The Restoration Story - 1998
During 1998, Steve Beniston, the loco's owner accepted an offer to move 37099 form Dereham to the North Norfolk Railway (NNR).
The loco was moved by road to Sheringham and offloaded. The loco remained in the yard adjacent to the station for two weekends and during this period, the power unit was removed in readiness for professional attention. It was then despatched to Adtranz at Crewe for assessment.
Upon arrival at Crewe, the generator was split from the engine and the individual generator components were cleaned and inspected for the cause of the very low insulation resistance readings. The generator carcass including the field coils was OK. The field coils were re-varnished and baked. Unfortunately, the condition of the armature however was not looking too good and required the removal of the winding bandings for a more extensive clean. Following this further work, the values from flash testing were still not satisfactory for it to be reused in its present form. A quote for rewinding the armature was priced at £20,000 but there was also the cost of the already completed work to consider. There then followed a period of many months during which Steve, who was now working very closely with The Growler Group on both this project and 37215, attempted to source either an armature or a replacement generator.
While all of this was going on, 37099 was moved to the NNR's sheds at Weybourne, where a few of the missing items were replaced and a serious start made on the overhaul of the cabs and the painting of the now empty engine compartment.
Over at the GWR, 37215 was back in service and the Growler Group's restoration volunteers were looking for another challenge. Realistically, there was not enough money available for another Class 37 purchase, transport and funds for restoration without putting the long term future of '215 at risk. Steve had worked closely with us during the final months of '215's restoration and was beginning to feel the strain of travelling the huge distances back and fore to Norfolk every weekend. He also admitted to needing some more help with the restoration project and so a deal was struck. The Growler Group would become trustees of 37099, the loco would be moved to Toddington and everyone would be happy.
All we had to do now was convince the GWR board that they wanted another Class 37 on their line. This was not an easy task but after prolonged discussions and due in no small part to our excellent working reputation at the GWR and the negotiating skills of our Vice Chairman, the GWR relented and we now had two loco's to look after.