the engine exhaust sections could be re-fitted onto the heads and reconnected to the turbocharger. These exhaust sections have been re-lagged as the old lagging was in poor condition. The rocker arms, push rods re-fitted and the the fiddly job of reconnecting various oil pipes back up. The opportunity was also taken to replace the 12 injectors along with the engine lubricating oil filters were renewed and fresh oil was pumped into the sump of the engine block. After running the triple pump for long periods to ensure that the lubricating oil was reaching all the critical points the engine was successfully restarted at the begging of September. To bed in the new piston rings 580 was used to heat coaching stock for a few days. All appeared well and “Essex” was sent on a test run to Crewe on 11 September. All went well, with the engine block but the following day a vacuum brake fault between the two locos meant that 580 was left at Crewe. It did however work the ecs back to Carnforth on the Sunday. The following week it was used on more carriage heating duties, and during this period the triple pump motor burnt out and needed replacement and this took another week to sort out. On 3rd October 47580’s first revenue earning duty took place with this being load 11 plus a dead 57 on the back. During this weekend reports came back saying that the engine was sounding very rough, and returning to Carnforth it was discovered that some of exhaust system had worked loose. Also, A5 head was leaking exhaust gases between the liner and the head. October has seen a B exam completed with traction motors inspected and greased, Cannon tubes inspected and greased, tyres measured and profiles checked. A fault with the compressed air starting system was identified as a leaking air control valve. This valve should not allow compressed air to enter the main air system until the pressure has reached 55lbs per square inch. When the valve was taken apart a damaged seat was found to be the cause of the leak – a replacement valve was fitted and the problem was solved.

47596 arrived back from its ill-fated trip to the North Yorkshire Moors none the worse for its main line sojourn. With the summer season not much requirement with a some driver experiences, engineering and Sunday Dinex trains kept the locos in use. No major issues were reported until mid-September when it was noticed that on start up a few flames could be seen coming from between the head of B1 cylinder and the liner. Examination revealed that the joint between the liner head and engine block was blowing, and this came as a surprise as it was the same liner that we replaced back in March. Investigation showed that the leak was on the air inlet side of the head. The head bolts on this side of the head are accessible without removing the water rail and the exhaust. To access these bolts the rocker arms and oil pipes were removed from B1 head. We then used a socket and 1-inch extension bar with a torque arm to tighten the bolts up to 750 lbs per square inch. Having tightened down the head nuts reassembly of the rocker harms and oil pipes. The emergency fix seems to have solved the problem, but in the short term only time will tell if we need to strip off the head and withdraw the liner again.

“Kenny Cockbird” has remained serviceable by and large, with the usual small niggles associated with a working engine. March began with some small fixes, namely the flexible fuel pipe for cylinder B2 having to be replaced due to a fracture. The outside pull cord for the BIS was also reinstated. From 16th to 20th 367 was engaged in working an engineers’ train from Wymondham which – when fully loaded – totalled nigh on 900 tonnes. Kenny behaved impeccably for the full five days. A week later it was the Spring diesel gala where 367 worked five trips and a token runner trip, only failing on the final day. The problem was traced to the No.1 end traction motor blower not working which had blown the feed wire in the relay cubicle this was trimmed back and re-jointed. In April the control air was found to be going off the gauge. Normally this works at 70psi, and an adjustment to the control air feed valve was all that was needed. Into May, and a continuation of odd jobs being done, the feed cut off valve was exchanged as it had burnt out a coil yet again. The parts missing from the 3rd field divert which have been missing since its days being stored at Basford Hall in Freightliner days have been sourced and refitted. The main generator insulators cleaned and a continuation of the No.1 end cab repaint. On 23rd to 25th 367 took part in the 80s diesel gala where it worked five trips on the first two days. On the third day it failed at Yaxham, needing to be pushed by 45133 to Thuxton where the Peak run round. The failure was caused by an air governor fault. June began with a split fuel hose, this time cylinder A1. This was replaced and another water leak was traced and repaired by tightening the banjo joints. A modification to help monitor the fuel gallery run off has been carried out as per 596. Following on the back of this was another oil leak, traced to the rocker feed pipe on A2. A replaced drop light bar in the No.2 cab also required attention. During the last weekend of the month oil was found in the rain water collection tank under the auxiliary room. Inspection found a split hose on the feed to the triple pump. A replacement pipe was found and fitted.

Essex returned to Carnforth at the beginning of April, during the next few days at Carnforth it was evident 580 was losing coolant when the engine was cold. With the engine side covers removed it was apparent that at least five engine liners were also leaking with the only option was to withdraw the loco from service and decide what to do about the repairs. With so many liner seals leaking the only way to ensure a satisfactory repair was to replace all twelve liner seals, and this entailed a complete top end overhaul. Work commenced in June and good progress has been made. The following parts have been removed with 12 cylinder heads, 12 big end bearing caps, 12 pistons and 12 liners. With all the major components removed the next job is to measure and inspect to components which took place, and as expected it was not good news. All twelve pistons needed the ring groves remachining along with new piston rings being fitted. Five liners were in scrap condition: four of them had very bad erosion around the sealing grooves and one had two very deep internal vertical grooves. Kev Cook has agreed to carry out this work on our behalf. The OMTR recorder has been returned to Arrowvale to have a new internal battery fitted.

A refurbished engine liner which was fitted back into 596’s power unit on 19 March. This was followed by the piston and the head, and with all of the heavy items back in the loco the head bolts were then tightened. The water rail, exhaust and air manifold were then fitted to the power unit. The engine block was then filled with cooonlant and pressurised – fortunately no leaks were detected. The new engine oil arrived and was put into the power unit. Next the triple pump was run to ensure oil flowed to all parts of the engine. Flowed by the next task of fitting of the engine side covers and the engine restarted. With no problems arising. 47596 returned to traffic on 27 March, which was the first day of the MNR gala. Other work carried out during the period included the following: New clamp fitted to the traction motor flexible duct on No.2 motor, replacement firing head fitted to CO2 bottle in the engine compartment, No.1 traction motor contactor tips changed, DSD bottle valve changed (Faulty coil), A1 A2 pump cover repaired, Speedo failed fault traced to the magnetic sensor replaced, Ultrasonic Axle test carried out, All Traction motors, cannon tubes and axle bearings greased, Motac purchased and gear cases topped up.

47367's 50^th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
Some of you may be aware that a milestone birthday is in the offing. To celebrate this the Mid Norfolk Railway is planning to use 47367 during their "family fun day" on Saturday 15 ^th August. What is looking likely to be a 100-mile running day will start with the 09:30 departure from Dereham.

Dereham departures are 09:30, 11:30, 14:30, 16:45 & 19:30
Wymondham Abbey 10:30, 13:00, 15:45, 17:45 & 20:30

We would like as many of you as possible to support this event.

