Serial 306 Hunslet 4-6-0 T, narrow gauge locomotive : British Army

War Department, standard narrow gauge, 4-6-0 locomotive engine. Works number '1218' and War Department number '306'. The locomotive has been fully restored to represent service on the Western Front during the First World War. It is painted overall black. Rectangular shaped saddle tanks are fitted to each side of the boiler with the WD number rivetted to the side of each tank. The engineers compartment has been fully completed with steel hand rails, brass pressure fittings and copper piping.

This locomotive was one of the first batch supplied by Hunslet to the War Department. It is known to have operated on the Western Front from 1916, and appears to have undergone relatively limited modification after the war. It is probable that it was initially allocated to the area around Trones Wood, South-East of Guillemont and was then transferred to the Ypres area. Three Australian light railway companies operated some locomotives of this type. The locomotive was re-purchased by Hunslet at the end of the war and was overhauled, slightly modified, re-gauged (from 600 to 610mm) and supplied to the Engineering Supply Company of Australia in 1924. They sold it to Gin Gin Sugar Mill of Queensland where it operated until 1966 when it was sold into private hands. Modifications include re-gauging, addition of an extended smokebox, possible re-cylindering (or modifications to the lagging) and minor alterations to fittings.