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GETA KA

During the steam era, the GeTA Sulfur railway envisaged updating their fleet from a less numerous small engine fleet to a less numerous large engine fleet. Although protests against the idea by the workers were numerous, as they thought a large engine would be difficult to maintain and doesn't correspond to the small scale of the railway (tight turns, small sidings), the board ignored them and purchased out right a KA steam engine for trials. The engine was painted in the same scheme as all of the company's engines, though it did receive white lining to celebrate it's arrival and the new era about to begin.

The engine underwent trials for about 6 months, and it quickly became apparent that such a large engine was not only unnecessary, although powerful, but also not suited for operations on the line. Not wanting to admit it's defeat, the board ordered the engine into service, while also placing an order for 2 extra KA's to be delivered in the coming weeks.

At that time, the company was in dire straights as global sulfur sales were at an all time low, and many employees feared loosing their jobs. As such, strikes took place every day until the board stepped down. The new leaders quickly cancelled the orders (KA n°2 was about 90% complete) and sold surplus locomotives and stock. Oddly enough, the KA didn't get sold, and it sat in storage for a while, being brought out occasionnally to replace broken down engines. Once the sulfur sales kicked back up, the company's funds were used to purchase several Type 150 shunters & small goods engines. Just like for the GeTA's passenger stock, spare parts quickly ran out, and the KA could often be seen running around slowly as to preserve it's parts as much as possible, while being dirty and it's paint worn out.

When the Steam era finished, the engine remained in storage alongside a Flyer engine and a Type 150 shunter.
Ultimately though, for unclear reasons, the engine was sent to the scrapyard one year after the purchase of the new AC4400 fleet, and although many requests were made to save the engine, they were quickly denied.