During November the cab instrument panels were removed to gain access to the bulbs and bulb holders that illuminate the instruments where replaced for new ones in number 2 end with only a couple of bulbs required replacing in number 1 end. On the second weekend in December 47367 stood in for 47596 on the Santa specials with 45133 on the other end providing the ETH. The loco worked three round trips powering in the Dereham direction with no faults reported 596 was back in action the next weekend with the next outing being the Christmas gala on 27^th and 28^th December. The loco performed without fault on the Saturday, but the Sunday was not to be the same. Leading a pairing with 47596 when 47367 suffered an engine shutdown after leaving Thuxton, having to be pushed to journey's end at Wymondham. At Wymondham both locos were run round, and with 367 now "dead inside" the train returned to Dereham. A later examination found a damaged return power feed wire from the Engine Run solenoid. This resulted in the wiring to and from the Engine Run solenoid and Load Reducing solenoid bring replaced from the engine governor. Into 2015 and a replacement overhauled hydrostatic fan control unit was fitted which has cured the oil leak. A start has also been made on the repainting of the No.1 end cab panelling with three panels removed, rubbed down and primed with a few coats of green primer and grey undercoat. Two weeks later a job well overdue was cleaning underneath the main generator set. On the weekends of 24^th and 31^st 47367 was employed on engineers trains on the railway without incidents. More gremlin chasing towards the end of January which initially the fault was traced to an issue with the engine run circuit, this repaired 367 would now start but not take power from the number 2 cab. Further digging in the control cubicle found that the one of the "H" blocks that hold the shaft on number 2 start contactor had broken, this resulted in the shaft allowing the auxiliary contacts to only make in one direction and not make to make in the other allowing you to start the loco but not allowing power to be applied. The "H" blocks were replaced in both start contactors as a precaution.

Only a few issues for this period following the wheel set change 580 went to Tyseley for tyre turning. The number 6 wheel set was re profiled to match the other five wheel sets. The Loco returned to Carnforth and was soon returned to traffic. Only one minor issue has been dealt with in the period, the oil seal in the engine governor has been replaced. Essex has been out-based at Southall from February to March.

47596 has worked the majority of Santa specials for the MNR top and tailed with 45133. The loco failed once when the overspeed trip operated at Wymondham, the loco and train being pushed back by 45133. At Dereham 47367 was scrambled and took over the diagram. The over speed trip was reset and the loco resumed her duties the following weekend. During January while carrying out pre-starting checks it was noted that the water header tank gauge had dropped from full to three-quarters, and the following week it had dropped from three-quarters to half. Checking all the water pipe joints and radiator elements no leak could be found, and this led to an engine oil sample being taken and send it off for analysis. Three days later the results were received, and the news was not good, the advice was "Oil critical - immediate action required". The oil contained 4.8% water. We therefore removed the engine inspection covers. "A" bank showed no sign of water ingress, but unfortunately when we looked at "B" bank B1 liner showed a steady amount of coolant entering the oil, made a lot worse when we ran the triple pump. The loco was pulled from traffic and unfortunately the previously scheduled 100-mile running day was cancelled. This was devastating news as the all the liner seals had been changed in 2010, and also had an oil change and the the new oil put in to 596 three months earlier was now contaminated and would be of no further use. The only good news is that B1 liner is at the free end of the engine, so it is one of the easiest liners to take out. Work commenced immediately and drained out the oil and water from the engine, after which the removed the water rail and exhaust sections which allowed us access to the head, piston and liner. The big end bearing cap was removed and the nuts holding down the head were undone. The head, piston and liner were now ready to be removed. Using a Hiab crane we removed all the items from the engine on Tuesday 10 March. With most of the parts required where to hand and a new liner was fitted using the same Hiab again, piston was lowered back in and head lowered back into place and head nuts toqued back up to the prescribed 800 lbs/ft. Big end was put back together along with the rocker arms and lubricating oil pipe work was refitted. Next was to fill the cooling system and leave over night and check for any leaks. Next the new oil arrived with no sign of coolant from any of the liner seals the new oil was put in the engine of 47596 and after the oil was primed around the system was started up and made the MNR's diesel gala on Friday March 27^th.

During July attention was turned to the bogies with the "J" bolts from the brake return springs all either being welded up. All six traction motors have had their pick-up faces cleaned. During August the lower long range fuel tank was rein stated as it has a reliable external working gauge. Triple valve has been replaced as this as it was possibly suspect braking issues. Also some cab footsteps have had some bolts some bolts replaced. The loco's first working test run took place on the 24^th taking 31235 to Yaxham for insurance. A week later 367 starred in the autumn diesel gala and promptly sat down during the run round at Wymondham on its first trip out. Upon return to Dereham the feed cut off valve was discovered to have suffered a from a burnt out coil on the valve and was easily changed. During September the defective marker light on number 2 end which has now been repaired. The field divert insulators were all cleaned and cover painted. One of the louver shutters on the radiators was freed of and now working again. October work has centred mostly on the boiler room with red oxide and green primer being applied to some roof panels on the inside. A few panels from the cab desk in number 1 end were removed, rubbed down and primed. 367 developed another braking problem, this time not charging the brake cylinders on the bogies. This was traced to several issues. Firstly, one of the air pipes had fractured where it had been vibrating against a mounting bracket, this being removed and brazed up before refitting. In addition the relase valve (also known as the “donkey's tail”) had stick open along with seals for one of the EP valve needed renewing sorting out the leak on the air chamber leaks and gaining bogie brak pressure again. A leaking coolant pipe in the auxiliary room was removed along with the flexible pipe below it. The pipe where the flex pipe joins was cleaned and all fitted back together with a new gasket on the joint on the other end.

The period under review has been very traumatic for our First Lady. The problems started when 580 took a convoy to the East Lancs Railway: upon arrival at Bury it was reported by their engineer that braking issues had caused the metal tyre on No.6 wheel set to slip on the wheel disk. This can be seen by the misalignment of the white paint line that marks the tyre and the disk. As tyre thickness reduces, the heat generated when braking can cause the metal tyre to expand and slip on the wheel disk. Dragging brakes can also cause this problem and this is thought to be the cause of 580’s slipped tyre. The tyre was remarked and Essex continued her duties. Also suffered a leaking flexible bogie air pipe and this was replaced. The tyre slipped again when Essex worked a Steam special to Carlisle. Essex returned to Carnforth towing a Steam loco from York. Upon arrival 580 was stopped with wheel set issues. Finding a wheel set to replace the damaged one has proved to be a difficult task and has taken several weeks to sort out. A wheel set has three critical dimensions being flange height, flange thickness and tread thickness and the wheel set we searched for had to have dimensions similar to the existing number 6 wheel set. After searching we found two wheel sets that were suitable which both were oversize and would need tyre turning. The next task was to get Essex up in the air on a set of lifting jacks. In October the replacement wheel set was ready to be swapped over so Essex could be lifted and once the cables, air pipes and clamps had been disconnected. Next the bogie brake rigging needed to be removed along with number 6 traction motor to allow for the wheel set to be swapped. Next part of the operation was to lift bogie so the old wheel set could be removed and the replacement could be fitted. Once fitted to replacement of number 6 traction motor along with its gear case. Brake rigging on was refitted and adjusted along with the brake rigging on number one boige inspected. The brake rigging on number 1 axle needed work on the main pivot which needed taking apart to sort out the problem before reassembling the brake rigging and setting up. Next was the job of putting the bogies back under 580 and reconnecting Air pipes, electrical cables and clamps. Next 580 will need sending to Tyesely to have the replacement wheel set turned.

