Steam locomotives SEK Θγ521 – 537, Θγ551 – 560, Θγ571 - 595 USATC S160

[christo]

Θγ521 – 537 coal burners:

Θγ521
August 1961 at Platy, 1979 Salonica Shed, Scrapped

Θγ522
August 1961 XXX, 1979 Salonica graveyard

Θγ523 Front headlight
August 1961 XXX, 1979 Salonica graveyard

Θγ524 Front headlight, back light in tender
August 1961 XXX, 1979 Salonica graveyard

Θγ525 Front headlight + two small lanterns (possibly added for the LCGB tour in 1980, though most of the oil burners had them)
August 1961 XXX, 1979 Salonica Shed, 2017 Surviving Salonica

Θγ526 Front headlight + one small lantern on the right
August 1961 Larissa, 1979 Tithorea graveyard

Θγ527
August 1961 Salonica, 1979 Salonica graveyard

Θγ528 Front headlight + one small lantern on the left
August 1961 Larissa, 1979 Tithorea graveyard

Θγ529
August 1961 Larissa, 1979 Salonica graveyard

Θγ530
August 1961 Salonica, 1979 Salonica Shed, Scrapped

Θγ531
August 1961 Larissa, 1979 Tithorea graveyard

Θγ532 Front headlight
August 1961 Salonica, 1979 Salonica graveyard, 2017 Surviving Salonica

Θγ533 Front headlight
August 1961 XXX, 1979 Salonica graveyard

Θγ534 Front headlight
August 1961 Platy, 1979 Salonica graveyard

Θγ535 Front headlight
August 1961 Larissa, 1979 Salonica graveyard, 2017 Surviving Salonica

Θγ536
August 1961 Platy, 1979 Tithorea graveyard

Θγ537 Front car type headlight , red wheels and underframe
August 1961 Idomeni, 1979 Salonica graveyard


In older photos of 50s and 60s the Westinghouse pumps are located on the left side of the smoke box door. But it seems that in the late 60s and 70s the pumps were re located approximately half way between the cab and the smoke box on the left footplate.

christo.

[christo]

Apart from the different ways of hanging the pumps, the front headlights were mounted at different heights according to the way the supporting L plate was bolted on. Some lights were mounted higher while others were mounted lower. The lower type would be convenient, model wise, because on can use the ROCO FS model, unless someone has a better suggestion/solution.

Θγ521
Θγ522 L
Θγ523 H
Θγ524 L
Θγ525 H
Θγ526 L
Θγ527
Θγ528 H
Θγ529
Θγ530 H (car type lantern)
Θγ531 L
Θγ532 L
Θγ533
Θγ534 H
Θγ535 H
Θγ536
Θγ537 H (car type lantern)

Anyhow, I will try to produce some of the numbers with L headlights both as brass plates as well as decals. However I do not have photos of all the numbers. Please let me know if you want a specific number but note that no oil burner numbers will be considered, since I am not aware that ROCO will be producing those.

christo.

[christo]

The Θγ has arrived and is about to enter service. The sound and running characteristics of the model are exceptional. It is an FS loco, representing one made by ALCO. So I have a question for Jason. Do we know which Θγ were ALCO (rectangular maker's plate), LIMA (round maker's plate) and BALDWIN (diamond maker's plate) ? I believe Roco are producing all three types.

christo.

[christo]

Well, that is what I made up from other lists. I hope Jason can confirm this. Please check your lists and tell me if there are any mistakes so that I can correct this list.

Coal burners:

521 Alco 2050
522 Alco 2112
523 Alco 2127
524 Lima 2154
525 Lima 2206
526 Alco 2428
527 Alco 2443
528 Lima 2229
529 Alco 2456
530 Lima 2573
531 Baldwin 3398
532 Baldwin 3524
533 Baldwin 1781
534 Alco 2166
535 Lima 2226
536 Baldwin 2365
537 Lima 2537

Oil burners:

551 Alco 3338
552 Alco 3352
553 Alco 3364
554 Alco 3374
555 Alco 3375
556 Alco 3327
557 Alco 3347
558 Alco 3357
559 Alco 3360
560 Alco 3372

Oil burners from FS:

571 Baldwin 736.011
572 Baldwin 736.023
573 Alco 736.040
574 Baldwin 736.055
575 Alco 736.073
576 Alco 736.090
577 Alco 736.101
578 Alco 736.102
579 Alco 736.126
580 Alco 736.127
581 Baldwin 736.131
582 Baldwin 736.135
583 Baldwin 736.151
584 Baldwin 736.158
585 Baldwin 736.160
586 Baldwin 736.164
587 Baldwin 736.166
588 Lima 736.178
589 Lima 736.188
590 Lima 736.190
591 Lima 739.199
592 Lima 736.203
593 Lima 736.207
594 Alco 736.209
595 Lima 736.217

christo.

