Appleby Frodingham Railway-Scunthorpe : Locomotive Shed

02/10/2026

Burning the midnight oil! 🔥 🌙

Locomotive No1 undergoes her period fitness to run to keep her s***k and span for her last upcoming railtour of 2026, and any unplanned work that comes her way!

16/09/2026

This week's update consists of good old dirty diesels, and specifically Loco 58 (HE7409).

One the past few years we've been having intermittent faults with the torque converter overheating, and recently the torque converter has been overheating on a fairly regular basis.

With Loco 1 currently (touch wood) in good working order, the time has been taken to remove 58 from regular traffic to try and rectify the issue.

Jonesy, (aka. the Diesel Engine Caresser) has been set on the task of finding out the cause of the issue, which has given him hours of detective work.
Initially, some thorough detective work was required to fathom out how the cooling system worked, which he managed to work out uses diesel from the fuel tank to cool the converter, and then the diesel is in passed through a heat exchanger to be water cooled.

This heat exchanger which consists of around 60 small tubes was one of the areas identified as being a possible cause of the overheating. Upon investigation, out of those 60 tubes, 58 of which were found to be blocked!

With the heat exchanger being about 5ft long, very heavy and very awkward due to access being from between the bottom of the engine and the frames, Jonesy decided it was best to strip and clean it in situ. After lots of riding out and reassembly, the system was refilled and tested for leaks.

The locomotive was then tested, which successfully, the correct torque converter pressures were achieved in the first time in a number of years, and with a short test to see if she overheated, she didn't. The actual test will come once the locomotive starts pulling trains on whether the issues with the torque converter have been rectified.

09/09/2026

We have a short but very important update this week.

Over the past month, we have had the time, thanks to the hot weather, to get some much needed Repair work completed on Loco 54 (AB1320).

Working with the locomotive's owners, between us we have constructed a brand new ash pan which is now fully installed and awaiting it's first trip (which, subject to an FTR, should be 19th September).

Please take a look at the post below.

For more frequent updates, follow the locomotive Facebook group!

30/07/2026

We may have hinted in our last post on Wednesday, but why only hint at something exciting when we can shout! about it...

Our very own Class 144017 has had a trip down 'nostalgia lane'. With shutdown in full swing, and the lack of a railtour, we took the opportunity to separate 017 for her first time in preservation, and removed the center car (MS 55853) from the set to complete major repair work set to take place over the latter half of this year.

The work planned will offer a refreshed interior, a refresh of body sides and roof, and the completion of a major service and outstanding exams.

We also have work planned to give the now 2-car set a deep clean and refresh where needed, along with any outstanding repairs and exams before she returns into service for the latter part of this year.

If you have some free time on your hands. Do you have what it takes to maintain heritage railway equipment? Whether you have skills and/or time to offer. Please give the page a message or email [email protected] to find out more about becoming a volunteer. You do not need to be a British Steel employee or have any engineering skills in order to volunteer.
We also have volunteer opportunities available within our operations department, to help out in our shop and café coach.

Stay tuned, and give the page a follow for regular updates as the work progresses.

29/07/2026

Time for an update from the shed:

We've been very busy with the railtours so far this summer and it's fair to say that the weather has been testing us. Reluctantly we have taken the decision to temporarily suspend steam tours until we see some meaningful rainfall.

Meanwhile, our pacer ran as a single car unit for a brief spell on Saturday as we removed the centre car for some work to repair water damage due to some leaking window seals. The pacer will operate as a 2 car set for the time being.

Jordan and Lewis have been busy replacing wooden panels and glazing on brake van 7606. Mike and Rodger have welded new wear plates into the drawbar pockets on brake van B952012 and Chris T has fitted running boards and a lamp bracket to BW68494 which is almost ready for traffic.
Hunslet No58/ 402 has been keeping us entertained with some electrical fault finding required to identify and replace a solenoid in the starting circuit. Meanwhile the detective work goes on as Chris is sussing out the unique braking system: a task made difficult due to the lack of drawings!

As ever, we could really do with some more volunteers in all our departments: if you would like to either know more or come down and see what it's about, please get in touch.

20/06/2026

Two updates in the same week.... We've gone mad!!

We have a small but significant update on the overhaul/rebuild of 'Arnold Machin'.

Some of you may know from previous updates that, during a test of the water pump, we found a leak coming from the radiator.
Since then, the team has removed, dismantled and cleaned the radiator. A full examination and test of the radiator cores was conducted, and a leak was found in the lower half of the right-hand core.
The engine firnesser John has put his magic touch to good use, and has managed to repair the leak. This has saved us the thousands of pounds that would have resulted if we had invested in a new radiator core.
The radiator core has been retested, the radiator is now back together, and as of last Saturday, the radiator is now mounted back onto her engine, ready for the next stage of testing.

17/06/2026

Firstly, we would like to apologise for the long pause in updated coming from the shed. It's been a hectic month both inside and outside the shed. But we're back with a little update.

We would like to share the amazing work done by a couple of our Volunteers, Mike and 'Little Rodger' who have spent the past few weeks repairing the first Drawbar faceplate on B952012.

During the initial inspection on the underframe, excessive wear was found on both Drawbar Faceplates which would cause excessive movement of the Drawhook within the faceplate. This is very much not what you want, especially in the up and down directions.

The drawhooks were subsequently removed, NDT'd and gauged, and work began repairing the excessive wear.

Since then, the first (No.2 end) faceplate has been repaired and primed for protection by the team. And now, onwards with the next faceplate.

- Rolling Stock Lead.

16/05/2026

Return of the BSC.

Today, 7606 gained some more sign writing to partly return it back to its British Steel Corporation guise. While only a small change, it has made a massive difference to her appearance.

09/05/2026

"A very special experience"

Today we had visitors from British Steel and Krenn steel cutting solutions. As part of a tour at the Rod mill, we worked together to give the visitors a tour of the steelworks as a whole.

One of our visitors gave the the comment that it had been a very special experience that the were able to enjoy and very thankful to us for the opportunity alongside the British Steel team.

09/05/2026