A period of relative calm for 47596 – the loco has gone quietly about her business with no major problems to report. The original company that quoted to carry out the welding work on the replacement roof let us down, and so it was back to the drawing board. We eventually we found someone to carry out this work and the welding was completed over three days in early September. Unfortunately the delay in getting this work completed has prevented us replacing the roof section this year, and so it now looks as if we will attempt to change the roof early in the New Year. With welding completed work has progressed on the roof section, filling and smoothing over the welds so that final priming and top coat can be applied before winter sets in. The underside of the roof has been finished. In readiness for the annual Santa season in December 596 was stopped for a B exam after the end of the main operating season in October having worked the Halloween special on 31^st. During the exam we have changed the engine oil and oil filters, as oil analysis showed that the oil was losing its viscosity. Fuel filters along with a refurbished set f fuel pumps have been fitted along with the coolant system having its antifreeze strength topped up for the winter.

On Sunday 24^st 47367 had a test run on Sunday Mid Norfolk Railway the first working of the loco. The loco will be operating her first passenger work on the railway at the gala. Loco allocations are in the current Timetable for the Mid Norfolk Railway Diesel gala on Friday 29^st to Sunday 31^st August.

At the end of May all of the head studs had been checked with head nuts needed to be retighten on heads A3 & B3 to the required torque setting. Whilst awaiting entry to the shed at Weybourne and access on at pit road to the underside of the loco the inside of the boiler room roof was primed and repainted. 47367 has finally been fitted with a set of works plates. 47367 moved a planed first from Weybourne to Sheringham by rail then on ward to Dereham by road. Once the loco had been checked over as it had not been start since the end of 2013. Battries required topping up with deionised water along with a long charge before 47367 was started and was the first time the loco had been started this year. Next on the list of jobs was the exhaust box liner which had been leaking and sits over the main generator the roof section above exhaust box has had a new sround which has lipped edges on three sides to help stop as much the water getting down the exhaust. The cab door locks fitted in 2003 have now been reinstated for security reasons. During June the brushes in number two traction motor have been freed and now move freely in the brush box as they should. At the same time all the cannon tubes and armature bearings were greased. An oil sample has been taken from the engine and sent away for analysis and has come bock as ok. The leaking joint at the back of the engine governor has been replaced. The air leak on the timing block found and fixed. The bent rail guard at the number one end has now been swapped for an un-bent one, and a start has been made on the cab repaint at number one end.

After carrying out its duties at Southall 47580 returned to Carnforth on 18th March. The amount of water leaking from the engine cooling system had become far worse, so much so that the system needed topping up after every trip. The cause of the leaks was traced to the joint between the engine block and the cylinder liners. At the beginning of April it was decided to stop Essex and try to reseal the joints between the block and the liner. To do this it is necessary to remove the exhaust duct pipework so that you can gain access to the head nuts and the procedure is to re-torque the head bolts to a higher value. This tightens up the liner against the engine block and reseals the joint and 580 is now watertight again. The spare turbo ex-829 has been installed in to Essex replacing the loan turbo ex 851 this work took place at the beginning of April. During this period inspection of the cam followers found extreme wear on several cams and so the opportunity was taken to replace the defective cams. The loco returned to traffic in early May with a working from Kilmarnock to Old Oak Common moving HST stock for First Great Western. This working turned out to be very eventful for 580 and was paired with 37706 having made it to Carlisle where 37706 went to Scotland with a rake of stock off a failed steam hauled ECS, and so 580 then went to Kilmarnock on its own. The rest of the journey along with 37706 to London and back was uneventful. The object of the trip was to prove the newly-installed turbo ex-829, and the turbo performed well but the chirping noise had not gone away and required reset the fuel racks again to improved the situation. One other problem to arise was the Number 2 compressor which had not been producing the correct volume of conpressed air. Spare valves and pistons where send to Carnforth, and the compressor was stripped and rebuilt. This has solved the air volume problem but a slight knocking noise has developed within the compressor. Essex was allocated to the NENTA tour from Dereham to Scarborough on the 21st June. The ECS for this tour was stabled at Dereham overnight and this gave the opportunity to give 47580 a really good clean. This visit to Dereham by 580 also made history in that all three of our locos were together for the first time.

We seem to be getting on top of the electrical gremlins that have plagued 596 over the past year. Only one incident occurred since April, this being a fault with the ETS stop button. Again a faulty wire was the cause and this was replaced and the problem was solved. On another occasion the engine would not shut down from any of the stop buttons, and this was traced to a burnt-out coil in the engine stop relay. The relay was replaced and which solved the problem. An operating issue saw major damage to the ETS jumper box and cable at No 1 end. After running round its train at Wymondham 596 was being reconnected to the train and the brake pipes and ETS jumpers were connected, but the shunter forgot to put the coupling between the loco and the coaches. Result was ETS jumper and box was destroyed on the loco and the leading coach. Aldeburgh Festival was needed the next day to haul the Heritage Award train to Thuxton and back. All hands to the pump and a replacement ETS box and cable were fitted in time for 596 to make the train.

On Wednesdsy 21^st 47367 moved to its new home at the Mid Norfolk Railway.

In September of the previous year an opportunity arose over the steam gala to check over the underside of the loco giving a chance to check over number one bogie over since its bogie swap in late 2010. Under number one bogie a broken split pin in the handbrake assembly was replaced and the axle bolt keep plates were tightened. Other work to be done there was some excess play in the dampers and the "J" bolts were badly worn. On the number two bogie the brake block carrier were greased together with the canon tubes and traction motors. Traction motors were also inspected with all commutator faces looking good. All the brushes lengths where checked and all were within tolerance. Most motors will require Motak in the gear housing to be topped up, and number two motor had its inspection plate repaired and re-bolted into place. Number two motor had an ingress of hydrostatic oil which is not uncommon on 47's. It is where the oil from the fan drives drips off the feed pipe and is sucked into the traction motor blower system. Into November and with winter on the horizon a check was made on the strength of the anti-freeze level within the engines cooling system. The check showed the levels to be safe to -6 degrees. In early December a additional quantity of neat anti-freeze was added to the system and another sample taken; this time protection was to -14. When the power unit was run up to temperature for the first sample a noise was noted from one of the cylinder heads on the "B" bank of the engine. The following weekend the rocker covers for heads B4 to B6 were removed for an investigation. With valve clearances checked and found as they should be along with no visually apparent problems they were put back together. The remaining rocker covers were removed the flowing weekend to check the remainder of the power unit.

