| Weight | 14 tons |
| Driving Wheels | 2ft 0in |
| Boiler Pressure | 160psi |
| Cylinders | Outside – 9½in x 12in |
This locomotive was built by the Hunslet Engine Company in Leeds in 1916 for the British Arm as one of 155 War Office 4-6-0T engines. They were ordered by the War Department Light Railways to run on their 600mm gauge lines supplying the front line during the First World War. The design of the locomotive is an evolution of an earlier Hunslet 0-6-0T type, with extended frames and an added 4-wheel bogie to provide a low axle-load suitable for quickly-laid light railway.
It is interesting to note that the 155 locomotives were completed at a time when Hunslet were also constructing howitzers, shells, and machinery to make shells as well as a limited number of other locomotives. By comparison, in peace time they averaged about 40 locomotives of all designs per year.
Most of the locomotives became surplus at the end of the war and a number of the locomotives were repurchased by the Hunslet Engine Company Ltd. They were then overhauled and regauged where necessary prior to being resold. These locomotives and the nine built after the war ended up in diverse locations including Argentina, Palestine and Australia as well as the UK. Fifteen of these locomotives were sold to the Engineering Supply Company of Australia (ESCO) in two batches in 1920 and 1924 for use on the 2 feet gauge (610mm) tramways of the Queensland cane fields.
This locomotive was delivered to the Gin Gin Central Mill, Wallaville where it retained the number 306 and received various modifications over the years such as extended smokebox, removal of the cab back-sheet, slide-bar covers and the addition of electric lighting and generator.
It was taken out of service in 1966 and sold for scrap in 1967.It was rescued from a Brisbane scrapyard by a Victorian railway enthusiast and transported to his property in the Melbourne suburb of Frankston, where it operated on a short length of track.
In 1994 it was sold to a collector in Wee Waa in the cotton-growing areas of North-West New South Wales and stored undercover there.
In 2001 the Australian War Memorial purchased the locomotive to represent Australia’s involvement in light railways during the First World War.
The locomotive was restored to its original condition at Canberra before being placed on display at the Australian War Memorial in February 2004.
This is one of five such locomotives which operated in Australia which have been preserved. The others are.
- WD 303 – Works number 1215
- WD 327 – Works number 1239
- WD– Works number 1317
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Preserved British Steam Locomotives 