"Helen" to Receive full Indian Railway Red repaint

The K&SBLR fleet is gradually being worked on and upgraded, with "Forney" No.6 "Salem" undergoing repairs at present.

During the Winter of 2011, the boiler certificate on Darjeeling Garratt No.7 "Helen" will expire. In December, "Helen" will undergo a comprehensive overhaul, which includes a thorough cleaning of the boiler tubes, Safety Valve ajustments and a full repaint into Indian Railways Red livery, which it carried during its working life on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. This overhaul will take 2 months to complete. it is understood that she will return to the line in January/ February 2012.

When she returns, she will be visiting Romney marsh Model Engineering for tests to be carried out. She will stay there until late February. On the last day of her visit to RMME, she will be Double Heading a Sponsers Train with Darjeeling "B" class No.5 "Maid of Kent". This will be the first time that two Darjeeling locomotives have been paired together for a number of years.

We will keep you posted with developments, more details of the sponsers event will appear here later today.

Regards,
Chris Nelson,
Event Organiser,
K&SBLR