During October 47580 returned to Southall and was put to work on various steam charters and ECS movements. It became apparent that the recently installed turbo ex-851 was not performing particularly well when under load and had developed a chirping noise so when 580 returns to Carnforth the spare turbo off 829 will be fitted into 580. In November was returning back to Southall after an Ely to York charter when Network Rail notified West Coast that the loco on the rear of the train had a wheel flat and the engine on the rear was unfortunately 580. When back at Southall an inspection found number 6 wheel set at revealed a flat and with a second report visit a wheel lathe at Tyesely in January. In December 580 sustained a gash in the aluminium cab at number 2 end and has had a temporarily. patch of filler for the time being. This left us with no choice – Essex had to. In January 580 plus ten coaches left Carnforth and headed for Tyesley, the consist being towed by 47786. Later in the month 580 had returned to Southall and was due a B exam.

In November more electrical gremlins had cropped up with the reported a fault by a driver with the ETS indication lamp in the number 1 end cab stayed on when ETS was switched off and thinking it would just be a case of replacing another cable we set about tracing the fault. After putting in the battery isolation switch the engine room was suddenly filling up with acrid smoke and it became noticeable that a 2 inch conduit had burn marks on outer painted surface which carries around seventy control cables was burning. Fault was caused by a very serious short circuit inside the conduit which had set fire to the cable insulation. The battery isolation switch was very quickly knocked out and the loco evacuated to let the fumes dissipate. Being only three weeks away from the Santa Special season. The cables were packed into the conduit with no room around them, and as a result the conduit contained far more cables than it should have done. When the locomotive had its ETS conversion about 30 extra cables were drawn in with the existing 40 cables, thereby giving no air space around the cables. The conduit had also suffered from corrosion damage around the clamps which hold the conduit to the body side as water was dripping out of the conduit end. After much pulling we managed to extract one cable from the conduit and sure enough the cable had blown in half. This had to be our worst nightmare and were faced with seventy cables all which could have been damaged and as they were either green or grey and only having a three numbered ID tags on the ends of the cables knowing where the damaged cables went required some detective work to trace where they came from. Only option to keep the loco available for the Santa season was to cut and pull each wire out one at a time and join a new length of cable to the existing cable with an in-line crimp which was also heat shrieked on and re-join it at the other end of the conduit with another in-line crimp. The problem we did have was that some wires were blown in half needing to be traced and re-joined as there traced through and identified their points of origin. The rewiring was completed in two weeks with 596 working all the Santa specials with 47579 being the only two serviceable ETS locos on the railway. A further problem came to light when the loco was taken off the stock to be fuelled the driver's brake valve would not work at the No. 1 end and and was replaced curing the brake fault. The next event was the winter diesel gala over 28/29th December with 596 working top and tail on the vacuum braked set with various other vacuum-braked locos. All went well on the Saturday, but on Sunday after getting back to Dereham on the first trip 596 shut down just before departure. After trying to restart with no joy we had no choice but to pull the loco from the gala line up. First investigations suggested that the AC generator was not producing any voltage to supply the auxiliary machines: the problem turned out to be very simple, but took a quite a time to trace. When working top and tail vacuum braked trains the rear locomotive has to be kept running to provide air to the air brakes work on the tail loco. The vacuum exhauster's in the rear engine have to be switched out, and this is achieved by turning two rotary switches to the isolated position. The problem was the No. 1 vacuum exhauster switch to the isolated position which on 596 isolates the auxiliary generator exciter field, hence no generated voltage for the auxiliary machines. Once the switches were correctly sequenced the auxiliary voltage returned and problem solved. Work has continued on the replacement roof section: all new metal has been tacked into position and awaits welding to complete the job. The underside of the roof has been completely stripped and sealed with primer. This roof section must be replaced as soon as possible.

During July the coarse fuel filters were removed and cleaned which had become clogged up along with the fuel gauge in number 2 fuel tank had been removed unseized and replaced to ensure a more accurate and reliable. The fuel system was been bled through after the tanks were refilled. Maintenance work has been carried out the cab window drop light windows with the No.2 end cabs required minimal work with only a light lubrication, number 1 cab driver side requiring a repair as the drop light glass which had come away from the bottom tray which is attached to the scissor mechanism. The hydrostatic system that powers the cooling fans had developed a leak on the connector on the feed to the thermostat control which adjusts the radiator fan speed. The joint was dismantled and a rubber seal was to be defective and was inverted to make a temporary repair which has stemmed the leak dramatically. A permanent repair with a new joint on the hydrostatic coupling has the was carried out. Some electrical repairs have been carried out with the switch for the foot warmer can now be switched off along with the cab lighting switches had required some rewiring. The pull cord for the battery isolation switch also required replacement as the previous one had frayed and the charging socket on the left hand side of the loco has been re-wired meaning that the loco can now be charged on both sides. Also planed schedule of maintenance for the bogies has been ongoing with brake rigging been greased on both bogies along with a grease line to a pivot point having to be renewed. The hand brake linkage on the number one bogie reacquiring some new split pins to replace the originals. The additional under slung fuel tank which has been isolated for a number of years has been drained and the fuel which was found not to be contaminated and is now ready for refilling.

After returning to Carnforth from Dereham in July Essex regularly been been used to assist steam hauled charter trains which has been a Network rail requirement due to the hot dry weather. Steam tours require a diesel loco being vacuum braked which makes 580 ideally suited for this work. Towards the end of August one of the engine injector tubes on B bank was found to be leaking badly so 580 was being taken out of traffic for repairs which also required one of the heads to be changed. To carry out a head change involves a lot of work with the inlet manifold, exhaust and water systems all have to be removed from B bank to gain access to enable the refurbished head to be fitted. It was during this work that the engine inspection covers were removed: a routine inspection of the main crank shaft bearings and found that the clamping arrangement which keeps the top bearing cap in place required adjusting and the shells where top and tailed. This requires the bottom shell to be swapped over with the corresponding top shell shell. The bearing wedges which make up the clamping arrangement for each main bearing had to be removed to access the bearings and then knocked back in and the locking plates refitted then bolted in to place. This procedure was carried out on all 4 thrust bearings and 10 intermediate main bearings. With repairs complete Essex was ready to resume main line duties. 580 suffered a seized turbo charger in September which required replacement so work started to strip out 580’s turbocharger which requires sections of exhaust inlet, water and oil pipe work to be removed. Also to two inter coolers have to be removed to allow the turbo to be lifted out through the roof. With the old turbo removed preparations were made to fix in the replacement and put back the inter coolers and water, oil pipe work and exhaust. By October the turbo work was complete but required a repair to part of the brake rigging. After working off Carnforth 580 has been working off Southall to the West of London.

