For the history of 740 visit this page.
Safety valve Appeal:
We are searching for suitable Ross Pop safety valves for 740. The ones it was previously fitted with have gone missing, so if you know where they are or where a suitable pair can be purchased please let us know via the contact us page.
06th October 2026
Israel Newtons are now doing the final fitment fettling of the throat plate now the outer firebox wrapper is welded in place. Photographs courtesy of Israel Newtons.
16th September 2026
Workshop X have made excellent progress with the frames, with painting, cleaning and reassembly going well. Israel Newtons are also making good progress with the boiler. The new firebox outer sides are being installed and it is starting to look like a boiler again!
03rd September 2026
Israel Newtons are now working on the lower outer firebox sides. The throat plate and backhead are now fitted and the angle irons on the inside of the backhead are in too.
17th August 2026
Top coat is going on inside 740’s frames at Workshop X. The photo below shows how hard it is to see the difference between the pink undercoat and the signal red top coat when it is deep within the frames. Photo courtesy of Workshop X.
28th July 2026
Workshop X are working hard on 740’s frames. The brake hangers are being re-installed, and painting is ongoing. The inside of the frames is being painted in bubblegum pink undercoat prior to the final colour of Signal Red, and the first coats of black are going on the outside. As always the trust is very grateful to all at Workshop X for their efforts.
03rd June 2026
The team at Workshop X are working hard on 740’s frames. The inside is being undercoated in pink ready for its top coats in signal red. Dirt, oil and general baked on crud has been laboriously chipped and cleaned off prior to painting.
The front brake gear pivot has been remounted on a welded steel doubler and is now much more secure than before. It must take the full brake force of the locomotive so needs to be well attached.
Work is ongoing on the front of the frames. The lifting points have been removed revealing some quite terrifying shear damage to the bolts. These will be replaced in due course. The front of the footplate above the lifting points had experienced rust jacking. That has now been cleaned out and the plate work has been returned to its original shape. A rivet is missing at each corner, these will be replaced.
15th April 2026
The new back head is now installed in the firebox after a great deal of work by the team at Israel Newton.
7th April 2026
The new builders plates for 740 are cast and awaiting finishing. Work is continuing on the frames. Cleaning, priming, straightening and metalwork is all being done, with templates now made for bolt holes to hold the new frame top plate on.
19th March 2026
Work continues on the boiler at Israel Newton’s. The rough firehole door has been cut and during the trust’s visit work was ongoing on the replacement of a backhead reinforcing angle that was found to be cracked and the fitting of the backhead itself. All of the backhead fittings (injectors, manifold, lubricator, etc) have been delivered to allow their positions and internal pipework to be set.
13th March 2026
11th of March 2026
Progress is good on 740. Cleaning and painting of the frames is ongoing, and preperations are underway for fitting the new drawgear assemblies and chopper couplings.
The locomotive was fitted with a modern pressure gauge during its service on the Leighton Buzzard Railway, but thanks to the efforts of a very kind individual the original hand painted Indian one survived at Whipsnade Zoo. It is now with Valley Instruments in Nottingham for overhaul and calibration.
Isreal Newtons have now fitted the new throatplate to the boiler, and will be fitting the new back head soon. The non-ferrous backhead fittings have been taken from storage as they will be needed to design and fit the pads they fit on.
New thumb catches have been cast in brass for the cab windows by Newton Replicas. At some point the opening windows from the rear of the cab disapeared, probably before it went back into service in the UK. Replacing these is now being investigated.
25th February 2026
The new cab/bunker floor and frame top central section have arrived from the water jet cutters and are being painted and test fitted at Workshop X.
27th January 2026
The frames are progressing well at Workshop X. Yet more baked on dirt and oil has been needle gunned off, and huge amounts of oil and blasting media have been carefully scraped from the valve chests. The cleaning has revealed that both cylinder assemblies are from sister locomotive 741. The underfloor structure around the cab and bunker is now straightened and repaired, removing damage from previous poor lifting. Work is continuing on pressing in new bushes for the suspension balance arms, and discussions are ongoing regarding the new tanks. It is hoped that they can be fabricated in house. The drawings are underway for the new cab and bunker floor which should be ordered soon. When they are fitted and painted the bunker and cab can go back on. If necessary the front of the cab will be put on temporary supports pending the arrival of the tanks.
