30075 & 30076

Two other locomotives built by the former Yugoslavian Railway to the S100 class design have been acquired for use on the Mid Hants Railway and converted to British USA class specification.

106 of the original S100 class locomotives were taken into service after World War Two to form Yugoslavian class 62.

The railway authorities in Yugoslavia were so impressed with the design that between 1952 and 1961 90 further locomotives were built at Djuro Djakovic Works, Slavonski Brod, Croatia and added to class 62. These were almost identical in appearance to the older USA built engines, but included many improvements derived from operational experience. Both the old and new versions were known in Yugoslavia as the class 62’s. In 1990 examples of the class were still active throughout Yugoslavia and so a decision was made to purchase one.

Power Classification	3F
Introduced	62-521 (30076) 195462-669 (30075) 1960
Designer	Built to a pattern (licence HK Porter) of USATC S100 designed by Colonel Howard G Hill (USAR) in 1941 for War Department service in Europe, but utilising plate instead of bar frames.
Company	62-669: Store Steelworks 62-521: Zenica Steelworks as 62-
Weight	46t
Driving Wheels	4ft 6ins
Boiler Pressure	200psi
Cylinders	Outside – 16.5in x 24in
Tractive Effort	20,570lbf
Valve Gear	Walschaert

30075 (62-669)

Built by Djuro Djakovic of Slavonski Brod in Croatia, a suitable locomotive was located at the Store Steelworks near Ljubljana, in what was to become the country Slovenia. No. 62-669 was built as recently as 1960 and was made redundant after only 25,000 miles in service.

Following a thorough examination, finance was raised on behalf of what was to become Project 62, named after the class of engine and 62-669 was purchased in 1990 and brought back to the UK. The locomotive was dismantled on site in order to ensure clearance through the alpine road tunnels and was transported overland from Slovenia to the Swanage Railway in Dorset, where the engine was re-assembled and prepared for service. After running for a couple of years, many more improvements were authorised and these were carried out in 1994, during a major overhaul. To enhance the link with the old Southern Railway, the owners decided that 62-669 would adopt malachite green livery and take on the next vacant number 30075, after the Southern Region USA class series 30061 to 30074, of which today only 4 survive.

After arriving at Swanage in December 1990 it was stripped down and overhauled and returned to steam in late 1992.

During an overhaul at the Swanage Railway workshops at Herston in 1994 the locomotive had its bunker enlarged and a number of other modifications carried out.

The locomotive suffered a major steam pipe failure in1998 and was withdrawn from traffic.

30075 was dismantled at Swanage and moved by road to the East Somerset Railway in July 2002 and was returned to traffic in 2004.

30075 was relocated to the Mid Hants Railway in August 2009.

Following the failure of three old patches to the platework in the inner firebox, it was necessary to withdraw 30075 from service. The locomotive was stored on the Great Central (Nottingham) where it was planned to undertake the repairs under contract at Ruddington on the Great Central Railway (Nottingham).

It was anticipated that the repairs to the firebox would be completed during 2015 with a 10 year overhaul of the boiler and running gear to follow, with the aim of bringing 30075 back into service as soon as possible after.

However, 30075 was eventually moved to Shillingstone Station in Dorset, the base of the Shillingstone Project – North Dorset Railway Trust (NDRT) for repairs in January 2016.

By 2017 the locomotive was having its tubes and cab fittings removed in readiness for lifting the boiler and sending it away for a ten year overhaul.

Once repaired, 30075 will be available for more guest visits to other Heritage Railways in the future.

In early 2018 agreement was reached for the boiler to be overhauled by Vincent Engineering.

It was hoped that the locomotive will steam again during 2019.

In July 2021 it was reported that the locomotive might be in steam again at the North Dorset Railway during 2022. At this time it was hoped that the overhaul of the boiler would be complete by the end of 2021.

Home Base	Current Status	Owner
Shillingstone Station	Under overhaul	Project 62

30076 (62-521)

The Project 62 group is also involved in the current project to construct 30076 from 62-521, which was acquired from Arcelor Mittal Zenica in Bosnia & Herzegovina in December 2006.

Since 62-521 arrival in the UK in December 2006, various professional examinations have occurred in order to set a plan for overhaul and loading gauge conversion to create 30076. Initial estimates are that we now need to raise a further sum of around £50,000 to enable 30076 to become operational.

62-521 was stored at Allelys Heavy Haulage yard in Studley until January 2016 when it was moved to Shillingstone.

For more information on Project 62 go to http://www.project62.co.uk/