The Thompson B1 Locomotive Trust has issued the latest report into progress in the overhaul of London and North Eastern Railway B1 Class 4-6-0 No. 61264.

The locomotive is being overhauled at Ruddington on the Great Central (Nottingham), and the first working party of 2025 worked there last Saturday, 8th February.

A seemingly simple task to remove the nuts and bolts that hold the tender tank and chassis together was made more difficult because of varying levels of age and corrosion.

Eventually, an angle grinder, hammer, and chisel were needed to remove some of them.

The nuts and bolts needed to be removed in readiness to lift the old tender tank off its chassis.

At the front of the locomotive, just under the front buffer beam and behind the drawhook is the box containing the equipment for the Automatic Train Control (ATC).

The cover of the box had to be removed to reveal the electrical terminals so that a heavy-duty five-core cable could be disconnected to facilitate freeing the cable to enable a nearby conduit to be slightly relocated.

Relocating the conduit will make it easier to access a piece of angle iron, from where 61264’s pistons and valves can be accessed and removed.

This will help access to them in the future, as they need to be examined once a year.

Although relocating the conduit seemed to be a simple task, it was a classic example of a seemingly insignificant job, ending up taking many hours.

During its forthcoming overhaul, the Trust intends to to leave the engine’s chassis largely intact as except for needing new tyres, there is virtually nothing wrong with the ‘bottom end’. The team agreed that in doing these small improvements now it would avoid wasted effort later.

An addition to the original design of 61264 is it will now also be fitted with the European Train Control System (ETCS).

The Great Central Railway (Nottingham), where 61264 is being overhauled, is in the process of joining up with the Great Central Railway between Leicester and Loughborough.