Hunslet Austerity Whiston was purchased by the National Coal Board (NCB) and started its working life off at the NCB in 1950 at Haydock Colliery.

It moved to Cronton Colliery near Knowsley in April 1951 where it remained until it moved to Bold Colliery near St Helens in 1961. It remained in service at Bold Colliery for twenty years.

After being saved for preservation the locomotive was moved to the Foxfield Railway in 1983.

In 1999 it took part in a photo charter at Allied Steel and Wire’s Tremorfa Works in Cardiff.

It has operated on the railway with a break for a ten year overhaul which was completed in July 2010. It is currently operational.