THE Middleton Railway has discovered that it has had an imposter in its midst for many years.
Ever since the industrial railway’s Engine House museum opened in 2007, a small 4wDM , on loan from the National Coal Mining Museum at the site of Caphouse colliery, has been on display
HE6273 was built in 1965 as a diesel-mechanical locomotive and was a standard Hunslet product, except it was fitted with a round-roofed cab at some stage in its career.
Enjoy more Heritage Railway reading in the four-weekly magazine.
Click here to subscribe & save.
However, early last year, former Hunslet worker Roger Walton produced a photocopy of Hunslet’s build catalogue, which showed the build details of its works number 6273 – and that locomotive was built as
a diesel-hydraulic!
However, the museum’s No. 6273 clearly had mechanical transmission and it did not show any signs of having been modified from a hydraulic transmission. So the railway was left with a mystery on its hands – exactly what was the locomotive in its museum?
Basic research by member Steve Roberts showed Caphouse had a pair of diesels, one of each type.
Read more in Issue 238 of HR – on sale now!
Advert
Enjoy more Heritage Railway reading in the four-weekly magazine. Click here to subscribe.
