9 Motor Rail 7522 of 1948

This locomotive is another Motor Rail – but completely different to all other Motor Rail locos built previously. The 8/12 design was intended to produce a very lightweight loco which would compete in the market to supply locos for peat works and other applications Where minimising the weight was important. This market had been dominated by Lister locos – and still was, as only 23 of the 8/12 type were produced. The use of the Ailsa Craig engine (a CFS1, to be precise), rather the more usual Dorman, was a key change to the standard Motor Rail product, and the design of the frame also deviated significantly from Motor Rail’s standard “Simplex loco design.

This particular loco is the only 8/12 HP to survive largely unaltered from new; there is a second survivor, but that loco has been fitted with a replacement engine and transmission. 7522 was delivered to the River Great Ouse Catchment Board on 6 April 1948, being despatched to their depot at Cuckoo Bridge, Ely. However, the loco didn’t last long, and was noted in the yard of George Bungey in June 1954. Bungey was a well-known dealer in plant and equipment, based in Hayes, Middlesex. The loco was sold in 1955 to Lancashire Moss Litter. In 1976 it suffered catastrophic engine failure and in June of that year was collected from Nook Lane, Astley and was initially preserved at the Moseley museum at the Manor School, Cheadle, Manchester. A major rebuild, particualry of the engine, restored the loco to operational status in 1986, and it had the honour of hauling the last passenger train at the Manor School at Easter 1998. Along with no.11 and several other locos, no.9 moved to Threlkeld, near Keswick (moving at the end of 1997) and then onto a site at Weston Wharf, near Oswestry in 2011. The loco joined the fleet at Apedale on 23 August 2017. Sadly, the intervening years had not been kind, and the loco now has a badly frost-damaged engine block. A major repair or a replacement will be needed before this loco can run again.