Today was a proud day for us fellows at the East Lancashire Railway where we successfully started the engine on Class 14 - D9537 for the first time in over 20 years.
Following withdrawal from British Rail in 1968 D9537 went on to work with numerous other Class 14s for British Steel at Corby Steel Works until it was withdrawn from there in 1982. It then went on to begin a life in preservation until the mid 1990s where it was stopped with a few small faults, however the then owners couldn't afford to rectify these and the locomotive remained stored outside and exposed to the elements until a group of chaps from the East Lancashire Railway acquired D9537 and brought him to Bury in 2013.
It has been a long journey to return the locomotive, now christened "Eric" to service over the last 12 months but today's start up was a major step in achieving this and one step closer to having the locomotive running for the July Class 14 diesel event.
A big well done to all the guys involved & keep up the good work :)