During the First World War the Hunslet Engine Company built 155 narrow gauge 4-6-0T locomotives for the War Department Light Railways, for use on the Western Front. After the war, they were disposed of as war surplus, to diverse locations around the world – from the Scottish Highlands to the Argentine Pampas, from Harrogate gasworks to Australian Canefields, and from Oxfordshire Ironstone to Palestinian Power Stations. WDLR 303 (Hunslet 1215 of 1916) was one of those which went to Australia, and after many years (and an unsuccessful restoration project) was returned to the UK and restored to working order by the War Office Locomotive Trust. Kim Winter will showing images collected by Ian Hughes, Chairman of the Trust, and telling the story of the locomotives, covering the background to the class in WW1, their use on the Western Front, and their subsequent dispersal and use around the world, as well as the UK.

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