This is a typical example of the small battery locomotives which are still used on tunnelling projects. No.68 was new in March 1972 to Fairclough Civil Engineering at their depot at Swynnerton, near Stone. This depot occupied the site of a former Royal Ordnance Factory. In latter years, the company had become Magnor Plant; they very kindly donated the loco and three wagons to the MRT, arriving on site on 19 June 2020.
Usage of such locos is very poorly documented, since their work is, by definition, usually underground and out of public view. The only known project on which no.68 was used was the “Stoke on Trent Link Sewer Contract” which built two miles of 2.14 metre tunnel beneath Stoke between May 1972 and June 1974.
This design of loco, in common with no.72, was designed to be easily convertible between 18 inch and 24 inch gauge; no.68 appears to have always been set to 18 inch gauge, and the axles fitted are only long enough to accommodate the narrower gauge. It is currently, therefore, 18 inch gauge!
