For once the weather forecast was good all weekend. So it turned out. I returned the repainted grab handles to the unit ready for refitting on Friday morning. The rest of the early part of the day was spent in fitting the No. 2 side doors, grinding down the insets and undercoating. The weather was so good that I managed to clean down the No. 1 side passenger & Driver's doors and get the first undercoat on them.

Saturday was spent on Guard's duty but I still managed to get the second coat of undercoat on the No. 1 side doors.

Sunday was spent in getting the first top coat of beige on the No. 1 side doors and on Monday the final top coat was applied. All that is required now is to refit the locks where required, top coat the outside of the doors, refit the grab handles and cross members, apply the transfers and refit the internal panels then the No. 1 side doors are complete. I rescued enough bright screws from the tin for the cross members on the doors and the screws are now in place ready for the panels.

I also removed more electrical covers ready for repainting and refitting. These were ground down at home ready for priming and painting.

Dick and I measured up the wheel sets and the dimensions are as below :-

The tyre thickness is fine with a minimum of 17 mm. of metal to turn down with. This will enable at least 4 turnings to take place. I suspect the best thing will be to get the wheelsets turned down at Tyseley when we remove the bogies. At least that will mean we will most probably not have to do them again in the foreseeable future. They can also do the UAT on the axles and spin test the bearings.

The cardan shafts will be ready for collection late this week and Dick will collect them late next week ready for the lift.

Next weekend I will prepare the unit for lifting. Stuart is coming down to video the lift and that will be for the video for OOC.

PWM651 was being worked on by Nick and the proportional valve has been located and the locomotive now works correctly with the stock it is working. It is now a fully functional locomotive ready for service. All that is required is a good clean down to get it back to pristine yellow for its unveiling at the June Diesel Gala.

The railway was expecting Class 25 No. D7529 to be delivered by Goodmans during the week. It finally arrived on Saturday April 10th.

I arrived on the railway at 0900 hrs ready to get W55003 ready for the bogie lift next week just as Dave was getting the floating rake ready for shunting down to Pitsford Siding.

I went down in the Guard's van and did the shunt. We took the Class 27 and the blood & custard Mk I as barrier vehicle. Dave decided that he would rather have the Class 45 for power so he swapped locomotives.

Meanwhile the unloading saga continued. The loading ramp was finally constructed and the Mk I was dropped off the end of the track ready to couple up with the Class 25.

The rig however could not be used as per Allelys as the cab end did not have a winch and the unit could not be turned within the width of the path.. So we lashed up a chain around a suitable tree bole and rigged up a cable so that the rear winch could be used to let the locomotive down.

The only other problem was a 3 inch splay on the end of the rails used to offload the locomotive off the trailer.

Very gingerly the Class 25 was rolled off the trailer, was coupled to the Mk I and very slowly the Class 25 hauled the consist up onto NLR metals.

The Class 25 was immediately whisked away to Pitsford for work to start on the heads. The No 1 siding was shunted and the floating rake was returned to Pitsford.

All this took until 1400 hrs. so half of the day was gone before I could begin on readying W55003 for the lift.

By 1830 hrs. the unit was ready. I had taken off both cardan shafts, cut off both main casting retaining bolts, disconnected the AWS, vacuum brake system, hand brake system and final drives.

That night my left shoulder was in great pain and by the following morning I was not fit to do anything.

I eventually arrived on the line at about 1030 hrs.. All I was allowed to do was carry the tea tray or a little bit of steam cleaning. The only 'heavy' work that I did was to fit the lifting bar retaining pin to W55003 to make sure the lifting points were in order.

I left the railway at about 1300 hrs. in a sadly distressed state.

The following night was no better.

The next day I booked an appointment with the physiotherapist. The diagnosis? I had put a vertebra in my neck out of place. This was causing the shoulder pains not a torn ligament or Trapezius muscle. The physio put it back and I now feel like a spring chicken, if a slightly sore spring chicken. In fact I can turn my head so far I can see myself coming back!!!!

During the week I purchased a can of aluminium etch primer so I can now paint the aluminium box covers.

Jim telephoned from Glasgow and MCMetals will be no more after May 15th. A great loss to the preservation movement. I have agreed to purchase various spares from Jim as and when Tim and the lads go to Glasgow to collect the Sulzer spares.

