Preservation
© Andrew Skinner
The first locomotives to be fitted with the 12CSVT Diesel engine entered service over 50 years ago. Some locomotives are still plying their trade on the mainline, but the majority have now succumbed to the scrapman and have been reprocessed into everyday household appliances, etc. The lucky few have entered the world of ´Preservation´ which has become a worldwide affair. The UK is by far the most ´active´ of all the countries with over 50 locomotives having been ´preserved´ at some stage, although some of these were later sold for scrap or re-use by mainline operators.
British exports to Africa have not been totally missed by the preservation scene, Zimbabwe has saved a DE3 class locomotive that can be seen on display at Bulawayo Railway Museum. Kenya still has a few in daily operation, which gives hope that one of these may find its way to the Nairobi Railway Museum, whilst Tanzania still has a couple which could possibly be preserved. In Sudan, the Atbara Museum had plans to preserve at least one of the Original 12CSVT's, although the ecomnomic climate in the country may have put paid to this. The final country to receive a 12CSVT fitted locomotive (from new) in Africa was Ghana, sadly all members of this class has now been scrapped.
Australia has not missed the preservation bug either, of the 105 12CSVT fitted locomotives built at Rocklea, Brisbane in Queensland, a small number have been preserved once they were withdrawn from active service, and like the UK, one has since been returned to mainline service. There are a number of societies that have been formed with the intention of preserving a locomotive fitted with the 12CSVT Diesel Engine, lets hope that they are successful with their goals!
With all these locomotives in preservation, they need somewhere to be displayed, restored or operated. It was felt that rather than publish information on every preserved/private railway available to the 12CSVT preservation scene, the location would only be published once a 12CSVT has visited the site. In the ´Locations´ lists, these sites have been colour coded, are locations which have previously had a visit or been a base and those which are currently home to a 12CSVT.
Once a locomotive has been preserved, many are restored to active service and used at these locations to operate a regular 'service', mostly for the tourist sector, but occasionally for commuter style trains. The 'bread and butter' for many is the gala events arranged throughout the operating seasons, details of these ´Preserved Events´ can be found on the appropriate page.