Sunday 9th September
The Class 56 Group can happily report that 56006 successfully completed its test run today and will be added to the roster for the upcoming diesel gala at the East Lancashire Railway.
On Thursday (6th September), the loco had its repairs completed and passed a fitness to run (FTR) examination prior to undergoing testing, working a late morning departure over the full length of the line from Bury to Heywood and back. 47402 was partnering it for insurance, replacing Class 14 D9531 which was earmarked for this role initially.
More news, including final locomotive diagrams for the gala, will be made available in due course.