47596 has remained in traffic and has see use during July including a replacement DMU turn. September 596 was used at the autumn diesel gala and has been used on various driver experience days. 596 has also been to Hoe north of Dereham taking coaching stock for storage prior to the DMU gala in October. 596 has suffered from more electrical issues. The first being the loss of all the warning lights on the number two desk and was traced to a broken negative return wire with a replacement wire solving the problem. In July a more serious event occurred an issue with a battery cell meant the loco failed to start. With a new set of batteries being purchased a new set being delivered in August and fitted immediately keeping the loco in traffic. Another wiring issue arose in October with the engine stop button failed to shut down the power unit from number two end cab desk. This was traced to a broken feed wire to the stop button with another wire being put in curing the problem. Work has also continued on the replacement boiler room roof with the rotten metal been cut out and new steel sections have been purchased ready to be welded into position. Also the existing paint has been stripped off ready for repainting and has revived a coat of primer once a section has been striped back.

In April the control cubicle received examnation along with the contacts under the control desk checked as well. The battery isolation switch was checked in May, No.1 compressor fuse became life expired had to be replace while out in service. The new engine room filters cages along with the new air filters have been fitted replacing the long expired paper framed air filters. In June 367 received a FTR prior to the NNR’s annual diesel gala. Two th wiper blades have been replaced by the end of the month.

47580 returned back to Carnforth in April and ran light engine Dereham to Norwich on Sunday 15th to return with the ECS from the previous days NENTA which would head back on the Monday. On return to Carnforth the planned exchange of 47580 silencer box was removed and repairs to the inner liner housing were carried out. A repaired silencer box ex 47236 was craned in and the exhaust system reconnected which saw 47580 back in traffic by the beginning of May. County of Essex has remained in traffic and has been employed on mainly vacuum-braked steam charters working off Southall as well as Carnforth. The recent period of hot weather has seen a steam ban imposed by Network Rail across much of the country, prohibiting steam excursions running with just a steam loco. One job has seen 47580 involved in moving 46233 and 61306 along with assonated support coaches to the Mid Norfolk steam gala.

Repairs have started on the auxiliary room roof section which is off 47791 which was scrapped at Booths earlier in the year. The roof section is to replace the existing one on 47596 once repaired. 47596 has visited the East Lancashire Diesel gala along with 47579, 50026 and 73210 from the MNR. The convoy departed on Monday using DCR 31190 and the convoy left for Castleton then reversed on to branch before proceeding to ELR boundary at Heywood and then on to Bury. 47596 preformed over the 3 days with some issues arising. Filed divert on the electrical system caused an issue so was isolated. On the last day another electrical issue which meant the loco would start when you put the BIS in so was withdrawn for the remainder of the day. Once back at Dereham traced an a new wire in the starting control circuit was required. A falt effecting the vaccum control side of the brakes was identified and rectified.

Over the spring 47367 has remained largely available for traffic. During winter the vinyl names “Kenny Cockbird” were added to the body sides. The No2 end cab drivers desk has been finished. The No.2 compressor had been poor in performance had its valve chages stripped in February and found to have two broken springs. These were replaced and the valve chage overhauled and refitted with new gaskets. The difference can now be seen when watching the main reservoir air gauge rise considerably quicker than before. A fault was found with the compartment lighting was traced to a loose connection in the No1 end cab desk. In March a radiator inspection cover was replaced. These are perspex covers that allow you to check the radiator elements for leaks etc from inside the loco.

An ungrade to the GSM Radio system was undertaken and associated problem rectified. With the GSMR system going live on the 1st January in the southern half of England south of the wash in east and the river severn in the wast.we sorted the problems just in time. In late February started the C Exam and other required work. The following wark has taken place 2 traction motors were rebrushed with new carbon brushes also the main generator has been deep cleaned and the rebrushed with 72 new brushes. The dual wound Brush BL100 ETS / Auxiliary alternantor has been cleaned and the fan cover repainted. All the motors for the auxiliary equipment have been cleaned and brush lengths checked. Fuel filters have been cleaned and the elements changed. Traction motor gear cases have been recharged with the dreaded Motac. Brake blocks replaced and the brakes adjusted. A replacement silencer box has been fitted. This has been fitted at Carnforth.

47596 worked the Santa special trains mainly with 47579. During this period both 579 and 596 suffered with ETS problems. 47596 developed a electrical fault and caused problems when supplying ETS and traction power but not when tested inderpendatly. The fault was traced down to a control circuit breaker and was replacement with 20 amp control circuit breakers.

The cab floor has now been finished in the number one end and two coats of primer have been applied after which brand new lino was laid on the floor. The rubbing down of surfaces in the number two end cab is nearly finished. Attention on the electrical motors on the auxiliary equipment with attention to the carbon brushes. The batteries have received spring check up topped up where needed and the covers for the field diverts in the old boiler room have been replaced. The original metal cages that house the air filters are also being cleaned and painted ready to receive new filters before refitting. Prior to the NNR Diesel gala from friday 25^th Sunday 27^th May. 47367 profited from an all over wash to remove the dirt and grime that comes with 47367 living in a yard. Those of you that attended the gala in May will know that all was not plain sailing with 367 with steam locos.

County of Essex continues to fly the ‘Flag ‘for the group on the main line working on a regular basis for West Coast Railways. As I am sure many of you will have noticed the paint work is showing signs of deterioration particularly the roof and cabs, not surprising when you consider that it is four years and some 30,000 main line miles since the loco was painted at Tyseley. 2012 marked two major events, the Queens Diamond Jubilee and the Olympic Games. Both these events are linked to Stratford TMD. Stratford depot turned heads back in 1977 when they painted 47163 and 47164 with silver roofs and large Union Jacks on the body sides for the Queens silver Jubilee. The Olympic Games connection is a little tenuous but it’s fair to say that Stratford TMD lies below the Olympic stadium complex. To mark both these events it was decided that we would recreate the 1977 livery. WCRC at Carnforth were contracted with the job of carrying out the work. After completing the Dumfries to Cardiff charter for Compass tours on the 11th May 47580 moved into the Carnforth paint shop on the 14th May. The work specification included all bodywork and roof repairs before being primed and spray painted with two pack paint. The roof was to be silver, body sides rail blue with full yellow ends and the Union Jacks were to be a vinyl transfers, the flag measured 10ft x 5ft. These were to be supplied and fitted by an external contractor. Numbers, data panels, shed code and overhead line stickers came form our usual supplier. By the 24th May all the work had been completed and 47580 was taken out of the paint shop. County of Essex looked superb as she emerged into the daylight for the first time after being repainted. The following weekend, June 2nd, was the official Jubilee weekend and Peter Watkinson who runs Statesman Rail tours was running a charter from Newport to Carlisle. Statesman Rail tours had a Diamond Jubilee head board and flags to put on the leading loco and when 47580 in all her glory got chosen over the booked WCR loco. The rest as they say is history. 47580 worked his train complete with head board and flags left Carnforth on the front of the Statesman Train.

