Appeal Total Achieved!

We start 2015 with some important news - thanks to the generosity of our membership and supporters, the £100,000 target of theY14:2014 Appealhas been reached and exceeded.

We really cannot thank everyone who has contributed - from appeal supporters of all denominations, from the long term support of J15 '200' Club members and from members of the Loco Club. We are also extremely grateful to the members of the press for the assistance we have receieved in promoting and publicising the appeal and progress on the Y14 (J15) overhaul.

Unfortunatly, whilst we were successful in steaming the Y14 to working boiler pressure as part of the out of frames steam test in September, the Y14 did not turn a wheel under its own steam in 2014, due to setbacks in the programme of works that saw extra unanticipated work identified. The end result is that whilst we are dissapointed to have missed our target to have the Y14 in traffic by the close of the year, the extra works undertaken will ensure the long-term reliability of the engine.

The locomotive is close to final completion, with only several outstanding tasks to complete. These include the casting and machining of a replacement blower valve, which has proved to be a difficult task. Once this and several other minor works have been completed, the engine will be steam tested. Providing this is successful, it will then undertake running in tests at the East Lancashire Railway.

If all these tests are completed successfully, the engine will then undergo final works to recieve the intricate Great Eastern Railway ultramarine blue livery, before being transported back to the North Norfolk Railway.