62-521 - The Journey from Zenica to Alresford

62-521 - The Journey from Zenica to Alresford

On Monday 11th December 2006 a low loader supplied by John Shirley Transport of Dover arrived at Mittal Steel Zenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina to collect 62-521, the 1954 Djuro Djakovic built "USA Tank" pattern which will form 30076, the next number in the Southern/BR "USA Class" Southampton Dock Shunter series.

Class 62 number 62-521 with cranes set up to lift the 42 tonne locomotive

Over an eight day period, the transporter travelled through Bosnia and then on through Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany and Holland before making a sea crossing from Rotterdam to Purfleet where she landed at 7am on Tuesday 19th December 2006. The loader, when crossing the Bosnia/Croatia border, did so near Slavonski Brod, the city where the Djuro Djakovic factory was sited and where 62-521 was built 52 years ago.

Monday 11th December 62-521 is finally lifted onto the transporter to begin the long journey to her new home (photo Nicholas Walton). 62-382 is visible behind 62-521 whilst 62-380 (in steam) sits to the right of shot

As the load at Zenica was delayed by a couple of days, BBC Correspondent, Nicholas Walton, visited Mittal Steel Zenica on the 11th December 2006 to observe the loading of the locomotive and kindly provided photographs for the use of Project 62. Click here for further news and photographs by Nicholas and Project 62 Chairman, Richard White, of 62-521 and the other Class 62's at Zenica on the previous Thursday 7th December. Follow this link to see news and photos of the arrival and unloading at Alresford.

The news about the arrival of 62-521 and the plans to rebuild her to Southampton Dock Tank specification as "30076" was broadcast on Radio 4's "You and Yours" program on Friday 29th December 2006 including interviews with Project 62 Chairman Richard White and Mid-Hants Managing Director Colin Chambers.

62-521 On The Road to UK - Travel Log

Monday 11th December - clears local customs and heads north and crosses Croatian border

Tuesday 12th December - mid morning clears Slovenian Customs and enters European Union

Wednesday 13th December - late afternoon arrives at the Austrian/German border at Suben, a short distance south of Passau. From here the transport will travel only at night through Germany. The BBC publish news of the collection from Mittal Steel Zenica on their web site - see http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/world/europe/6172065.stm

Thursday 14th December - now confined to overnight travel across Germany, the transporter makes good progress north-west. By morning of Friday 15th December it is believed to be in the area of Aachen near the border with Holland. As the driver is asleep during the day, we don't like to phone and disturb his rest!

Saturday 16th December - crossing the border into Holland, the vehicle continues to Rotterdam.

Monday 18th December - at 2pm local time the transporter arrives at the port of Rotterdam for loading onto the overnight "Cobelfret" ferry scheduled to arrive at Purfleet 7am Tuesday 19th. The driver who collected the locomotive passes the lorry to a Dutch colleague who will continue through to Alresford.

Tuesday 19th December - arriving on time, the load also had "Route One" Customs clearance and left Purfleet at 10am. The journey along the M25, M3 and A31 was unhampered by any delays to to heavy traffic and 62-521 arrived at Alresford Station on the Watercress Line just after 1pm. Ainscough Crane Hire's two 50 tonne capacity cranes were attached each end of the locomotive which was then lifted, the trailer driven out and 62-521 gently lowered to the rails beneath. After checks to ensure the locomotive was in satisfactory state, 62-521 was then pushed, by Class 33 diesel number D6593, the 4 miles up the line to be parked in a siding at Ropley just after 5pm.

62-521 on arrival at Alresford on the Mid Hants Railway 19th December 2006

30076 - an 0-6-0AET Steam Locomotive

Djuro Djakovic built 62-521 is a 1954 example of the 90 "copies" constructed in Europe between 1950 and 1961 to a pattern of the HK Porter S100 0-6-0T designed by Colonel Howard G Hill, around 400 of which were built 1942-45 for use in the liberation of Europe during WWII. Rebuilt as 30076 there are no UK heritage hurdles to overcome and as such the proposal, which will retain the external appearence as closely as possible to the Southern/British Rail USA Class, can be applied in this case. 30076 will therefore be the first steam locomotive in the world to allow access for almost all and will enable people, currently excluded from doing so on physical grounds, the opportunity to "come on up and have a look" when invited by the locomotive crew.

The group of mainly Project 62 members involved in the purchase of 62-521 from Mittal Steel Zenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the locomotive is currently stored, completed payment for the engine at the end of September 2006. The time from then till collection by John Shirley Transport has been taken up with arranging a suitable low loader to comply with new European axle load limits and then obtaining the necessary permits for road bridges, tunnels and the route itself. As well as Mittal Steel Zenica being of great help, the British Embassy in Sarajevo has also been actively supporting the group in the work to acquire an additional Class 62 in assisting with negotiations and translations, which has been totally invaluable in securing 62-521.

Once 62-521 has been delivered to the Mid Hants Railway initial strip down and assessment will take place. Following the findings of these examinations and funding available by then, the decision will then be made regarding the future overhaul strategy of 62-521 to rebuild to 30076. Steam Railway Magazine has coined a new phrase for the locomotive wheel arrangement and type: 0-6-0AET. Puzzled? AET stands for "Access Enhanced Tank" and summarises the project aim perfectly.

For a selection of photographs of 62-521 from the survey visit made by Dave Brown and Richard White early June 2006, along with the "story so far". Follow this link for all the detail and photos of Britains Newest Standard Gauge Steam Locomotive - USA Class 62 0-6-0AET Number 30076!

Shares in 30076 are now available to purchase in units of just £50, for a share application form and to offer assistance with this remarkable project please email project62@supanet.com . You can make a dramatic difference by supporting 30076 - if just 1,000 people contributed just £50 each the locomotive overhaul costs will be largely if not totally covered! Please be one of those to help a steam locomotive become accessible to all by supporting Project 62's Access for the Disabled initiative.

All photos, sound and video clips are copyright of Project 62 unless otherwise credited