85, Hunslet 6619 of 1966

No.85 is a mines-type diesel loco fitted with a Gardner 4LW engine. It arrived at Apedale on 15 August 2021 from its previous residence on the Leighton Buzzard narrow gauge railway.  Like most such locos, it spent much of its career hidden underground, out of the prying eyes of enthusiasts. The loco was new on 30th June 1966 to the Knockshinnoch Castle Colliery, located in New Cumnock, Ayrshire. Sources vary about whether the loco was 2’0” gauge or 2’1 ½” gauge at this point. If it was re-gauged at some point, it is unclear when this was done – but certainly before its spell at Whittle (see below). Knockshinnoch Castle Colliery closed in February 1968. By 1970, the loco had been transferred to the NCB’s North East area, and was at Whittle Colliery in Northumberland. This was a drift mine which used locos both on the surface and underground. In December 1976, HE6619 went to the Central Workshops at Ashington; this workshops was attached to the colliery best known for using ex-BR Class 14 diesel hydraulics on its internal railway. Doubtless suitably overhauled, HE6619 then went to the North East area training centre at Seaham. With the exception of a return visit to Ashington in July 1982, the loco remained at Seaham until it was sold into preservation at the nascent South Tynedale Railway at Alston, Cumbria in June 1986. The STR was in its infancy back then, having opened just three years earlier in 1983. Finally, the loco moved to Leighton Buzzard on 15 October 1989.