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A re-currence of the knee-injury Andrew sustained two years ago while working at Corus has rather limited his activities. Nevertheless, at Elsecar on D9524 the new 3rd fuel tank has been mounted, and the hoses made up ready, but the Briddon-family hose swaging machine (doesn't every home have one?) wouldn't cope with 3/4" hoses so these will be finished comercially and fitted during the week.  The breather modifications to left and right hand tanks that required welding have now been completed and the tanks partially refilled. A new flange for the front casing of the Rolls-Royce DV8 prime-mover  and mount for the tacho generator has been machined and fitted, though the drive shaft for the 'genny remains to be drawn. The intention to get the viscous damper fitted to the front of the DV8 has been  postponed until Andrew's knee responds to anti-inflammatories.  Plans are for the loco to be restarted on or before Saturday to ensure that all is well for Sunday. It is a good thing that the weather continues to be mild - it does not look as though Sentinel steamer "William" will be joining us.

Two dates for D9524 to be in service in 2010 at Elsecar have been proposed by the EHR, being the May Day Bank Holiday weekend and a weekend in October. In the last two weeks 4 other railways - including two "premier league" preserved lines - have approached Andrew with regard to D9524 visiting during 2010 or 2011.

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The Cummins engine at Elsecar destined for D2128 at Scunthorpe has now been split from its alternator and will shortly be lifted off the frame and mounted on a  transit skid. The mounting bracket that will ultimately support the engine front end has now been fabricated, and the rear mounting system is being re-evaluated given the greater weight of the transmission (1700 lbs of the converter+powershift compared to 740 lbs for a 'normal' converter alone).