The next visit to Northampton was over the weekend April 28th and 29th. The previous day, Friday 27th April Keith and I paid a visit to Tyseley for Keith to do an FTR on 60532 Blue peter. It was the first time I had seen the locomotive move.

In the afternoon we spent a nice couple of hours on the branch videoing 150 128.

After we did an internal audit on the W55003 Group's documentation. I have now written new procedures for FTRs, Job Competency and Audits for the EWS interview in early May.

On Saturday I began by refitting the single three seater seat with handhold in W51400. The unit now has its full complement of seats again. The next job was to sort out two heaters. This I did and with Dick's help had them fitted by mid-afternoon. I removed the air gauge and pipe ready for Dick to get Pirtek to fabricate a new flexible pipe. The final job was to bolt up the secondman's steps.

Dick meanwhile was spending the day doing the rewiring of the MU cables. By 1700 hrs. we had all the wiring in place and the MU castings firmly bolted back onto the end of W51400. All that is needed is to connect them to the junction box and off we jolly well go, hopefully in the same direction as the rest of the cars!!! I shall sort out some spare MU jumper cables and plug covers next weekend.

On Sunday I was Driver for the shunt on PWM651. Once completed I spent some time sorting out the vacuum spares bearing in mind the replacement feed valve I need to sort out on W55003.

I also extricated a spare fire alarm box test switch for John to test out.

During the following week I happened to mention to John that the cab engine start buttons had failed in the No. 2 cab of W55003. The answer was immediate. The test button on the desk has failed. Wire 050. When I though back I had had trouble with this switch before. Anyway, it was back to Northampton the next Saturday, May 5th to extricate a spare. The switch itself is the same as the fire alarm test button and I managed to find one in a spare desk top that I had.

The following day I went to Derby with Dick, Dave and Rob to pick up some more spare parts.

I took the switch to two electrical supply shops in MK but none of them could supply replacement switches. I shall have to soldier on with the old ones I have.

On Wednesday May 9th Dick, Keith and I assembled at Toton for our EWS meeting. I had brought all the documentation with me so if an audit was to take place we were prepared.

The EWS representative, Phil Johnson, met us as we began what was initially a walk through of what EWS required. It turned out a 3 hour audit, which we passed with only a few recommendations for alterations to our system, no CARs!!!! I was extremely pleased with the way it went. All that is now required for full EWS accreditation is a visit to see the unit.

John finished off the new switch for the fire alarm box and took the test switch button away to test and resolder.

The plan was that I picked John up on Saturday May 12th and we would go to Alresford and refit the various parts. That was what happened. We stopped off at the Little Chef at Four Marks and had breakfast and were on W55003 by 0830 hrs..

John made a start on the fire alarm test switch whilst I started on the vacuum feeder valve in the No. 2 cab. By 1000 hrs. both jobs were done and we stopped for a well earned cup of tea and stickies. John then started on the test switch in the No. 2 cab. I started on easing L3 & L5 doors with the orbital sander. I had nearly finished when the head parted company with the drive shaft!!! I went to the car to find a suitable Allan Key and returned only to find I had dropped the grub screw somewhere. As it turned out it was in the Guard's van but that took me two hours to find!!

I left the doors and painted the uncovered wood in green undercoat. We then had lunch. Geoff had joined us and so we tested the electrics and vacuum feeder valve and then took W55003 to Ropley to be fuelled. We returned later in the afternoon and took our leave of the MHR with all jobs completed satisfactorily.

The following weekend, May 19th, was a bitty weekend. I put away as much of the spares from my garage as I could into the container in order to leave enough room for the rest when Dick arrived. Dick had borrowed the work's pick-up and brought down the spares boxes from Derby which we spent two hours craning into place by the containers.

That week I had been given permission to remove whatever I could off four

scrap engines so with Nick's help we spent three hours in doing so. We then removed the spare fuel tanks from my driveway and took them to Pitsford.

The next weekend I fitted the missing air vents from the main saloon of W51400, the two missing lids and cables from the MU jumper boxes and refitted the missing connection bar from the AWS box.

Whoever had taken it out had butchered the job and had in fact had broken the bar at both top corners. I straightened the fitting brackets and took out the two remaining screw/bolts. They were then replaced with four new bolt fittings.