Number two end cab refurbishment work has continued. All instruments and switch panels have been stripped, primed and spray painted with pale blue top coat with reconditioned calibrated set of instruments and switches fitted. These complete components will be installed into 47596 after the main driver’s desk has been stripped and spray painted. Just prior to the Stratford weekend 47596 issue with not starting without holding the engine rack open. After various investigations the to oil priming pump was exchanged. This was carried out on the 4^th of April and since that time no start up problems have occurred. One of the buffers at Number two end and had lost its compression and the buffer head could be turned by hand and it would also stick in when compressed. Fortunately a spare was found and changing the damaged buffer. After the Stratford weekend 47596 would not take power, the fault was traced to an open circuit coil on the PCR (Power Control relay) and was replaced and solved the problem. At the beginning of May we where approached by the North Norfolk Railway for the hire of 47596. This was to replace D5631 on the NNR diesel gala and would be a rare opportunity for 47367 and 47596 to be together at the same event. The move by rail was to take place with 596 being picked up by DCR at Wymondham who were moving 55019 to the North Norfolk Railway from the Nene Valley Railway . Several inspections where required to be carried out. These included an UAT (Ultrasonic Axle Test) and a FTR (Fitness to Run exam), along with getting 47596 re registered on the TOPS system. First the UAT was asked carried out then the FTR exam took place on the along with the re- registration on TOPS. However 47596 status on TOPS was not correct and jurney by road to the North Norfolk Railway at Sheringham. The move took place on the 24th May. An Allelys lorry arrived at Dereham in the morning and loaded the loco and by 6pm she was unloaded at Sheringham. 47596 joined 47367, 55019 and 25057 and worked over the three days of the gala from friday 25^th Sunday 27^th May. Repair to electrical contactor in the electrical cubicle again the cause of the problem was an open circuit coil.

Repairs this winter have seen work on the cab floor in the number one end progress with the wood under the that goes under the lino being fitted. Before the wood could be fitted the metal under floor has been cleaned and prepped with rust killer then primer before being painted. Then the new sections of treated wood were been fitted before the new section of lino could be fitted. Other gremlins whis winter caused by the cold spell in January found a part in the cooling system that the anti-freeze had not circulated to needed repair. A few of the unions at the water pressure gauge were damaged and initially were repaired with a brazing but have since been replaced with relpacement pipes and unions. Also the cover plate on the fly wheel cover has received some attention along with the wheel slip overload contactor which had been had been troublesome. After several years at the railway the group now has a storage container on site at last. This arrived in early January and after repairs has been painted green in accordance with the railways wishes. The task of sorting out several years worth of spares and other items that had been stored across the site is well in hand. Tests to check for any problems with the vacuum brake proportionality and some unexplained engine shut down problems that have been experienced.

47580 arrived at Dereham on Monday the 5th December after working the NENTA tour from Norwich to Skipton. The following weekend it was in charge of the Santa specials at the Mid Norfolk Railway and remained in use until the last mince pie special on the 2nd Janruary. In the winter break at the MNR gave us the opportunity to carry out a C exam and give 47580 some well-earned TLC. Items that required attention have been the screw link coupling at No 1 end, the strike plate at No. 2 end had been damaged and was removed at Carnforth. The buffer beam was re drilled and tapped and a replacement strike plate fitted. Auxiliary equipment electrical motors have been inspected, cleaned. Traction motors 1, 4 and 5 have also received new brushes, as did the No. 1 Compressor and No. 2 traction motor blower. Motac levels in the traction motor gear cases were checked and topped up as necessary. The loco was greased with around 150 greasing points to attend to. Also 24 of the roof mounted air filter elements were changed and fuel filter elements replaced as well. The C exam was completed just before the mixed traffic weekend enabling 47580 to take part. On Monday the 20th February 580 left Dereham to run light engine to Carnforth. This enabled Network rail to install the new GSMR radios into 47580. GSMR is the latest form of cab radio and has to be fitted to all main line registered locos that work south of a line from Grimsby to Swansea will be using the new GSMR radio technology. North of this line the old NRM radios will still be used but will be changed over in time. This means that both old and new radios will be needed in the loco. We must thank WCRC for their help in this matter. The loco arrived at Carnforth on Monday 20th February. The following day contractors moved in and soon got busy running cables and installing the various items of equipment connected with the GSMR system. The work was completed by Friday 24th. The system will need to be registered with Network rail and a test transmission carried out. 580 will then be ready for the switch over in December and has remained at Carnforth and has already been used on two occasions by WCRC.

The replacement roof (ex 47298) has been fitted to 47596 and this duly happened on the 14th and 15th of December. Using a Hiab lorry we carried out two major tasks. First the 14th the container which had been kept at Bentley near Ipswich, was picked up and transported to Weybourne. Once unloaded the Hiab lorry then picked up the roof and silencer box. This was then taken to Dereham the following day to be put on to 47596. Using the Hiab crane, the roof was levelled up as the silencer sits inside the roof. Then the tricky job of positioning the roof on to the loco was attempted. This had to be carefully manoeuvred to avoid the electrical cabinets at the No. 2 end and engine exhaust. The roof it was gradually lowered in to position and the roof eventually settled on to the body sides not easy as the replacement roof is off a Crewe built loco but went on remarkably well. However only a few of the fixing holes lined up so the rest of the day was spent re drilling and bolting down the roof. With the roof refitted, 47596 at last looked like a complete loco again for the first time in 30 months. Other tasks included, connecting up the exhaust bellows to the silencer box, refitting three newly refilled and certified CO2 fixed fire bottles alog with antifreeze which was added to the cooling system giving protection to -15 C. Also the engine room light fittings were put back in and the batteries were checked over and recharged. The auxiliary equipment was given a maintenance check and with all the necessary work completed the start button was pushed and although engine turned over it would not fire without the aid of the fuel racks being held open manually. With on fault with the electrical run circuit the attention turned to the triple pump. One of the functions of this pump is to prime the engine and circulate engine oil into the governor. The oil pressure opens the fuel racks so that the engine can fire and stay running. Stripping down this part of the pump we discovered that a nylon gear wheel driving the pump had sheared off. A spare pump and gear wheel was fitted to the triple pump when the start button was pushed again the fuel racks opened and 596 burst in to life and ran for the first time in twelve weeks. Further checks were made to the loco including loco brakes, driver safety systems and a fitness to run exam. These were completed on the 1st of January which lead the way to take 47596 on a loaded test run on the 14:00 mince pie special the following day. The plan was for 596 to top 580 plus six coaches and a dead 37 on the rear giving a total load of around 400 tons. The test run went well with the engine running smoothly and powerfully between Dereham and Wymondham. At last 47596 was back in traffic. A great relief to everybody involved with the engine overhaul. The next mile stone was to get the loco ready for the mixed traffic gala on the 18th February. The following tasks were under taken in the period before the mixed traffic event, 2 replacement flexible oil pipe sections on the suction side of the triple pump, replacement header gauge glass, pointer and bezel, replacement head lamp No 2 end, over spill pipes from injectors, roof joints sealed, cleaning and painting ETS compartment, repairs to radiator louvers and a new resistor and capacitor in the ETS circuit, cleaning and painting 24 air filter frames and fitting new filter pads to the frames. On the 18th and 19th February 47596 worked during the Mid Norfolk Railway's mixed traffic gala hauling both the air and vacuum sets of stock, with and without 47580. The loco performed faultlessly over the weekend with no reported problems. Since the Mixed traffic weekend we have started to overhaul No. 2 Cab which is still very much in as bought condition. The AWS system has seen repair's. Roof repairs to the ETS compartment are on-going.

