Since October 04 until early January 05 much work was done ‘on shed’ to Class 25- D7523 ‘John F Kennedy’.  Following the locos return to traffic, this article is here to summarise the work done on this project. The loco was declared a failure on the Friday of 2004’s May Diesel Gala following a low power fault. The loco was taken out of traffic and following investigations the turbocharger was found to be seized, it was removed in early June and sent away to a repair firm in Birkenhead. In October with the turbocharger returned to us, the loco was bought back into the shed and it was decided a light body overhaul would be undertaken in addition to the reinstallation of the unit.  Over many weeks the ‘paint team’ set about giving the loco a new coat of green having first removed years of rust and repaired corroded metal work. The underframe was also given a light coat of gloss to help enhance the look. Much other work was also undertaken like the wiring and pipe work to help ensure the continued reliability of the loco. On Saturday 13th November the turbocharger was reinstalled inside the engine room and members of the team then set about reinstalling the connecting pipework. A new exhaust box was constructed (using one as a pattern kindly loaned by the South Devon Railway) as the previous one was severely corroded. On December 18th the loco was test started and ‘outshopped’ following test runs in early January.
	The loco work was completed on Saturday 15th January after last minute finishing touches were applied and the loco was topped up with anti-freeze. More of the history of this loco has come to light.  The Derby Sulzer website is an excellent collection of information about Class 25’s and even has it’s own page detailing some of D7523’s workings. Click here.