During the week John phoned to say that I could remove the remaining four scrap, and they really are scrap, engines from Bletchley for a suitable fee of £50.00. Even if we only get a couple of spare heads and a crank it's well worth it.

Next weekend it's driving on the MHR doing Medstead - Northfield Lane shuttles. The weekend after wrecking at DERA. All good fun.

On Friday I contacted Bruce Knights at DERA to reserve a couple of gearboxes. He replied that he will contact me later next week with a set of prices.

The Medstead - Northfield Lane shuttles on Saturday June 2nd went well. Bert was my pilotman and John my Guard. The possession finished an hour early so by 1530 we were back in the siding and shut down.

Bob Allen and Geoff Bailey had taken delivery of L721 the previous week and it was now time to play with it. The batteries were being recharged and Bob and Geoff had managed to start the engines on 51405. The only obvious shortcomings were the throttle motors, all settings gave full power, and a leak on the cardan shaft end of the No. 2 gearbox. The same end as W55003 had had all those years ago at Chinnor.

The batteries on 51363 were giving cause for concern as they were not charging up properly. It was not surprising as when I checked the water level, there was none!!!! Geoff put in one and a half watering cans of water in the batteries and I added a Bat-Aid tablet to each. They responded almost immediately but were still too far down to turn the engine(s).

Paul and I brought down the luggage racks and other spares for the unit and we soon had them stashed in the brake van.

I left the site at 1900 hrs. and was back home by 2030 hrs..

The following day Bob and Geoff swapped batteries and the No. 2 engine on 51363 was started. The No. 1 engine still would not start but with a bit of encouragement I'm sure will. The final engine started on the Monday evening.

I duly presented myself, together with Gordon and a 7 ton flat bed, to pick up the engines from Bletchley on Wednesday June 6th. They were duly loaded and ready for departure by 1100 hrs.. We went straight to Pitsford and had all the engines off by 1330 hrs.. A job well done.

Dick had tried to rewire the AWS box but being a blue box, it had the extra wiring for the ex BR/WR Dual AWS shoe collectors. The diagram Dick had was for a standard BR Green box and so the wiring was different. John came up trumps with the requisite pages from the MT169 AWS book. We can now rewire W51400 correctly.

Saturday June 9th dawned bright and cool. Dick & Nick arrived at my house by 0640 hrs. and we were on the road by 0645 hrs.. We arrived at DERA at 0805 hrs. where Geoff, Bob and the others met us at the main gate. We were all duly signed in and off to the vehicles we went. W51358 was parked along with W51335 & W51377 at the top end of the ranges.

By 1600 hrs. we had stripped the unit and filled a seven ton box van and my estate car. There was very little else to be removed from the carcass.

We left DERA at 1700 hrs. and arrived back home by 1900 hrs.. Dick went to pick Issy up and we all had an enjoyable evening together. Nick, Dick & Issy left on Sunday morning, Dick & Issy for holiday and Nick to sort out PWM651 which had been failed the week before.

PWM651 was diagnosed with flat batteries. I expect someone had left one or more lights on. We will need to put a BIS switch in.

Geoff and Bob eventually reached Ropley by midnight. The seats were stored in L721 at Alresford and the rest in a Vanfit at Ropley on Sunday.

The following week was to be a bit of a rollercoaster.

On Monday a chap called Dave Watts, from GTRM, called. Mathew Smith, Swindon & Cricklade, had given him my number.

The Class 121 W55029 had been bought from DERA and delivered to GTRM at Rugby a week or so before. They were in the process of altering it into a track recording vehicle so all the interior had been taken out. This meant that most of the seats, including frames, were redundant. I made an offer which was accepted and I am now the proud owner of most of the seats and frames out of W55029. In fact just enough to fit W51359.

I arranged to pick them up on Friday June 15th. I duly arrived with a long wheelbase Ford Transit high top. By 1100 hrs. it was loaded, to the gunnels!

I took the van to Pitsford where, because of space limitations, I had to load the seats into W51400. The frames were left by the container ready for loading onto the roof.

During the week I had received a letter from Tim, one of the directors, 'requesting' that I remove the spare engines from the car park into the field. This I undertook on Saturday June 16th with the invaluable assistance of Rob Stewart.

