OSE "Craiova" A.554

Video footage of OSE A.554, one of ten A.551 locomotives built by Electroputere of Craiova, Romania in 1982. These locomotives were the most powerful diesel in the OSE fleet, being fitted with a Romanian copy of the Alco 16-251F engine rated at 4,000hp. Some parts of the design are alledged to be derived from the Brush locomotives built for British Rail as their class 56, the original batch of which were built by Electroputere in Romania, in particular the truss body structure and bogies. Like the BR locomotive no train heating was fitted which meant the A.551 locomotives were seen with a boiler van behind them when hauling a train in winter.

The first clip shows one of these boiler vans behind A.554 as it leaves Thessaloniki with train 503 18:27 Thessaloniki - Athens on 30th April 1997.

The second clip shows A.554 and one of the ex-DB 221 locomotives 420 leaving Tithoria with train 501 08:02 Thessaloniki - Athens on 5th May 1997. [this clip is also in my youtube video related to the "UFO" locomotives]

This is followed by A.554 working train 500 0748 Pireas - Thessaloniki on 6th May 1997. A.554 is viewed and heard at several different locations such as Inoi, Tithoria, Amfiklia and finally leaving Lianokladi. Just behind the locomotive can be seen one of the train heating vehicles and at the rear is a 1930s vintage BRC&W restaurant car and road vehicle carrier. As the train heads off into the distance the locomotive sound changes so that it almost sounds like a steam engine!

Finally a year later on 15th May 1998 A.554 is heard leaving a station between Leptokaria and Plati [no idea where and it was dark!] and then seen at Thessaloniki heading off to the depot for fuel. As it moves off you should be able to see that the driver is operating in reverse as he remains in what was the leading cab when hauling the train. This is because the other cab is adjacent the radiators and the fans create an incredible draught which was unpopular with the locomotive crew. These cabs were also covered in exhaust soot and the locomotives were turned at each end of the journey to keep the draughty cab at the rear!