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With the loco having arrived in the shed in mid November, we gave it a few weeks to dry out and assess the condition of the loco and come up with a work programme.  It was decided that we could start by stripping down No2 cab, this included removal of all the fittings like the tail lamp brackets, taillights and safety hoops along with the bonnet side doors and top bonnet doors. No2 end in the process of being stripped down to aid repairs A selection of the parts removed from No2 end, all labelled up to what side they belong to, these will be cleaned up, repaired and refitted at a later date. With the bonnet side doors removed it gave us proper access to fix the bottom of the drip trays, sadly over the years water has got into these and eaten away at the frame supporting these. New steel work has been welded in place and the whole area given a coat of primer No2 end driver side area getting some primer applied after repairs The top bonnet doors needed some metal work replacing on them,  it was easier and far safer to remove them off the loco to repair them. With these out of the way, we decided to remove the hinges to thoroughly clean that area up. Its likely that these hinges have never been off the loco since the day it was built. Driver side of the bonnet top cleaned and primed, attention will then turn to the secondman's side Sadly some components on the loco are life expired and gone beyond repair, this is the replacement sand box cover for the No2 end drivers side ready to be refitted.

A new year means new challenges! Fancy getting hands on with a restoration project in 2026? Why not become a member of the C37LG and volunteer with our team, in order to bring D6703 back to life? There's plenty to do, from working on the restoration of our locomotive, to helping our sales team at events in order to fundraise the work carried out. Check out the link below to find out more: https://www.c37lg.co.uk/membership

Christmas may be over, but the celebrations haven't stopped within the C37LG! On 28th December 1960, D6703 entered traffic at Stratford depot. The subsequent years saw the loco travel the network, calling depots such as Thornaby, Gateshead and Tinsley 'home'. 65 years later, 'home' is the Mid Norfolk Railway where the loco is undergoing extensive bodywork restoration to return it to that "as built" condition. If you'd like to give the loco a little birthday gift, to help return it to traffic, please consider donating via the link below: https://www.c37lg.co.uk/donations   Spending its 65th Birthday undercover at Dereham. Photo J Powley

November 20th was a bit of a milestone for us at Dereham as the locomotive entered the shed for its full body restoration to begin, The main highlight for us was that it managed to drive itself in there. The team will then spend the next few weeks assessing the loco and making a start on its restoration.  37003 photographed in Dereham T&RS shed. J Powley

Having now arrived back on home soil, it was time for the group to start doing some testing of what worked and didn't work on the loco prior to it entering the T&RS shed at Dereham for its restoration to begin. 37003 over the maintenance at Dereham undergoing a series of tests. C Clark

After eight years, and many challenges along the way, D6703/37003 moved from UKRL Leicester by rail to UKRL Loughborough on the 23rd October 2025 sandwiched between 37218 and 37901. 37003 leaving UKRL Leicester. Photo R Reedman After a short stayover at UKRL Loughborough, 37003 finally departed there on the 3rd November by road heading for Dereham with out chosen haulier S A Smith and arrived back home at Dereham the following day. 37003 at UKRL Loughborough. G Wolfenden Finally Home at Dereham (MNR) Photo C Clark

Another milestone reached! On 21st August 2025, for the first time in just under twelve years, D6703 moved under its own power at UKRL, Leicester, following another round of load bank testing. Words can not begin to describe how great this feels for us, after many years of toil to get to this point. Testing and fault finding remains ongoing, but we just had to share this one with you! If you'd like to help D6703 proverbially move forward some more, and over the finish line, you can donate to support our efforts by following the link below: www.c37lg.co.uk/donations - Video courtesy of Colin Makcrow

Work remains ongoing with engine testing on D6703, with load banking underway. Here D6703 is seen firing up ready for another session on 21/08/2025 - Video courtesy of Colin Makcrow

D6703 lives! 24th July 2025 saw the first sustained start up for D6703 since the power unit went back in to the loco. This is a monumental moment for us, and a major step in bringing the loco back into service. The power unit is now undergoing hours of running in tests, after which it will be load banked. Be sure to stay tuned for future updates as this work progresses. - Video courtesy of Al Pulford

With all these updates, the question you're no doubt asking is "what about the power unit?" Well, work has been on-going to plumb the power unit in and get everything ready for a start up. When our team went to UKRL to pick up the frost grilles, there was the potential of seeing the loco fire up but, that very morning, an earth fault was detected. Initially, this appeared to stemming from the Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR). Despite being fairly new when the locomotive was withdrawn from traffic, a decade of sitting in a cold loco was thought to have taken its toll. A few phone calls later saw the team take an adhoc trip up the M1 to get our AVR looked at by an expert, who thoroughly checked and returned the AVR to us that same day. The AVR was refitted and further testing found a wiring fault elsewhere, which has since been rectified. Crisis averted then! This of course highlights some of the intricacies of trying to resurrect a loco that has sat idle for 11 years, but rest assured, she won't be idle for much longer... - Photos courtesy of Colin Makcrow

A mini mid week update this time; with all the excitement of the bodywork being done, what else have we been up to? Well, one ongoing task has been the retrieval of ancillary items stored at UKRL, which will not play a part in the current restoration work before the loco returns home to Dereham. This has included items such as the frost grilles, which were removed in order to restore the main bodywork. These have returned to Norfolk, where they will be restored and prepared for refitting at a future date. On that same trip, the tarpaulin, which had kept the loco dry all this time, also returned home. You'll no doubt have guessed from the photo that the biggest item to return east has been the steam heat boiler. UKRL kindly stored it for us after we acquired it, but we have now been able to securely store it closer to home. This is an important asset, but it is also very much a project for the future, with the current focus firmly being on restoring the loco and returning it to traffic. One thing at a time! - Photo courtesy of Gavin Wolfenden

In our previous updates we've focused quite heavily on the stripping of the old bodywork and showing the importance of repairing and protecting features such as the framework to ensure longevity of the loco once it has been restored. That said, we think it's about time you saw something new and shiny instead! The pictures very much speak for themselves, but here you can see the work done on the driver's cab side of the No.1 end, and on both sides of the No.2 end of the loco, including the rebuilding of the headcode box discussed previously. The smooth finish on the new bodywork is a credit to the team at UKRL and we are grateful for their continued efforts to restore the locomotive. The vision really is beginning to take shape (if you'll pardon the pun!). We hope that you enjoy seeing this as much as we have, but rest assured this isn't the only work that's been done of late and there are still more updates to follow! - Photos courtesy of UKRL