During the morning Mathew Smith from Swindon & Cricklade arrived with a three seater single frame, with hand holds, for me. He also brought a few seat backs and squabs in Scotrail striped livery. I swapped these for a couple of green/blue squabs and backs.

The Railcar really has come up trumps with a good interaction between members as evidence by Mathew's help with W55029 and the seat frame.

The day was a wet and miserable one but after moving the engines Dick showed me what to do to continue the wiring on W51400. I duly finished off crimping the wires and labelling them up ready for final fixing. It was at this point the heavens opened.

Dick was sorting out the one dry joint I had found and we ended up sheltering under the MK I and W51400 whilst the rain heaved down. The final job was to refit the air pipe to the air gauge in the cab. It only need tightening up to be complete.

After consultation with Martin Harris we are going to order enough 'BR DMU Green' to do both W51367 & W51400. Dick is to provide the green primer for W51400.

At that point we all had had enough. It was 1900 hrs. and we were all sodden.

The summer finally arrived and Saturday June 23rd was a scorcher. What were we doing? Sliding a container across to make way for the new container arriving the following Monday.

Dick brought his chain puller and we set to work using that, lifting straps, two new sleepers and old engine oil. The base was my container and surprisingly it did not move. The other container had to be cajoled and lifted but by 1400 hrs. it had been moved across and enough room for the new container was available.

I continued to finish off the wiring on W51400 whilst Dick and the rest continued on the welding on W51367. Eventually I finished off the wiring and all it needs is replacing and fastening down, or up, in the wiring box.

The container was due to arrive between 0800 hrs. and 0830 hrs.. I was on site and ready by 0745. The lorry arrived on time at 0815. By 0930 the container was in place. All that is needed is to adjust the back end and pack the container level and it is ready for use.

Next weekend will see W51400 finally rewired and ready for service. Good.

The summer continued throughout the week and on Saturday June 30th the new container was winched and lifted into position.

Nick and I finished off the wiring on the MU cables and boxed them in. Dick and I then buzzed out the AWS wiring and once again boxed them in. I tightened up the air pipe to the air gauge and then we decide it was time to give it a go.

I reconnected the batteries and we tried No. 2 engine. Not a peep. We checked oil and water both were all right. Whilst on the No. 1 side we tried the No. 1 engine, It fired up with no problems. I then remembered we had had a sticking starter motor on the No. 2 engine. Under the vehicle I went and with a few deft blows with the soft hammer the No. 2 engine fired up.

We left them idling just to circulate the oil and water and top up the batteries. I also tested the heaters, after checking there was some diesel in the tanks and that the fuel cocks were open, but as it was too warm they would not fire up but vented all right so I don't think there is too much to worry about.

Later Nick and I set about checking the AWS with three horns, three bells and one horn. It worked perfectly.

Apart from the small amount of new panelling/welding required on the front and the replacement buffers W51400 is ready for a good clean and repaint and then into service.

Daryl and I then spent a delightful hour removing all my spare seat backs and squabs into the new container. We also put the spare seat frames on the roof with the rest of the spare frames. This leaves a lot of extra room at the back of the original container for the remainder of the mechanical spares from W55001 et al.

The rest of the lads worked on PWM651 which now has a new set of brake blocks and is back in service.

Finally although most of the work has been done by myself thanks must go to the following people for all their help and encouragement during the restoration.

On the Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway, Kevin Dingle, Dave Potter, Chris Hatton, Andy Diston, Andy Fowler, Daniel Weston, Arthur Leeder (Snr.), Arthur Leeder (Jnr.), Alan Vigar and Graham Symes.

On the Northampton and Lamport Railway, Bob Faulkner, Dave Stokes, Gary Austin, Jim Durrant, Martin Harris and Gordon Titmuss.

On the Mid-Hants Railway, Tom Turner, Jim Lawrence, John Bunch, and Chris Cornell.

Special thanks go to the 'support crew' Nick Wilkes and Dick Morris.

Personal thanks go to Jim MacWilliam (MC Metals), Mark Herbert, Keith Jackson, John Collins, Chris Ling (M.R.C.) & Graham Thornton (E.L.R.).

Video thanks go to A.V.V. aka Stuart, Val & Bryce McDonald.

Lastly to Angie, my wife, without whose support and understanding I could never have taken the project on.
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