Built at Leeds for the National Coal Board for use at Hem Heath Colliery in Staffordshire, 7016 became redundant with the introduction of merry-go-round trains.  It was then overhauled and transferred to Bold Colliery at S Helens, Merseyside, where it was used to replace the Austerity steam locomotives.  The colliery closed after the national strike of 1984 / 85 and the locomotive was sold to C. F. Booth at Rotherham in March 1986.  It was purchased from there by a QRS member and overhauled, arriving at Quainton in October 1986.  It was fitted with a Rolls Royce C8TFL 400 hp engine and a hydraulic transmission.  It has a top speed of 15mph and automatic train air brakes.

On leaving Quainton this locomotive was taken by the Yorkshire Engine Company and refurbished at BREL Crewe works. Here it was fitted with a new Cummins engine instead of its original Rolls Royce unit (which is now in a preserved Sentinel locomotive), plus the installation of an electronic engine management system. It was painted in the Brown and Orange colours of Balfour Beatty and taken to the site of the Cheriton terminal of the Channel Tunnel. Being the first locomotive there, it was used on the heavy rail laying and ballast trains right up to the end of the contract and commencement of operations.

The locomotive then went back to the company's Sheffield yard for storage.  A new contract was then obtained and the locomotive again went to the Yorksire Engine Co. for a light overhaul and modification of the outer edges of the buffer beams to clear an electric third rail.  It was also repainted into new colours of Blue and White.  It was then shipped via Southampton docks to Singapore where it was used for the construction work on the new suburban electric railway system.  On completion of this work the loco moved onto the next contract, an extension to the Hong Kong railway system which was completed just before the handover of Hong Kong to the Chinese authorities.

The locomotove then returned to Singapore where it was used on further works on the railway system there.

Reference: Quainton News No. 84, Summer 1999