[GAZKGK]

Just one correction christo,

534 Lima 2166



I.Z.

[jsimantov]

Does anybody have a picture of Θγ533?

In the summer 2015 issue of Sidirotrokhia (Schneeberger's visit to Greece), there is a pic of this locomotive at the Idomeni station; now, I am wondering how come nobody noticed it has the tender of a ...Iota alpha!!!

Could be an interesting investigation: has 533 retained that tender until the end??

Iossif

[BarbaPanagos]

Hi everybody, 4 posts above Christo wrote:

Do we know which Θγ were ALCO (rectangular maker's plate), LIMA (round maker's plate) and BALDWIN (diamond maker's plate) ?...

After some research at the net I guess LIMA had a diamond builder's plate while BALDWIN had the round one.

photos from Wikipedia
Baldwin Locomotive Works https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldwin_Locomotive_Works

Baldwin builder's plate

Baldwin builder's plate 1944

Lima Locomotive Works https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lima_Locomotive_Works

Lima builder's plate

an S160 plate from Ron Fisher https://www.flickr.com/photos/train-pix/

[christo]

You forgot the Alco one.

christo.

[jsimantov]

Hi everyone,

I'd like to raise again the issue of Thg 533; I have already mentioned it back in 2017, but apparently it went unnoticed.

Just saw today on Deskgram (while browsing, I must confess, in my workplace... ) a picture of Thg 533 attached to a tender from a Ia...

The link to the page is https://deskgram.net/explore/tags/greekrailscene

Another interesting detail on this picture is the load on the tender. Obviously the pic is not very sharp, but judging from the shape of the load, it can only be compacted lignite (low-grade brown coal); these lumps were called 'briquettes' (Μπρικέττες), and they were extracted and compacted from local lignite mines (Aliveri, Ptolemaida, or any other mine from the numerous active mines in the 60s), obviously in order to reduce the cost of importing coal from Wales or from Germany. They were coming in hard blocks, and were hand-crushed by the fireman before being shoveled in the firebox. The poor fireman would breathe an enormous amount of lignite dust, but in those days, this was a detail nobody cared about...

This coal was of a poor quality compared to Welsh and German hard coal (anthracite), and although Thg 533 was listed as a coal burner, I did not know that it had been burning also briquettes, at least not in Greece.

Anyway, it is interesting to see that at least a relic of the Ia has survived in the 60 or 70s...

Iossif

[ThetaGamma]

Good morning all,


Just a quick note to introduce myself as a keen reader of the forum and now a first-time poster.

With Christo's beautiful brass plates and continuous encouragement, I have now finally managed to finish my THg based on the Roco FS model.

Decals are homegrown and printed by Andreas Nothaft.

Headlight is Cal Scale.

Small lanterns are modified Weinert and so are the tailrod protections on the cylinders.

The lampholders are 0.5mm outside diameter steel tubes to disguise the wires feeding the 0402 SMD LEDs inside. Soldering the LEDs was maybe the major pain point of the project.

"Coal" is Woodland Scenics.

As it turns out, Kadee 156 is a drop in for the front coupler. Not completely sure yet what I am going to do with the rear coupler.

The white wheel rims, buffer beam and plates have been painted in Puravest Rosso Telaio, which is a perfect match for the Roco colour.

The paint on the water tank instead chipped during the relettering process, so I repainted it all over.

Finally, the rock guards on the tender have been removed. I couldn't locate them in any of the THg photos I ever saw.

Enough said, let the pictures speakfor themselves! See below. (Many little imperfections still remaining.)

Looking forward to your comments!


All the best,

Bernhard