18th November 2025
740’s left side cab floor/bunker/tank support being straightened at Workshop X to remove historic damage from being lifted.
13th November 2025
The bushes and pins for the suspension balance bars are now manufactured and returned to Workshop X. Work on removing baked on dirt and oil continues, with spot priming of cleaned areas underway. Grey primer and blue paint for livery testing on the bunker are now on hand, and painting continues at the trust’s own workshop on brake gear parts (shown here behind a part from NG15 120).
4th November 2025
740’s springs and spring mounts have been removed ready for the springs to be overhauled. The corroded and deformed plates on the top of the chassis have been removed ready for replacements to be manufactured.
All of the compensating beams from the suspension have been sent away for new bearings and pins to be manufactured and installed. Large amounts of baked and compacted oil, grease and dirt have been needle gunned from the chassis where the sand blasting couldn’t reach.
The new vermillion and black paint for the chassis has been delivered today ready for painting to commence soon.
17th October 2025
740’s wheelsets have arrived at CMS Cepcor in Coalville for profiling and overhaul. They will now join the (long!) queue there for attention.
15th October 2025
Work has started on 740’s suspension at Workshop X to eliminate wear. Transport is currently being arranged to move the wheel sets to CMS Cepcor to have the tyres profiled. This requires a specialist contractor due to the design of the flexible chassis.
22nd September 2025
740’s new backhead is now fully formed.
8th September 2025
Some interesting photos of 740 nearing the completion of its previous overhaul have surfaced courtesy of Ruport Lodge who was involved in its previous overhaul at the Leighton Buzzard railway.
3rd September 2025
The first partial test assemble for the drawgear took place at Workshop X yesterday to check fit and for any missing parts. All was well, installation should start soon.
28th August 2025
Painting of the regulator continues.
28th August 2025
740’s regulator handle has received its first coat of red paint. Despite appearances it is actually a different shade to 120’s next to it. The size difference between the handles illustrates just how big an NG15 is – 740 is a large loco but not compared to 120.
27th August 2025
740’s couplers have now arrived at Workshop X and await fitting. More sandblasted parts have arrived back. Most excitingly, the backhead former is now finished at Israel Newton’s.
25th June 2025
740’s chassis is now at Workshop X for the next phase of work, seen here with Hunslet single Fairlie ‘Gowrie’, the Apedale ‘Joffre’ and the former Tully Sugar Fowler. Thank you to Joey Evans photography for granting use of the photos.
23rd June 2025
The couplings are now finished, complete with beautiful brass bob weights based on those fitted to Double Fairlie Merddin Emrys at the Ffestiniog Railway.
20th May 2025
740’s couplers are now approaching completion. Thank you to the Ffestiniog Railway for the photos.
01st April 2025
Boston Lodge have started making 740’s new couplings. These have a square face to mirror Indian practice on locomotives fitted with ‘chopper’ couplings.
25th February 2025
Peak Patterns have picked up 740’s chimney to be copied today.
24th February 2025
740’s chimney returned from cleaning today and was found to be in too poor condition for further use. We knew it was quite badly cracked but when cleaned it became clear it was much worse than thought. Peak Patterns have been engaged to make a replacement and will be collecting the original to copy from in the next week or two. We are hopeful that they can also make the copper cap at the same time.
21st February 2025
740’s coupler design has been approved with the Ffestiniog Railway and they will hopefully be starting work on them soon. The cushioned draw gear is already on hand. Some discussions have started on the timetable for the manufacture of the new side tanks.
19th February 2025
740’s wheelsets and axle boxes have left for the Ffestiniog Railway’s Boston Lodge works for assessment. We are hoping we will be able to accept their qoute for the axle boxes and wheel sets to be overhauled when it is forthcoming.
