Clayton built large numbers of locomotives for civil engineering contractors,mainly battery electrics, of which this is an example. It was new to a Birmingham-based J.J.Gallagher & Co Ltd, a tunnelling contractor. Gallagher used it on contracts including St Chads Outfall sewer, Birmingham (1975), Walsall Flood Relief Scheme (3/80 to 12/81) and the Black Country Trunk Sewer, Hamstead to Ray Hall, 12/81 20 some time in 1982. Doubtless there were other jobs which have escaped recording. In between the contracts, the loco would have resided at Gallagher’s Armoury Close depot in Birmingham.
By 1/96, the loco had been sold on to Tunnel Steels at Swansea; in that month, it moved to Hunslet Loco Hire of Killamarsh, near Chesterfield, who named it Lady Anne. In 1997, the loco was hired to Northern Tunnelling who used it on a contract near Port Glasgow in Scotland. The loco may have been used on a contract in Hong Kong, but this has yet to be confirmed.
On 27/5/2003, the loco moved on to RMS Locotec, and then on 9/8/2003 it joined the MRT fleet. It was put on display at Apedale on 9/7/2004. An unusual feature of this loco is that it is designed to be easily changed between 18” and 24” gauge – the two most common gauges used on tunnel construction contracts. On 27/10/2012, the loco was set to 24” gauge, having previously been set to 18” gauge and on display in the Apedale Heritage Centre.