The Bletchley Class 117s are on the move to Jim's yard so once again I have agreed what spares I require and Jim will ensure I have them. The main spare being a complete power car bogie.

The aluminium box covers were duly primed, undercoated and top coated and are now ready for refitting on the unit. The distribution box covers were done in Hammerite Silver with black lettering.

I agreed with Dick to take a couple of days off after the next weekend so we could get the bogies out, steam cleaned and checked by the RESCO men.

Saturday April 17th came and because of problems with the new Class 25 D7629 work was concentrated on lifting the heads, again! Dick and I went off to pick up some spares for W55001, after fabricating a new rear window for the pick-up, and when we returned the unit was in place for lifting.

Sunday morning arrived and the unit was prepared for lifting only to find that Dick had forgotten the starting handle for the pump!! We went off to Tyseley to get the spare one.

Eventually we began lifting the unit initially with the intention of lifting both ends separately. This proved to be unsuitable so we had to return to the original idea of lifting both ends. The unit was soon clear of the bogies and was down on the sleeper packing prepared.

The bogies appear to be in good condition with minimal wear in all pins and joints.

Monday April 19th was spent in steam cleaning both bogies and the underside of the unit. All frames are in good condition and more or less ready for repainting. The bogies are a pair both fitted to W55003 during its last works overhaul in 1991.

The following day Dick and I removed the oily spares from W55003 and took them over to W55001 parked on the far side of the road bridge. We fitted an exhauster, an alternator and one of the spare radiators.

The weather was extremely wet as the air tank inspector came onto the railway. All tanks including W55003 and PWM651 are now passed.

Keith arrived with the RESCO inspectors at about 1215 pm and after discussions, a tour of the unit and then of the railway pronounced themselves satisfied with the work in progress. They were also impressed with the railway itself. Once the unit is reunited with the bogies I shall call them again.

Keith and I have decided to put together a dossier of spare parts and start an identification system to identify what is where and in what condition.

Stuart's video of the preservation of W55001 & 3 arrived and with a few alterations will be OK.

On Wednesday after a word with Dave Newbury at Tyseley and a fax to confirm what work needs doing I will arrange with Allely's to move the bogies to Birmingham for the work to commence. All I need to do is arrange with Dick and/or Nick to use the crane to lift the bogies on and off.

The following Saturday I worked on the inside door panelling and fitted three panels with minimal recourse to the sander. Then I cleaned down and red-oxided the No. 2 end buffer shanks ready for red top coat. I also cleaned down and repainted the buffer heads in black.

One interesting fact from Michael Mensing's photographs of the Class 122s was the fact that where the coupling hook came out of the bufferbeam was painted black. This I copied and it looks splendid.

I replaced the repainted lighting fuse box covers, the heater connection box covers and the charging socket cover. They all look resplendent in their new coats of paint.

Sunday was to be the day when we lifted the bogies out into the car park ready for transportation. Lifting the bogies in and out of the siding was to prove problematical.

The No. 2 bogie was rolled out just where the slope up to the platform was and because of this and the overall weight needed to be 'broken up' in order to remove it piece by piece.

The hornstay rivets were taken off and the horn stays removed. The torque reaction linkpin was removed. This will need to be replaced. Finally the brake actuating bar under the No. 4 axle was unpinned and dropped.

The frame was lifted only as far as required to allow each set of wheels to be rolled out and lifted clear with the frames coming out last. As it transpired there was not enough room to remove the No. 4 axle without first having removed the bogie.

The problem with trying to lift a frame with unequal length cables was to prove a large hurdle to overcome. Eventually we managed it and soon all wheels were in the frames again ready for hauling into the car park.

Getting it through the gate was also a bit of fun and games as the bogie would not run where we wanted it to. By 1800 hrs however the job was done and we were all glad of it!

I suspect the No. 1 bogie will require the same treatment.

During the week I found that Jim had sold 51386 complete. There went my spare bogie!!

After consultation with John at Bletchley he recommended the No. 1 bogie off 51375, which I duly 'reserved' with Jim and arranged with Robert Allely to get it transported back.

