Volos 11.9.19
The metre gauge Thessaly Railway was commenced in 1881 and completed in 1886, a significant undertaking with a track length exceeding 200km. Further plans to extend the narrow-gauge network were frustrated by two World Wars and political instability in the Balkans. To replace some of the locomotives that were destroyed in WWII , eight locomotives were acquired from the Swiss Federal Railways between 1947 and 1949, and included this SLM 0-6-0T 1058 (Works number 1912 of 1908) that had originally been built with rack and pinion gear.
With other standard gauge lines operating in the region the writing was on the wall for the narrow gauge lines, and the completion of the conversion to standard gauge of the long section from Paleofarsalos to Kalambaka in 1999 signalled the end of the narrow gauge. The majority of the steam locomotive fleet had been put into store prior to this time near Volos station, and were left to the elements for over 20 years. A little while before my visit in 2019 a purpose-built new steel portal frame structure was erected to protect the remains of the ten locomotives left, but it could well be a case of too little, too late, as there appeared to be no signs of activity to perform any restoration work, even cosmetic. Sadly, this little survivor seems to have suffered the worst, with framing distorted presumably due to rough shunting and tanks rusted through.
Volos 11.9.19
The metre gauge Thessaly Railway was commenced in 1881 and completed in 1886, a significant undertaking with a track length exceeding 200km. Further plans to extend the narrow-gauge network were frustrated by two World Wars and political instability in the Balkans. To replace some of the locomotives that were destroyed in WWII , eight locomotives were acquired from the Swiss Federal Railways between 1947 and 1949, and included this SLM 0-6-0T 1058 (Works number 1912 of 1908) that had originally been built with rack and pinion gear.
With other standard gauge lines operating in the region the writing was on the wall for the narrow gauge lines, and the completion of the conversion to standard gauge of the long section from Paleofarsalos to Kalambaka in 1999 signalled the end of the narrow gauge. The majority of the steam locomotive fleet had been put into store prior to this time near Volos station, and were left to the elements for over 20 years. A little while before my visit in 2019 a purpose-built new steel portal frame structure was erected to protect the remains of the ten locomotives left, but it could well be a case of too little, too late, as there appeared to be no signs of activity to perform any restoration work, even cosmetic. Sadly, this little survivor seems to have suffered the worst, with framing distorted presumably due to rough shunting and tanks rusted through.