Power type Steam Build date 1943-1944 Configuration 2-10-0 | Designer Riddles Total produced 16 | |
Builder North British Locomotive Company | ||
SEK (Sidirodromoi Ellinikou Kratous, Hellenic State Railways) Class Λβ (or Class Lb; Lambda-beta) is a class of 16 2-10-0 steam locomotives, ex-WD Austerity 2-10-0s purchased after the Second World War. All of them were previously stabled in Egypt and were transported to Greece, as part of the UNRRA mission in Greece (arrived at Thessaloniki port in the 16th of January 1946). They were given the class letters "Λβ" and numbers 951-966.
They were mainly allocated to the Salonika division, but hauled both freight and passenger trains (including Athens to Istanbul Expresses) all across Greece, until they were slowly replaced by diesel locomotives until the mid-1970s, being one of the last classes of steam locomotives of SEK to be withdrawn from regular service.
Preservation
A total of eight Greek Austerity 2-10-0s have survived the 1984-1985 steam locomotive scrappings, two of which were repatriated to Great Britain. All of these eight still exist, two of the ones in Greece are in working condition.