OSE "Craiova" A.553

Video footage of OSE A.553, one of ten locomotives built for OSE in 1982 by Electroputere of Craiova, Romania. Very popular with enthusiasts due to their good sound and exhaust smoke - sometimes flames - they were not as reliable as the MLW locomotives and spent the last years of their working lives on the main line between Pireas and Thessaloniki, either on the main passenger trains or if they had a defective traction motor, which was quite common, on the light stopping services between Athens and Larissa - quite a menial task for a locomotive which was rated at 4,000hp!

The first clip is of A.553 on 29th April 1997 at Thessaloniki waiting to depart with train 501 08:02 Thessaloniki - Athens, followed by A.553 leaving Larissa with train 502 17:46 Athens - Thessaloniki in the early hours of 2nd May 1997.

The third clip is a quite lengthy one of A.553 between Lianokladi and Tithoria with train 1515 15:40 Larissa - Athens on 30th September 1997. Locations I recognise are Arpini & Bralos, with the end of this clip seeing A.553 depart from Tithoria.

The fourth clip is of A.553 departing from Lianokladi with train 1510 06:10 Athens - Larissa on 1st October 1997.

Finally, a very sad view of A.553 stripped of its engine and other parts in the yard between Rouf and Aghios Ioannis works on 17th May 1998.