Date: 22/07/2005

After over two and a half years of restoration and repair work 26040 finally moved under its own power for the first time in preservation at 14.30 on Sunday the 17th July 2005. Bought in September 1993 from a British Rail disposal tender list and with the cab fittings almost completely stripped out for asbestos removal work in 1994, this locomotive was stored for eight years at Methil Power Station before being moved for restoration to the former Methil West goods yard (now a private site) in September 2002. A brief startup in May 2004 revealed problems that took many months to cure, but the locomotive has been started regularily since March 2005 and many small repairs to its electrical control system have been carried since. It isn't set to travel far in the near future however as it is sitting on a track only 10 feet longer than itself and further work is required, particularily to the train brakes, before it would be ready to pull a train in preservation.

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