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43106 was bought by the late Gerald Boden in March 1984 and delivered to the Great Central Railway. On 11th August 1984 the locomotive, re-numbered D306, was named "Atlantic Conveyor" in memory of the Cunard cargo ship and those on board who lost their lives in the 1982 Falklands war. Following the naming ceremony, D306 became the first Class 40 to work a passenger train in preservation. In October 1987 the locomotive, disguised as D326, was used in a re-enactment of the 'Great Train Robbery' for the film 'Buster'.
D306 [[Diesel Locomotives visiting the SVR for galas#2010-Present|visited the SVR for diesel galas in 2011 and 2014]]. In November 2015 the locomotive was purchased by the Class 40 Preservation Society, based at the East Lancashire Railway in Bury.<ref name=cfps/> In 2018 the SVR signed a contract with the Society to hire one of their Class 40s, initially for a 12 month period. Being fitted with vacuum brakes and steam heating equipment, it would be capable of working passenger services during the winter period,<ref>SVR News 203 p. 48.</ref> and could also cover for [[BR Class 37 37688 Great Rocks]] which was not then able to operate vacuum braked coaches. 40106 arrived on the SVR on 2 August as a temporary replacement for the nominated locomotive 40135. In the event, difficulties with completing work on 40135 led to 40106 remaining on hire, although a failure of the steam heat boiler restricted its use during winter 2018-19. It is anticipated that 40106 will again see use during winter 2019-20.<ref>SVR News 206, p. 22.</ref>
The '''Class 40 Preservation Society''' is Registered Charity No: 326323. Its principal activities are "''To preserve and restore to full working order and operate at galas around the uk, 3 x heritage English Electric Class 40 diesel electric locomotives''"<ref>Charity Commission</ref>.