No. 87 was originally built with a Dorman 4 MRX petrol engine and was supplied new to “Petrol Locomotive Hirers”, a subsidiary of Motor Rail. In 1931, it went through the hands of T.C.Jones, a dealer based in Shepherds Bush (London) to the Ham Hill ballast pit at Snodland, Kent. Listed for sale in 1952, it next moved via the well-known dealer, Bungey, to J.L.Kier, a contractor based in King’s Lynn. The loco was deployed to a contract at Ridham Dock, near Sittingbourne in 1953/54, and also to the construction of the M6 viaduct at Creswell (this is where the M6 crosses the West Coast mainline to the north of Stafford). It appears likely that Kier re-engined the loco with the current Dorman 2RMB diesel engine. Kier sold it to a scrap dealer, C.T.Dawson, at Helledson, near Norwich. Dates conflict for this move, some sources citing 1958, but the Creswell contract was 1960-63. It lingered at C.T.Dawson until 1976 when it moved on to Elmet Industrial Tractors of South Milford (North Yorks). They returned the loco to service and hired it to the Yorkshire Water Authority (YWA). The loco was seen working for Yorkshire Water on river bank works at the then soon to be demolished Ouse Bridge (Hull and Barnsley Railway swing bridge , near Drax). It was then bought for preservation, and (latterly) was located at the Yorkshire Dales Railway, Embsay. The loco moved to Apedale on 2/10/20.
