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Description
Eeklo station (Belgium), May 2nd 2015

War Department locomotive WD 33 arrives into Eeklo station, hauling a number of K1 carriages formerly of the Belgian Railways.

WD 33 is a diesel with a rich history. Built by Vulcan Foundry Ltd and Andrew Barclay in 1941, she was part of an order of 20 locomotives for the War Department, intended for shunting work in munitions depots. However, army requirements meant, that on July 23rd 1944 she was shipped in at Southampton - on July 26th 1944, she arrived on Juno Beach in Normandy, France. The demands of the war meant, that by the end of the War in 1945 she had, after serving in France and Belgium, ended up in the Netherlands, where in 1947, she was sold for service to the NS together with four others of her series. Renumbered as NS 162, she served as a light diesel locomotive until 1957, at which point she and two other survivors were sold to private companies. WD 33/NS 162 was sold to the "Willem-Sophia" coal mine in Spekholzerheide (NL), where she served until the mine's closure in 1970.
In 1971, she was sold on to the Fa. Van den Bossche in Aartselaar, Belgium, where she served until mechanical problems rendered her unservicable. At the end of the 1980s, she was rediscovered by railway enthousiasts, but it would be until 1996 when she was finally recovered and an exhaustive restoration to her original state was started. This restoration was only completed as late as 2013...

Description
Eeklo station (Belgium), May 2nd 2015

War Department locomotive WD 33 arrives into Eeklo station, hauling a number of K1 carriages formerly of the Belgian Railways.

WD 33 is a diesel with a rich history. Built by Vulcan Foundry Ltd and Andrew Barclay in 1941, she was part of an order of 20 locomotives for the War Department, intended for shunting work in munitions depots. However, army requirements meant, that on July 23rd 1944 she was shipped in at Southampton - on July 26th 1944, she arrived on Juno Beach in Normandy, France. The demands of the war meant, that by the end of the War in 1945 she had, after serving in France and Belgium, ended up in the Netherlands, where in 1947, she was sold for service to the NS together with four others of her series. Renumbered as NS 162, she served as a light diesel locomotive until 1957, at which point she and two other survivors were sold to private companies. WD 33/NS 162 was sold to the "Willem-Sophia" coal mine in Spekholzerheide (NL), where she served until the mine's closure in 1970.
In 1971, she was sold on to the Fa. Van den Bossche in Aartselaar, Belgium, where she served until mechanical problems rendered her unservicable. At the end of the 1980s, she was rediscovered by railway enthousiasts, but it would be until 1996 when she was finally recovered and an exhaustive restoration to her original state was started. This restoration was only completed as late as 2013...