Whilst there hasn't been too many updates lately on the work on No. 3672, Piglet & Nick have been to visit Riley & Son’s works near Manchester to see the progress being made on the tender.

Paul 'Piglet' Middleton, NYMR Director of Mechanical Engineering, (with Nick Simpson, MPD Manager), give us a short vlog update:

Planning for four major work packages is well advanced. The boiler needs to be lifted from the frames, the wheelsets need to be removed from the frames for tyre turning, a new pony axle needs to be made, and the Chassis needs to have attention.

A lot of prep work for the chassis overhaul has already taken place courtesy of MPD, Team Vera and the Junior Volunteers and the cab has also been prepared for lifting off the frames.

Whilst the loco was in Greece it had several modifications, our contact in the Greek Railway Museum in Piraeus (near Athens) has found some of the drawings associated with these modifications. There are also drawings detailing conversion to oil firing which may prove useful in the future depending on how the coal situation develops.

The Museum has also offered to assist in making the plates she carried as Lb 960. These involve cab and tender side plates and a front plate carried on the buffer beam with white alphanumeric characters on a red background. Loco livery in Greece was all-over black with dull red wheels, unlike the brighter red on German locos.

Donations are continuing to be sent in for which we are supremely grateful, especially in these challenging times. If you can contribute to help pay for all the work detailed above that would be grand! The total donated now stands at over £260K!

It just remains for us to thank the many people who have supported us financially, helped with overhaul preparation and, to the Team at Grosmont MPD. All all the very best for 2023.

Ian Foot and the Vera Team.

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