Hellas-Express

Posted: **Sat Dec 21, 2013 11:39 am**

Both work photos of loco A402 and loco A404

Photo SEK. Loco A410 in Line 1 in Thessaloniki.

christo.

Posted: **Sat Dec 21, 2013 6:01 pm**

i want more......

Posted: **Sat Dec 21, 2013 6:32 pm**

theo there are far more photos on the net but here is one more from me.

Photo Modern Railways December 1967. An unidentified loco in Thessaloniki.

christo.

Posted: **Sat Dec 21, 2013 10:37 pm**

Good afternoon to all,

I've seen some,but little,pictures about that 'bulky'locomotive,always in colour and in a terrific state. Those pictures remembered me those balkan railways during and post balkan wars.

For those that knew them and have information...were those locos suscessfull? Did railwaymen appreciate them in particular?

They remembered me those General Motor locos for export that you can still find in Danish Railways (Mz class) and of course,in Spanish Railways (the beloved 333 serie). Are they a model biult under lisence by Jung?

So many questions,sorry. Regards

Balkanexpress

Posted: **Mon Dec 23, 2013 1:45 pm**

Hi everyone,

The 'Siemens' es, as they were commonly nicknamed operated mostly heavy passenger trains on the Athens-Thessaloniki line. They were, to my knowledge, never used beyond Thessaloniki, mainly because it was not long before these locomotives acquired the reputation of being too sensitive and axle-trouble prone. The really bad state of the Thessaloniki-Alexandroupoli line at that time (we're talking about the late 60s-early 70s) precluded them from working that section of the network.

Apparently, these engines were quite sophisticated for the Greek Railway environment, and towards the end of the 70s most of them were converted to spare part warehouses for the few who were still operational. They occasionally worked Athens to Volos and Athens to Lianokladi stopping passenger trains, and I have photographed myself No 403, possible the last remaining engine in working order, in Athens in 1981. I'll post the pic in the forum.

There was a rumor in the late 70s that Siemens/Jung had offered to repair these engines but somehow OSE refused the offer...

Summarizing, the A401s were never popular with the Greek railwaymen; back in those days, the latter have always had the tendency to compare every locomotive class with the ALCO A300s...

All The Best,

Joseph