47367 has managed to operate a full season with North Norfolk Railway. With only one major issue occurring. This was with charging of the batteries along with starting of the loco and 47367 was failed on shed with flat batteries on Saturday 20th before its booked red service diagram. This was traced to a battery cell which got strapped out but other issues where found during the testing of the wiring on the charging circuit. This was traced down to a fault with the crimps on the ends of the wires from the charging sockets of which had also been replaced by better ones out redundant 56's at Thomson scrap yard. Issues where also found with the battery cables which link the 4 separate battery boxes together were in very poor condition and had started to track the voltage to earth via the locomotive’s body work so needed replacing. So over the following weeks 2 of the cables were removed and replaced with new cabling and crimp connectors. All buss bars where cleaned along with the battery isolation switch which was removed to gain access to the charging wires which needed repairing. While the wiring was being sorted out the strapped out battery cell was removed and reconditioned with new battery acid which bright it back to life. Following all this work 47367 was put on charge and the batteries took the charge enabling it to re-enter traffic and be utilised by the railway on the 22nd October on a full yellow service diagram.

The following minor faults have been rectified. Vacuum chamber gauge has been replaced No 1 end. Train brake valve has been replaced No 2 end. Drop light window drivers side No 1 end.

After starting 47596 various checks were carried out and it was noted that the header tank gauge was slowly dropping, losing around half a tank in a week. We checked all the head seals, hoses, and liner seals these were all ok so we turned our attention to the radiator elements and sure enough two were found to have a small leak. The two elements were removed and replaced with pre pressure tested reclaimed elements. The cooling system is now water tight internally the painting of the engine compartment has continued this has included colour coding all the pipe work to conform to BS pipe identification standard for railway locomotives, very smart it looks to. The next item to receive attention which was the last major component for the engine compartment, the replacement roof ex 47298. The roof its self having been picked as it was basically in good condition and has already under gone cleaning and painting. The problem being the exhaust box compartment which houses the silencer box, the metal at the bottom of this double skinned box is completely rotten. This has been caused by years of water ingress into the exhaust outlet on the top of the roof, with no drain the water cannot get out so corrosion was inevitable. This work has to be carried out by the North Norfolk Railway staff at Weybourne as a contract job. As the have a skilled sheet metal fabricator and a welder that can weld very thin metal. We had twice had people lined up to carry out the repairs on both occasions we have been let down with the NNR being the only hope of getting the work carried out in time for 47596 to have a chance doing the MNR's Santa specials. The only problem being that we would have to get the roof moved to the NNR. Before the roof left we removed all the fibre glass panels and door hatchers. These were steam cleaned and resealed with fibre glass resin and in some cases new fibber glass matting. The roof moved to the NNR on the 7th Sept and work started at the beginning of October. As I write this report the silencer chamber is complete. We have been up at Weybourne cleaning and painting the roof. The silencer box in the roof also received attention from the NNR staff with bottom half being repaired before the remainder was de rusted before being painted silver. The silencer box was installed to ensure a good fit.

47367 re-entered revenue earning service on April 10th After nearly three and half years of work resplendent in her new coat of blue paint. 47367 worked four out and back trips as if was the NNR's vintage bus week end. So far the loco has performed 400 miles in traffic to date. With loco availably opportunity for 47367 to have some running repairs limited but still carried out. During this time a long list of jobs were attended to which included (in no particular order):
All electrical contacts under the control desks of both cabs removed and cleaned before being replaced. The DM2 brake valve at the no1 end was removed and stuck valve cleaned and replaced.
Whilst this valve was out, access was gained to the vacuum exhauster speed up switch which has now been wired in as far as the contactors.
One of the main oil leaks was also attended to after being traced to the oil pressure feed to a rocker gear on one cylinder head. This was found to be a banjo bolt the needed tightening up.
The engine room walkways have been refitted.
The roof panel above the turbo that had leaked for many years was removed to allow access to a bent bracket that had stopped it being fitted correctly.
Once the bracket was straightened the panel fitted perfectly and now does not leak. Above the no1 end compartment the radiator elements have benefited from a steam clean.
The rear marker lights from the no2 end cab were removed completely, shot blasted, repainted and re-wired back in and all now work.
Tinsley fitted Auxiliary room lights needed attention.

Since being at Carnforth 47580 had suffered from a blowing exhaust and leaking injector pumps since the Keighley gala in May. Work to correct this has been carried out by WCRC on our behalf and 47580 returned to traffic hauling the NENTA tour to Carlisle on the 25th of June.

The rebuilding of the engine block started at the beginning of May. This required all twelve liners and pistons assemblies lifting in with a Hiab lorry. This required help from Kevin Cook to assist us the fitting of in the reassembly to enable to get the job done I the 3 day window. Day 1. First in were the twelve liners complete with new rubber o ring seals, Gore-Tex tape top joint and soft iron rings. Day 2. Twelve pistons complete with new rings and new big end bearings installed in to the liners. Day 3. Bottom bearing caps fitted. Everything went to plan thanks to all those that made it possible. At the end of May we prepared to fit the 12 cylinder heads onto the engine block. Again we required the Hiab lorry and another good spell of weather. All twelve cylinder heads were lowered in to place with in the day along with 96 cylinder head nuts and air intake manifolds. The air intake manifold is fitted to ensure that the cylinder heads sit square on the block. The following weekend the cylinder heads where tighten down with the aide of a torque multiplier and torque wrench. Each cylinder head has eight studs and these have to be tightened down in four stages and have to be done in star paten to ensure that cylinder heads are pulled down square. This is very hard work as the last torque setting is 800 lbs per foot. Next stage which was to refit the 12 injectors, 24 push tubes, 12 spill pipes, lubricating pipes, injector feed pipes and 12 rocker arms. The water rail was then fitted to the cylinder heads across the top of the block. We then filled the block with water for the first time and an inspection showed no leaks from the liners. Work has continued fitting the remaining water pipes. At the end of June we refilled the entire water system and ran the triple pump for the first time, a pressure of 15 psi was achieved for about 10 minutes. Apart from one leaking flange the system and the liners appeared sound. On the 24th of July 47596 was started for the first time in 26 months after the engine was turned off before repairs to the 12LDA 28C Sulzer engine block. The sound of a Sulzer 12LDA 28C without a silencer box is awesome as the roof repairs have yet to be completed.

