Dumped 'Dub-Dee'
Whilst studying the Demotic Greek language in Athens in 1985 one of my main objectives, apart from of course sitting a Greek interpreter's exam at the end of the studies, was to visit the steam locomotive dumps at Athens (Agios Ioannis) and Thessaloniki (Salonika) sheds. And so to the Salonika visit; an international overnight train from Athens deposited me in the northern Greece city at a good time for the satisfactory early morning sunlight on this September visit. Armed with an officially stamped and signed visitor's permit, previously applied for in person at the Hellenic State Railways headquarters (OSE) in Athens, I was confident of gaining access without any hindrance. How naïve I was to be thinking of such a straightforward scenario! Despite speaking the language quite fluently by this stage and holding official paperwork, the 'jobs worth' on the security gate at Salonika shed just would not allow any access whatsoever, allegedly because no railway management were in present at such an early time in the morning. He also appeared to view me with great suspicion, which I must admit was quite understandable, forcing myself to see the situation from his point of view. Having travelled so far to fulfil my long-held objective, a 'Plan B' was rapidly formulated, and I very soon sought out a suitable access point for a nimble person such as myself further along the extensive shed yard perimeter fence well away from the official entrance, my youthful exploits of illicit shed visits during B.R. steam days and my then more recently acquired army field training skills quickly slotting into place as if by second nature. And with Adrenalin flowing fast and feeling like a dog with two tails in the land of the forbidden fruits I immediately got to work with my Pentax ME Super camera, working around the various groups of sad looking hulks as the sunlight would allow, but with it becoming increasingly harsher by the minute. Alas, it was not to be quite that straightforward, for the small 'fly in the ointment' proved to be a couple of not too friendly looking mongrel dogs which were not tethered, and rapidly awakening from a deep overnight and, up until then, undisturbed slumber. Clearly they were not in of the disposition to be grateful for this rood and unexpected interruption, far removed from their normally everyday quiet routine at this time in the morning! As they became ever more unnervingly vociferous I fumbled for the remains of the overnight rations in my rucksack and to my great relief the few remaining scraps happily proved their weight in gold in 'buying' the dogs' immediate friendship and quietness. Having dealt with this obstacle, it very soon became apparent to me that many of the locos were arranged in such a way that an evening visit would be far more advantageous. Having secured the photos that were possible with the restrictions of their arrangement around the shed yards during the morning, I confidently made my way to the loco shed buildings alongside the shed gate where I had previously been refused admission, and as luck would have it by that time there had been a shift change and my permit was duly acknowledged, albeit with great reluctance after being questioned over precisely what I had been up to and as to why I had not present myself on the correct side of the main gate! As is the way with Greek people, a chat about my personal life, family disposition and financial standing soon did the trick with the manager warming to me and beginning to understand the motives of my visit. Needless to say, the evening session for the additionally sought compositions did not present any further problems. I was very happy to secure this shot of a classic 'Austerity' North British locomotive and duly celebrated that evening with a Meze supper exclusively to myself, washed down with local chilled beer and the greater part of a bottle of Ouzo, naturally at the insistence of the restaurant owner and of course in the interests of good European relations. Needless to say, this was followed by the mother of all hangovers during the following morning!
North British Austerity 'WD' 2-10-0 No.73656 (works No.25442 built in 1943) and OSE 'Lb' (Λβ) Class No.955 stands in the company of two former USATC 'S160' class 2-8-0s, OSE 'Thg' (Θγ) Class Nos.532 and 584 in the shed yard at Thessalonica depot during the evening of 21st September 1985 . Following the Second World War, the British military authorities designated the 16 'WD' class locos then in store in Egypt as surplus to requirements and they were subsequently shipped to Salonica Port in January 1946. They were soon prepared for work in the local railway division, being equipped for right hand drive, fitted with headlamps, a second roof layer added and the chimney lengthened with a small deflector plate installed behind, clearly visible in this view. By the mid-1960s they were to be found employed as mixed traffic locos holding ten daily diagrams on passenger and goods services, even finding their way onto the top link 'Istanbul Express'. Regular standard gauge steam traction ceased in Greece around 1979 and many steam locos were just set aside and dumped in yards. Six of the 'Lb' class survive, two repatriated to the U.K. and four remaining in Greece, two having been restored to working order in more recent years.
