A PRIVATE railway more associated with preserved steam locomotives is now trying to save a 38-year-old diesel engine built at Darlington.

Hundreds of Class 37 diesels were built for British Rail in the 60s but one originally numbered D6769 was the first of its type to leave the maker's shops in Darlington.

It was delivered new to Thornaby shed in 1962 and spent most of its working life in the North-East, where it hauled mainline freight but was also seen on limestone and cement trains on the Wensleydale and Weardale branches.

Now numbered 37069, the locomotive is being sold by its present owner, English, Welsh and Scottish Railway, and faces the prospect of being cut up unless the North Yorkshire Moors Railway can raise enough money to save it.

The NYMR has already received a number of pledges of help towards its aim of preserving the locomotive and running it on the 18-mile line between Pickering and Grosmont.

A major pledge has come from a Stockton enthusiast who remembers the locomotive operating when new on the line past his school playground, but more are urgently needed.

Offers of a donation, a gift of £10 a month over the next five years or help with restoring the locomotive can be sent to S R L Hogg, D6769/37069 Appeal, Hobarn House, 12A Brompton Road, Northallerton DL6 1DY.