The planned bogie swap has now taken place. This was not without its usual twists and turns. Sonicrail were contacted to do the lift as they had a quartet of thirty five tonne lifting jacks available and were able to work within the railway's time frame. The lift took place during the days between Christmas and New Year and was completed in less than three working days. Following the successful bogie swap 47367 was moved back to the main shed over a pit to allow traction cables and traction motor bellows etc to be reconnoitred. The roof rub down and repair work has been competed and had been painted in red oxide, and had to wait two months before receiving a coat of blue undercoat. Testing locos systems uncovered a few electrical contacts needing a clean before being successfully started and being able to move under its own power within the confines of the yard. Other work body work undertaken in recent months has been the removal of the multi working plugs and overhaul of the marker light housings from the cab ends along wing a coat of BR Blue for the roof. The floor of the number one end cab is also receiving attention due to the old adage of stuck door syndrome. 47367's first booked turn was on Sunday April 10th.

47580 arrived at Dereham after completing the Christmas NENTA to Newcastle on the Saturday 4th December. The Loco ran light engine from Norwich the flowing day Sunday 5th December. The winter break us the opportunity to carry out a few major jobs that required doing. The first priority was to strip down the heat exchanger (oil/water) which had developed some small leaks on the joints from either end. After draining and saving the anti freeze coolant the heat exchanger was stripped down and cleaned, the unit was then fitted with new 'O' rings, gaskets and bolts and then reassembled with a replacement end cap on one end. On the 13th March a battery cell failed during the gala so 47580 missed the afternoon turn as she failed to start. A new set had been ordered but not arrived in time. This was so 47580 set could be cascaded down for 47596 which had in turn donated its batteries to 47367 a year before. The new set of batteries came from Rail Traction Supplies and due to H&S weight limit of 25kgs for lifting by hand. So Battery boxes could only carry 2 cells instead of the normal 4. This meant 24 boxes instead of the normal 12. All the connecting links now have to be insulated in such a way that metal tools cannot short out across the terminals. Overcoming these changes we fitted the batteries in to 47580 and installed the old set in to 47596. The next task was to remove the turbo inlet air manifold on the B side of the engine as B6 inlet gasket had blown. The OTMR unit was sent away for repair and battery upgrade. A full B exam was also carried out was ready to leave the MNR at the end of April taking 56101, routed via Hitchin to pick up 56301 and 56302. The convoy arrived at Barrow Hill late that evening. After stabling overnight 47580 ran light engine to Carnforth the following morning.

Work ork has continued preparing the engine components for 47596 to enable us to start rebuilding of the engine. The piston heads have been remachined to execpt the new set of piston and oil scraper rings with the top ring grove requiring turning to accept 8mm rings. Next the respective piston head were connected to their con rods. This was carried out by heating the aluminium pistons to expand them and then the piston was lined up with the con rod and the gudgeon pin was inserted connecting the two together. With all twelve pistons and con rods complete the new piston and oil scraper rings were put in to the piston grooves. The complete piston and con rod assembly were covered with plastic to protect them from dust and dirt. Next one the list for attention were the twelve heads with the exhaust valves being replaced with the originals were badly pitted stems with the inlet valves having valve seats machined and reused. All the valves had to be ground in using copious amounts of grinding paste to ensure a good sealing face with the valve seat in the head. Meanwhile the cleaning and painting of the engine room conparment continued, most of the internal walls have been completed.

Work continues at the Weybourne workshops at the North Norfolk railway readying 47367 for the 2011 operating season. The planned autumn body lift to enable the bogie swap to take place has been re-scheduled to the end of the year. The bogie that is being overhauled only requires the spider to be refitted before going under 47367. All four slack adjusters that were overhauled earlier in the year have now been refitted. The dampers that sit between the spider and mainframe have been cleaned and repainted along with new upper rubber bushes being fitted. On the loco itself the body side repaint is virtually finished with just one final top coat left to apply once all the other work has been completed. One cab side out of four is still requiring topcoat but this also will await the completion of all the other work. Attention has now turned to the roof section. All the rotted sections of lower roof have been cut out to a height of 85mm and the inner mounting frame cut out where required. A new mounting frame has been re-welded into place and new skin welded to the old roof section. The rest of the roof is in the process of being rubbed down prior to the planned repaint into blue.

Essex has been very busy this year and most maintenance has been carried out at Carnforth. This has included three A Exams, re-blocking, new brushes in No.1 Compressor and both Vacuum Exhauster's. In October 47580 arrived at Dereham bringing locos for the 37 Gala as it was scheduled to stay there for ten days, the opportunity was taken to carry out the required B Exam. This involves about one hundred maintenance tasks; all have to be carried out and signed off in line with the VMI. Essex was then ready to return the convoy and make her way back to Carnforth. Thanks go to the familiar band of helpers who help keep the tyres turning.

Work has continued at Dereham preparing the various engine parts in readiness for the rebuilding of the power unit. "A" bank piston bodies have been returned from the machinist, all the top ring grooves have been turned to take an 8mm over sized piston ring such was the where. Three piston bodies have had the second ring groove turned to take 7mm rings oversize piston rings. All the remaining piston rings have been ordered as require for the rebuild. The following tasks have also been carried out. The heat exchanger has been pressure tested this was found to have leaking seals at one end. The heat exchanger was stripped down cleaned and new seals fitted, it was then pressure tested to 70 psi with no further leaks found. Over a period of three days in October a major task was carried out. The main crankshaft bearings were removed for inspection. This is one of the most difficult tasks to carry out on a Sulzer power unit it involves the removal of the balance weights, bearing wedges and locking plates from each bearing. The balance weights weigh somewhere in the region of 35kilos and twelve have to be removed. There are ten main bearing and four thrust bearings to check. Each bearing comes in two halves after inspection the bearing shells can if necessary be top and tailed, most of the wear occurs on the bottom shell if the top shell is in good condition then this can go into the bottom and the bottom in the top. The bearings were found in be in reasonable condition, with about eight requiring the T and T procedure. The engine room floor has been removed and the sump under the power unit has been steam cleaned, this was then painted with primer and black topcoat. The aluminium floor was cleaned and then refitted into the loco. The engine compartment has also been primed and under coated and now awaits its topcoat of grey. Away from the loco the roof ex 47298 has been under coated and topcoat silver grey has been applied to all areas except around the exhaust box where repairs have been on going replacing corroded metal. Four of the twelve cylinder heads have had their valves ground and have been undercoated and then top coated with grey gloss paint. This is a time consuming procedure as lack of space means we have to use the forklift to move the heads around after we have completed each one. The big end bearings where delivered to site in October, once we have taken delivery of the remaining piston rings we can start to rebuild the power unit.