When the class 520 took over these duties the class 620 moved to the Southern lines from Adelaide. Watching them on the climb up to Bridgwater must have been impressive. Today the metro railcars take you as far as Belair. The railway is just a constant steep climb even today with 3 powerful diesels together hauling freight up these hills they still fail.

The coming of diesel railcars was the end for these fine looking engines, slowly being withdrawn from 1961 to 1969 with times just being laid up. 621 was withdrawn in 1969. With 672,814 miles on the clock. An appeal raised A$10,000 so the railway workshops at Islington could return it to steam in 1971. For the next 7 years it ran tourist specials all over South Australia. Since then various overhauls and repairs have seen it in and out of service. It is nNow based at Mount Barker and can been seen operating trains there.

The SteamRanger website gives a good history of their locos. 621's history gives an idea of the huge amount of money needed for any major repair. One part explains the problem a cracked header caused and how local firms cast a new header. The old header was on a pallet, at the entrance to the workshops. See the loco's album photos for a shot of the broken header casting.