© Gordon Edgar - All rights reserved. Please do not use my images without my explicit permission
Dumped 'Dub-Dee'
Whilst studying the Demotic Greek language in Athens in 1985 one of my main objectives, apart from of course sitting a Greek interpreter's exam at the end of the studies, was to visit the steam locomotive dumps at Athens (Agios Ioannis) and Thessaloniki (Salonika) sheds. And so to the Salonika visit; an international overnight train from Athens deposited me in the northern Greece city at a good time for the satisfactory early morning sunlight on this September visit. Armed with an officially stamped and signed visitor's permit, previously applied for in person at the Hellenic State Railways headquarters (OSE) in Athens, I was confident of gaining access without any hindrance. How naïve I was to be thinking of such a straightforward scenario! Despite speaking the language quite fluently by this stage and holding official paperwork, the 'jobs worth' on the security gate at Salonika shed just would not allow any access whatsoever, allegedly because no railway management were in present at such an early time in the morning. He also appeared to view me with great suspicion, which I must admit was quite understandable, forcing myself to see the situation from his point of view. Having travelled so far to fulfil my long-held objective, a 'Plan B' was rapidly formulated, and I very soon sought out a suitable access point for a nimble person such as myself further along the extensive shed yard perimeter fence well away from the official entrance, my youthful exploits of illicit shed visits during B.R. steam days and my then more recently acquired army field training skills quickly slotting into place as if by second nature. And with Adrenalin flowing fast and feeling like a dog with two tails in the land of the forbidden fruits I immediately got to work with my Pentax ME Super camera, working around the various groups of sad looking hulks as the sunlight would allow, but with it becoming increasingly harsher by the minute. Alas, it was not to be quite that straightforward, for the small 'fly in the ointment' proved to be a couple of not too friendly looking mongrel dogs which were not tethered, and rapidly awakening from a deep overnight and, up until then, undisturbed slumber. Clearly they were not in of the disposition to be grateful for this rood and unexpected interruption, far removed from their normally everyday quiet routine at this time in the morning! As they became ever more unnervingly vociferous I fumbled for the remains of the overnight rations in my rucksack and to my great relief the few remaining scraps happily proved their weight in gold in 'buying' the dogs' immediate friendship and quietness. Having dealt with this obstacle, it very soon became apparent to me that many of the locos were arranged in such a way that an evening visit would be far more advantageous. Having secured the photos that were possible with the restrictions of their arrangement around the shed yards during the morning, I confidently made my way to the loco shed buildings alongside the shed gate where I had previously been refused admission, and as luck would have it by that time there had been a shift change and my permit was duly acknowledged, albeit with great reluctance after being questioned over precisely what I had been up to and as to why I had not present myself on the correct side of the main gate! As is the way with Greek people, a chat about my personal life, family disposition and financial standing soon did the trick with the manager warming to me and beginning to understand the motives of my visit. Needless to say, the evening session for the additionally sought compositions did not present any further problems. I was very happy to secure this shot of a classic 'Austerity' North British locomotive and duly celebrated that evening with a Meze supper exclusively to myself, washed down with local chilled beer and the greater part of a bottle of Ouzo, naturally at the insistence of the restaurant owner and of course in the interests of good European relations. Needless to say, this was followed by the mother of all hangovers during the following morning!
North British Austerity 'WD' 2-10-0 No.73656 (works No.25442 built in 1943) and OSE 'Lb' (Λβ) Class No.955 stands in the company of two former USATC 'S160' class 2-8-0s, OSE 'Thg' (Θγ) Class Nos.532 and 584 in the shed yard at Thessalonica depot during the evening of 21st September 1985 . Following the Second World War, the British military authorities designated the 16 'WD' class locos then in store in Egypt as surplus to requirements and they were subsequently shipped to Salonica Port in January 1946. They were soon prepared for work in the local railway division, being equipped for right hand drive, fitted with headlamps, a second roof layer added and the chimney lengthened with a small deflector plate installed behind, clearly visible in this view. By the mid-1960s they were to be found employed as mixed traffic locos holding ten daily diagrams on passenger and goods services, even finding their way onto the top link 'Istanbul Express'. Regular standard gauge steam traction ceased in Greece around 1979 and many steam locos were just set aside and dumped in yards. Six of the 'Lb' class survive, two repatriated to the U.K. and four remaining in Greece, two having been restored to working order in more recent years.
© Gordon Edgar - All rights reserved. Please do not use my images without my explicit permission