Steam locomotives SEK Λα901 - Λα940 STEG & SKODA 1925/27

[christo]

Both engine and tender were scrapped during the ~1984 scrapping wave.

Loads of photos of the "ghost of Tithorea" here:

http://www.railphotolibrary.com/index.p ... rch=greece

christo.

[jsimantov]

Hi everyone,

Hope you are having a nice summer, in a nice, warm place with lots of sunshine...

I just found that Südbahn Loco 580.03, later 298.902, which is one of the engines that worked in Greece between 1957 and 1959 still exists, has been restored to its original condition and its now displayed at the Heizhaus Eisenbahnmuseum Strasshof.

http://www.eisenbahnmuseum-heizhaus.com ... php?id=184

Cheers,

Iossif

[christo]

Well spotted Mr Holmes. Maybe they can lend it again Seriously though Iossif, I would love to visit the museum in the hope of hearing her in full steam.

Dr Watson

[GAZKGK]

580.03 ran in Greece as Λ 258.902 (ex- ÖBB 258.902).

[BarbaPanagos]

very nice Iossif

how many were those leased OBB Λαs, 4-5? is there any known photo of them down here?

* it's a couple days now, that I learned about them, through a discussion I had with Andreas
he told me that they had retained their original numbering with the Λα addition (as Jason wrote), so I guess it was only painted and never received plates

...

[GAZKGK]

The leased Λs were 13.

Franky had written a very nice and detailed post at Amnizia some years ago, according to which Λ 258.902 was in Greece 14/06/1957 to 21/06/1959 and then she worked for ÖBB untill 1964.


Here is Λ 258.906 by A. Luft with a Ringhoffer and a plywood van behind.

[GAZKGK]

One more by A. Luft ...

Λ 258.917

Note the dumped tender on the left ..

[BarbaPanagos]

thanks Jason. I have missed Franky's post...


...

[Andreas]

The original Class was Südbahn 580 and during BBÖ (ÖBB forerunner) the got the class 258, which was also retained when they came to Greece....so I am not to old yet to forget that stuff....

[jsimantov]

Hi Folks,

A number of interesting details show up on both Luft pix.

To begin with, in the Strasshof museum page it says that "Nachdem die Lok hauptausgebessert wurde...", it went to Greece. Now this term can be read as a rebuild in the British sense, or simply as an overhaul; during the 50s electrification of the BBO/OBB was only partial, and extensive parts of the network were steam-operated well into the 60s and early 70s. So, it wouldn't be surprising to see large scale steam locomotive upgrades and/or rebuilds...

The main feature to notice is the huge sandbox in front of the main steam dome; this is definitely not an original Gölsdorf or Südbahn feature, and it might have been added just for the rental period.

Another interesting feature is the single Westinghouse pump, as opposed to the double pump most of the Skoda-built engines were fitted with; the OBB engines were originally built with the Semmering line in mind, which is one of the most difficult lines in Europe. It would have been normal to fit them with additional braking power in order to deal with heavy goods trains running downhill...

Christo, it would have been nice to see and hear the museum engine again; I personally remember the La like a dream, because in the late 50s and early 60s they had already been moved to Thessaloniki, and in those years I was too young to undertake a railway enthusiast trip to the far north!

What I remember very well though, was that the La's had, just like the Lg, two distinct whistles: a 'shunting' whistle (ατμοσειρήνα ελιγμών), and a 'route' whistle (ατμοσειρήνα πορείας). The first was a single-chime whistle, probably of the original austrian design; the second was a three-chime whistle, with a very sweet, Yankee-type sound, very similar to the standard whistle fitted to the BDZ locomotives (to hear, check Youtube for Bulgarian steam), and also to the whistles fitted on the Jung engines of the Thessalian network. Loco drivers were not allowed to use the route whistle when in the station; it's true that they were VERY loud, and there have been numerous complaints and 'faskela' (see a previous posting on this term!), especially during early afternoon (siesta-time) and late night departures!

The Skodas were also renowned for their very loud exhaust (a typical austrian feature): as an anecdot, to avoid making much noise, a few loco drivers were used to run their locomotives at full throttle with practically no cut-off (φούλ μάρσα), giving hell to their firemen; those drivers were gracefully nicknamed "Τραμπαρίφες", an absolutely untranslatable name referring to an old popular song about a taxi driver who was a heavy smoker...

That's all for now folks, enjoy your holidays, wherever you may be, and don't forget if you see or especially if you hear any stories or anecdots about the old times, please, please, please, share them!

Cheers,

Iossif