Heavy lift specialists Fridenson Air & Ocean Ltd completed recently the door-to-door transport of an un-restored Stanier 8f TCDD ‘Churchills’ 45166 WD 341 locomotive, from the U.K. to Beersheba.
The old engine was shipped from Barry in South Wales to the municipality of Beersheba in Israel, where it will be cosmetically restored and exhibited in a new museum in the restored Turkish train station formerly on the Railway to Beersheba.
The TCDD ‘Churchills’ 45166 is a rather old engine. It was built by North British Locomotive and delivered, 62 years ago, in 1941, and shipped to Turkey in 1943. (During WW1 the Turkish railway men dubbed them 'Churchills').
Many Stanier 8Fs saw service outside the UK in Egypt, Palestine, Iran, Iraq, Italy and Turkey. 24 8Fs entered Palestine Railways stock; 23 of which were taken over by Israel Railways in 1948 and later scrapped.
The TCDD 45166 which is among the few left world- wide, was repatriated to the UK from Turkey in 2010 by the UK's Churchill 8F group.
The transportation to Israel of such a delicate unit required not only special care but also the right know- how and the necessary experience possessed by Fridenson Air & Ocean Ltd staff and the highly experienced heavy lift team to supervise the unloading and positioning in Israel was a winning decision.
