Thomas Hill Vanguard Works Number 178v built 1967.
This 173 hp 32 ton diesel locomotive was built by Thomas Hill of Rotherham in 1967. It was supplied new to the National Coal Board and first used at Harworth Colliery in Nottinghamshire. In 1983 it was transferred to Clipstone Colliery also in Nottinghamshire before being sold for preservation in 1992 to the Shropshire Loco Collection . In 2001 the loco arrived at the Barrington Quarry Railway in Cambridgeshire where it worked hauling wagons of excavated chalk and clay on the quarry tracks of the Barrington Cement works. Painted in a very striking livery of circus like lined blue, red and yellow the loco became affectionately known to quarry staff as “Billy Smart”.
Use of the locomotive ceased in February 2005 when the quarry railway closed being replaced with modern methods of mineral movement. In May 2007 the loco was mounted on a plinth with two quarry wagons at the cement works by owners Cemex as a reminder of the last quarry railway in the UK. In 2007 the cement works was mothballed and in 2012 the decision was taken to permanently close the site. Aware of the historical importance of the loco and wagons Cemex decided to donate the locomotive to the Museum where it arrived in October 2012.
A sister locomotive to loco Mr D the loco is on display awaiting its turn to be returned to working order.