I took the following Thursday afternoon, April 29th, in order to get the No. 1 bogie prepared for lifting. The two bogies are a matched pair Nos. 1316 & 1317.

The lads arrived back from Glasgow with the spares. I have now got most of everything I will need for a good few years, I hope!! One part of the chocolate & cream unit T305 No. 51368 has been saved i.e. all the glass. I know I've got it.

Dick, Gary & I then lifted the No. 1 bogie out into the car park with minimal fuss.

I got back home at about 2100 hrs just as the phone was ringing. It was Eric Smith, one of the owners of 55034 at Tyseley. He informed me that he and Bret had bought 51375 complete from Jim.

I was not happy, I thought another bogie had been sold from underneath me, as they say.

After explanation though Jim had only allowed 51375 to be sold on the condition that I had the No. 1 bogie complete. Eric and I have agreed that the bogie goes to Tyseley with 51375 and remains there until the unit is scrapped when it will be returned to me at Northampton.

All told this is a suitable arrangement to all concerned and I have made more contacts from within the movement.

The No. 1 bogie was moved on the Friday, April 30th but not without problems. I think a larger crane will need to be hired to crane them back into place.

The early Spring Bank Holiday weekend also coincided with our Thomas Weekend so no work was done on the unit at all.

I was Guard on Saturday & Monday morning turns and did my first firing turn for some years on the Sunday. You don't loose the touch, your back just aches a bit more the next day!!

Stuart has sent the proofs of the video cover and with minor adjustments will be fine. He has also finished the changes to the video and a copy will be down with me soon. Hopefully we will have copies ready for the Diesel gala in June.

Next weekend it will be back to painting the underframes and preparing the brake rigging that we dismantled, for when the bogies are returned.

The video arrived on Wednesday and is fine. Only a couple of minor points that I think are only noticeable by someone in the know. It will certainly do for the Gala.

I sold my first W55003 sweatshirt to Anita at work for her brother.

Good news arrived during the week when Dick pronounced all the axles had passed their UDT examination. By Sunday he had managed to regrease two of the axles and will do the rest next week with Nick's help. The wheel sets will also be turned down next week. The operator recommended a 5 mm. off each wheel to bring the flanges back into correct alignment. This will mean a tyre thickness of 48 mm. on the worst of the tyres. This means the tyres still have 4 good turns left in them.

Following telephone conversations with Bret & Eric they want to keep 51375 intact. This will involve getting me a replacement bogie. They have arranged for two power bogies to be sent down from Glasgow next Wednesday. Having seen the bogies at Bletchley I doubt if they will be any good.

The weekend after Thomas, May 8th and 9th started fine. On the Saturday I managed to red oxide all the frames in the bogie wells and as much as I could under the rest.

Once the red oxide had dried I them sprayed the main frames etc. with Chassis Black. By this time the weather had set in for rain so I abandoned any further work whilst I unstuck my eyes from the black paint!!!

Sunday dawned fair also and stayed good all day. I got all the eight brake adjuster rods cleaned down and painted in Chassis Black. I also painted the other two bogie brake rods in Chassis Black. The No. 2 end buffer beam and buffer stocks also received an extra coat of red paint.

The bogies should be returned by the weekend of May 22nd/23rd. However, whether the unit will run in the Diesel Gala on June 12th/13th will depend on the family of Wagtails nesting on the No. 1 air intake oil separator. There are two eggs in the nest at present.

The lads trip to Glasgow provided me with two Driver's brake valves and an extra vacuum relief valve for under the desk. I loaded these into the car and after speaking to Dick took them home for cleaning down.

Next weekend will be down to painting all the pipes and conduit in the bogie wells ready for reassembly.

The following Tuesday I had arranged a last visit to MCMetals in Glasgow at the invitation of Jim.

I arranged for a long wheelbase Ford Transit and started off a 0300 hrs. in the morning.

After picking Dick up at 0415 hrs. we finally arrived at Springburn at 0830 hrs..

A quick tour around the site found various items that would be of benefit..

The spare bogies going down to Tyseley will not suffice as a replacement for my bogie off 51375. They will need to do a bogie swap.

For the first time I managed to photograph the site.

Part Nineteen