About us
Project62 is a collection of individuals who share a common goal of restoring two 62 class steam engines that we own. We are made up of shareholders in the project as well as volunteers working to restore the locomotives. We are reliant on financial support from the public as we have no regular income. As such, we are a Charitable Community Benefit Society, or CCBS - information on which can be found here
We have two 'USA Tank' Engines; 30075 (under restoration) and 30076 (awaiting restoration). We purchased the former in 1990 and the later in 2006. Both of these engines have been used for a variety of reasons, and even restored a few times. Our efforts are focused on 30075 at the moment - the third time that this engine has undergone deep maintenance and restoration.
30075 on the Dartmoor Railway
30075 on the Dartmoor Railway - Credit to Great Western MGM - YouTube
Use
Class 62 "Yankee Tank" steam locomotives are a patent build of the World War II USATC S100 Class 0-6-0T Switcher/Shunters designed by Colonel Howard G Hill. Many of these locomotives saw service in the UK - including 14 on the Southern Railway plus a number in industrial service with Austin Motors/BMC at Longbridge, the NCB in the North East and on the Longmoor Military Railway. Four original US built and two Yugoslavian built locomotives are preserved in the UK.
The class was very successful, proving powerful, economical to operate and relatively easy to maintain. During and immediately after the war, up to 400 were deployed across Europe and many were to become part of the locomotive fleets of railways in France, Greece, Hungary, Turkey, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.
106 of the original "S100" locomotives were taken into service after World War II to form Yugoslavian "Class 62". 90 further locomotives were built in Yugoslavia between 1952 and 1961 and added to the Class 62. Both our locomotives were built in Yugoslavia, with many adaptions to improve them.
Meet the tanks
62-669 was built by Djuro Djakovic of Slavonski Brod, Croatia in 1960. She spent 30 unglamorous years shifting freight for the Store steelworks in Ljubljana (Yugoslavia), covering only 25,000 miles in her operational lifetime.
She was purchased by 'Project 62' - so named after the Yugoslavian 62 Class and was transported to the UK in 1990. She was renumbered 30075 - after the Southern Region USA class series 30061 to 30074.
After a couple of years at Swanage Railway, she underwent a major overhaul in 1994, and was in use around the heritage railway circuit until her last day of steaming in 2010. In 2016 she was delivered to Shillingstone Station for overhaul.
We have recently completed a major refurbishment and she once again holds her 10-year boiler ticket, allowing her to steam on heritage railways throughout the UK
A detailed diary of which can be found here
62-521 was built in 1954 by Đuro Đaković in Croatia. She spent most of her working life at the Zenica steelworks (Bosnia and Herzegovina - formerly Yugoslavia), where she shunted raw materials and finished steel products within the plant complex.
She remained in that role into the early 2000s, long after steam had disappeared from most of Europe, because Bosnian industry continued to operate steam locomotives for their ruggedness and ability to handle heavy loads in confined yards.
She was transported by road to the Mid Hants Railway in December 2006, before moving to Shillingstone in January 2016. 62-521 will be rebuilt to form the 16th Southern/BR USA Tank Engine and has been numbered 30076.
We anticipate that the cost of restoring 30076 to steam will be well over £130,000 so we are appealing to the public to support us in this venture. Please see overleaf for ways to support our restoration of 30076.