We are still raising funds to secure 4-EPB driving motor brake S14351 from Northampton to become a part of our restoration set. Every donation helps us. gofund.me/640169d2

Work has started on the repainting of the EPB TSO car owned by HETT and based at Sellindge. This forms part of a joint project. If you donate to the fundraiser which can be found here we will be able to paint more of it. gofund.me/640169d2

With thanks to Arlington Fleet for their help we have fitted some of the last remaining components to our class 457 car at The East Kent Rly sourced from 313 units - pass coms, egress valves and a horn control, not pictured is the good as new driver’s seat!

The clock has been ticking on this for a while and all the while you think it is someone else’s problem or that another organisation is going to ride in and save the day then more and more will be lost. You don’t get what you deserve in life, only what you work for.

Deep in Kent the 457 car is coming back to life. New floor, new Lino and the seats re-assembled. Come the Spring the paint brushes will be coming out.

How it started, went and finished. Heavy clean on the 457 today ready for the reopening of the The East Kent Rly next weekend. This car is on public show so needs to look it’s best. A repaint is planned for May and June so this is good prep.

Pioneering class 457 DMSO 67300 at the East Kent Railway is getting a repaint for the 2024 season, can you spare a few quid to help with this project? gofund.me/3416b977

It’s happening folks!

Class 457 repaint is progressing, this vehicle is due to be unveiled on Sunday June 16th at the The East Kent Rly

The class 457 repaint is progressing well, thank you to all who donated to the fundraiser. This is what your money has achieved. The vehicle will be on display as part of a line up of historic EMUs at the The East Kent Rly this Sunday.

Well here it is, after several weeks work by our volunteers of #TeamKent. The unique class 457 car, 67300 wears its newly applied coat of Network SouthEast livery. On display today at Shepherdswell where it was part of a line up of preserved EMUs.

1/2 Today Britain’s last coal fired power station, Ratcliffe-on-Soar, ceases to generate electricity, brining to an end a story that goes back to the opening of the first coal power station in Holborn, London in 1882.

2/2 The SERA have 2 locomotives that have played a part in that story, Spondon No.1 and Kearsley No. 1; from the era when coal was king and Britain was practically a single fuel economy. Each moved hundreds of tons of coal to feed the boilers at their respective power stations.

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Don’t know date on this but after 1950, that is when our Ruston 165DE ‘MAZDA’ was built. It was the first diesel-electric loco built by Ruston & Hornsby and was fitted with BTH traction and control gear. Currently under restoration at The Battlefield Railway in Leicestershire.

Here’s another old advert relevant to our collection. English Electric built 32 ‘Type 3’ electric locomotives, 31 of them for UK industrial sites and one for South Africa. The first one was out-shopped in 1920 and the final one in 1951. 6 are preserved, including our Spondon No.1

English Electric in evidence at Shackerstone yesterday where we are making progress with E905; or Spondon No.1 as it is better known.

Has it really been that long?

What do we want for Christmas ? More members! You can now become a paid up member of the SERA online for £30 a year and get two copies of this magazine posted direct to your door - and you’ll be supporting our projects. membermojo.co.uk/sera

At Sellindge work progresses on 6307, preparation for welded repairs to the skin of the DTS car; whilst at Shepherdswell 457 car 67300 has been briefly moved out in the open while infrastructure work is undertaken.