71 Clayton 5843 of 1971

This locomotive was new to the CEGB Woodhead Tunnel. The main line railway tunnel at Woodhead, in the Pennines between Manchester and Sheffield, was one of the longest in the country at over 3 miles. When the ”old” tunnel was replaced by new tunnel alongside in 1954, the old tunnel was taken over by the CEGB . It was used to lay National Grid high voltage cables to avoid the need to use pylons in this very rugged part of the country. A narrow gauge railway was laid in the old tunnel to facilitate maintenance, and Clayton supplied this locomotive with extra large wheels to allow high speed running in view ofthe distances involved. This loco was ultimately replaced by a more modern diesel, and the Moseley Railway Trust bought it in June 2000. This locomotive has visited a number of other narrow gauge railways; 2003 saw the loco visit Cadeby and Leicester Museum of Technology’s line at Abbey Pumping Station.