Special Rescue Train from Thessaloniki to Plati Sugar Factory, December 2014

Morning in Thessaloniki, the "centre" of Macedonia in Northern Hellas. The first light of the sun "hits" the old, "tired" roofs of the depot. The engines start up and the workers, holding a coffee and walking slowly in the cold north wind, go to their posts. The sugar beet era is over so the Sugar Factory of Hellenic Sugar Industry (Hellenic: Ελληνική Βιομηχανία Ζάχαρης - Ε.Β.Ζ.) is ready stop its operation for another year. However, some of the Eaos type cars that used for the beets' transport have been suffered a lot of damages. So, the "Rescue team" of Thessaloniki depot, always prepared to overcome all the obstacles that our railway faces, are once more responsible for the safe return of the damaged waggons. The special Rescue train, consisted by MLW MX627 A 453, ALCo DL532 A.210, 4 Z3 serie Gbgs cars and an old "redesigned" Ganz-Mavag push-pull car. Travelling from Thessaloniki Depot to Plati station, where A 453 is decoupled from the consist, and from there we take the factory's line in order to reach the H.S.I. of Plati. After some hours trying to prepare the cars for their short journey back to Thessaloniki, under the cloudy Macedonia sky, the railroad men "gave the green light" (that the cars are ready) and the trains departed for Plati, where we were recoupled with A 453 and after some hour of shunting the train finally left in order to reach Thessaloniki depot. Scenes Filmed and Edited by Alexander Sikalias Visit our Site: http://hellenictrainspotters.piwigo.com/ Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/thehellenictrainspotterssite?ref=hl The Hellenic Trainspotters © 2014