The Golden Valley Light railway

Hunslet Husky, HE 7178/71

This loco was donated to the trust by Tarmac Roadstone after it had lain out of use at one of their quarries in the Matlock area.

It was actually built in 1970 as a prototype for a projected new range of small narrow gauge locomotives; it was demonstrated at the Knaresborough home of Hunslet"s chairman on 21st August 1970. Unfortunately, Hunslet had rather misread the market, and no subsequent locos were built. It proved difficult to sell even this prototype until 1973, when Kings Lynn based company The Dredging & Construction Co Ltd bought it. They only kept it until 1975, when it went to a dealer, S.P.Wheeler, who subsequently sold it to Hoveringham Gravel at Holme Pierrepont, near Nottingham. Tarmac subsequently acquired the Hoveringham business, and the loco moved to their workshops at Matlock, from where Tarmac kindly donated the loco to the trust.

It has a number of advanced features, including hydraulic transmission, a Deutz air-cooled engine, and a transmission brake working on a disc on the side of the gearbox.

At present, the engine is seized, but one day, restoration to running order can be started.