Hunter

**Hunter** is a small diesel-mechanical shunter that first appeared during the campaign to save the Gladsville Line in 1962, but was re-allocated following the success of that campaign. He later came back as an official member of the railway's preserved locomotive roster after his purchase in 1981.

## Bio

Hunter was built for British Railways by the famous Andrew Barclay & Sons of Kilmarnock, which is more famous for producing 0-4-0STs (like Barclay), in 1959 for shunting duties. Having such a small amount of horsepower made him the perfect locomotive in shunting duties, also meant that he was always being challenged by steam locomotives in a test of strength, which he always losses. Being built in Scotland and spending most of his service life in Scotland, Hunter developed a strong Scottish accent, and some pride of being Scottish. In 1962, he was sent to Northampsmith to help at that station as the shunter until the line's fate is revealed. When the line was officially taken over as a heritage steam railway, Hunter was sent back to Scotland.

Hunter was renumbered from 'D2423' to '06006' under the Total Operating Processing System (TOPS) in 1973, and spent a quiet service life shunting around Aberdeen Ferryhill TMD until his official withdrawal from BR traffic in 1980, he was only 21 years old. The reason why he was withdrawn was because BR was preferring to operate diesel-electrics, and the diesel-hydraulics and diesel-mechanicals (which the Class 06 is) became "non-standard" designs. Hunter was shunted by one of his classmates to the "out-of-use" siding, awaiting departure to the scrapyard. Before he was taken to the breakers, a French-like 4-6-0 (that would be Labiche) arrived with the officials of the Moorland Steam Railway, who were looking for a new diesel shunter to help out with shunting locomotives undergoing overhaul. That moment, the men saw him lying in the sidings, with his prime mover completely ruined. Hunter was soon purchased by the MSR and Labiche took him away from Aberdeen for what was, the last time.

Hunter arrived on the MSR in March of 1981, with Labiche pulling him into the soon to-be closed Northampsmith MPD. The original five locomotives from the railway's final years as a BR-owned secondary route (Jenny, Jinty, Hughes, Capulet and Kate) were thrilled to see their old friend again. Hunter was amazed he would end up on a route he once acted as shunter on in 1962, which was now 19 years ago. The railway's chief engineer inspected him and found out that his prime mover was almost worn out, mostly due to overstress and the competitions he had with his steam-powered counterparts. Since parts for a Class 06 were hard to come by, and Andrew Barclay & Sons have gone out of business, the chances of Hunter's return to service was starting to get unlikely.

Money was raised by the public to have a new prime mover made for Hunter, which would be manufactured by General Motors in the USA, and the goal was reached within his seventh year on the railway. Hunter's new motor and full restoration in BR Blue with his TOPS number was complete by 1990, and allowed him to work shunting demonstrations and marshal locomotives around requiring overhauls. Hunter was also used from 1998 and 2000 on the "Golden Salmon" fish train, which he performed badly on those runs (being built for shunting, not pulling power). In 2008, Hunter suffered an overheated engine and bearing, which left him out of service for two weeks while repairs were done.

Hunter returned to service to help Kenneth (a fellow diesel-mechanical and the railway's first diesel locomotive) with departmental duties such as track maintenance and assisting with moving locomotives for restorations and overhauls. In 2016, Hunter assisted in the construction of a mysterious locomotive and was asked by many of the railway's own fleet, but had no idea what the engine was.

## Livery

In the 1960s, Hunter was painted in BR Plain Green with Late Crests and his pre-TOPS number on the cab.

From the 1970s, Hunter is painted in BR Corporate Blue with the "Double Arrow" emblem and the TOPS number on the cab.

## Basis or real locomotive

   Hunter is based on a real British Rail Class 06 0-4-0 diesel-mechanical shunting locomotive. 35 were built by the famous Andrew Barclay & Sons between 1958 and 1960 for shunting in the Scottish Region, as part of BR's 'Modernisation Plan' of 1955. Only ten were given TOPS numbers (06001-06010) since their transmission was "non-standard" by BR, which opted for diesel-electrics. Only one member of the Class 06 has been passed into preservation, TOPS No. 06003, aka 97804 and D2420. This diesel is not operational and its current whereabouts are unknown.

No. 06006 was built as No. D2423 in 1959 and retired in 1980 as No. 06006. It was scrapped in 1983.

## Trivia

Hunter's name comes from a small Andrew Barclay saddle tank created by Thomas Dibton (Dark DJ Productions on YouTube) in 'The Dark Railway Series' movie 'Event Horizon'.

* Both characters were built by the same company, Andrew Barclay & Sons of Kilmarnock, Scotland.

Hunter's models are Hornby Railroad range models.

Hunter's duty of shunting locomotive undergoing overhauls came from another character of The Dark Railway Series, Mr B. The difference is that Hunter is a Class 06 and Mr B is a Class 04, but both are diesel-mechanicals.

Shane Sowter was originally not going to make Hunter a member of the Moorland Steam Railway but since he was nicer than other diesels seen, he had to come back.

Hunter is the third diesel locomotive owned by the MSR, the first being Kenneth and second being Bulldog.

Hunter is most a parody of the David Strassman's character Sid Beaverman, who says the lines "Is this on!" and "Hello! I'm working here!"