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67-419: The Waimate Branch was a branch line railway built in southern Canterbury , New Zealand to link the Main South Line with the town of Waimate , the centre of the surrounding rural area. It opened in 1877 and operated until 1966; for some of this time, it included an extension to Waihao Downs that was known as the Waimate Gorge Branch or Waihao Downs Branch . When the line closed, Waimate received

134-430: A bunker is used to carry the fuel (for locomotives using liquid fuel such as oil , a Fuel tank is used). There are two main positions for bunkers on tank locomotives: to the rear of the cab (as illustrated in the left of the images below), a position typically used on locomotives with a trailing carrying axle or a trailing bogie ; or on top of and to one side of the firebox, a positioning typically used in cases where

201-518: A 'well' on the underside of the locomotive, generally between the locomotive's frames. This arrangement was patented by S.D. Davison in 1852. This does not restrict access to the boiler, but space is limited there, and the design is therefore not suitable for locomotives that need a good usable range before refilling. The arrangement does, however, have the advantage of creating a low centre of gravity , creating greater stability on poorly laid or narrow gauge tracks. The first tank locomotive, Novelty ,

268-553: A certain industrial site such as a power station either because of a location away from the main line or to reduce congestion. They were typically built to lower standards, using lighter rail and shallow roadbeds when compared to main lines. Much of Canada's branch line history relates to large rail transport conglomerates (such as the Grand Trunk , Canadian National , or Canadian Pacific ) which would acquire formerly independent short line railways for use as branch lines, with

335-529: A curve (like an inverted 'U'), or even an ogee shape (a concave arc flowing into a convex arc). Walter Nielson patented the saddle tank arrangement in 1849. Saddle tanks were a popular arrangement especially for smaller locomotives in industrial use. It gave a greater water supply, but limited the size of the boiler and restricted access to it for cleaning. Furthermore, the locomotive has a higher centre of gravity and hence must operate at lower speeds. The driver's vision may also be restricted, again restricting

402-462: A derailment. Some tram engines were fitted with a roof and enclosed sides, giving them an appearance more like a goods wagon than a locomotive. Railway locomotives with vertical boilers universally were tank locomotives. They were small, cheaper-to-operate machines mostly used in industrial settings. The benefits of tank locomotives include: There are disadvantages: Worldwide, tank engines varied in popularity. They were more common in areas where

469-579: A full cab, often only having a front ' spectacle plate '. If a cab was provided it was usually removable along with the chimney, and sometimes the dome, so that the locomotive could be loaded onto a flatbed wagon for transport to new locations by rail whilst remaining within the loading gauge . Steam tram engines, which were built, or modified, to work on a street, or roadside, tramway were almost universally also tank engines. Tram engines had their wheels and motion enclosed to avoid accidents in traffic. They often had cow catchers to avoid road debris causing

536-680: A guard's van. Two proposals for an extension were made, of which only one eventuated. The plan which did not eventuate was to link Waimate to either Duntroon or Livingstone . One of the proposals for the Otago Central Railway was to build a line from Oamaru to Naseby , and in 1877 an invitation was extended to the Waimate County Council to partake in a plan to connect Waimate to the Oamaru-Naseby line in either Duntroon or Livingstone and thus establish

603-411: A larger yard, where these railcars are sorted and dispatched in larger trains with other cars destined to similar locations. Because industrial spurs generally have less capacity and traffic than a mainline, they tend to have lower maintenance and signaling (train control) standards. Before the rise of the long-distance trucking in the early 1930s, railroads were the primary means of transportation around

670-823: A section of the West Rail line . Discontinued services include the Sha Tau Kok Railway and the Wo Hop Shek Branch . A spur line to Siu Sai Wan has been proposed. Delhi On the Delhi Metro , the Blue Line has a Branch Line with 8 Stations, linking Yamuna Bank to Ghaziabad via Anand Vihar ISBT and terminating at Vaishali. The first section of the Branch opened on 8 January 2010 with Anand Vihar as its terminal with six stations. It

737-686: A separate tender to carry needed water and fuel. The first tank locomotive was the Novelty that ran at the Rainhill Trials in 1829. It was an example of a well tank . However, the more common form of side tank date from the 1840s; one of the first of these was supplied by George England and Co. of New Cross to the contractors building the Seaford branch line for the London Brighton and South Coast Railway in 1848. In spite of

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804-491: A single track, the journey is 0.8 miles (1.3 kilometres) long and the train takes around two and a half minutes to complete its journey. In North America, little-used branch lines are often sold by large railroads to become new common carrier short-line railroads of their own. Throughout the United States and Canada, branch lines link smaller towns too distant from the main line to be served efficiently, or to serve

871-508: A space between the tanks and the running plate. Pannier tanks have a lower centre of gravity than a saddle tank , whilst still giving the same easy access to the valve gear. Pannier tanks are so-named because the tanks are in a similar position to the panniers on a pack animal . [REDACTED] Media related to Pannier tank locomotives at Wikimedia Commons In Belgium , pannier tanks were in use at least since 1866, once again in conjunction with Belpaire firebox. Locomotives were built for

938-531: A subsidy for grain transport, and instead allowed railways to absorb branch line subsidies freely without making effort to improve the profitability of the lines. The term "grain-dependent branch lines" began being used as early as 1978 to refer to the special case of these branch lines in agricultural areas whose viability depended on the economics of grain transport. The Western Grain Transportation Act of 1983 addressed this case specifically, but

1005-415: A tender was used with a narrow-gauge locomotive it usually carried only fuel, with water carried in the locomotive's tanks. The tender offered greater fuel capacity than a bunker on the locomotive and often the water capacity could be increased by converting redundant bunker space into a water tank. Large side tank engines might also have an additional rear tank (under the coal bunker), or a well tank (between

1072-524: A through route from Central Otago to Canterbury . A deputation representing the advocates of the Oamaru-Naseby line made a presentation before the Waimate County Council on 12 July 1877, but the Council did not view the proposal as desirable. The Oamaru-Naseby proposal itself failed to come to fruition, with Duntroon ultimately served by the Kurow Branch and Livingstone located near the terminus of

1139-425: A variety of main line and industrial roles, particularly those involving shorter journeys or frequent changes in direction. There are a number of types of tank locomotive, based on the location and style of the water tanks. Side tanks are cuboid -shaped tanks which are situated on both sides of the boiler , extending all or part of the boiler's length. The tank sides extend down to the running platform, if such

1206-460: A wing tank and an inverted saddle tank. The inverted saddle tank was a variation of the Wing Tank where the two tanks were joined underneath the smokebox and supported it. This rare design was used for the same reasons as the wing tank but provided slightly greater water capacity. The Brill Tramway locomotive Wotton is believed to have had an inverted saddle tank. The inverted saddle tank

1273-527: Is a 4-4-0 American-type with wheels reversed. Wing tanks are side tanks that run the length of the smokebox, instead of the full length of the boiler. In the early 19th century the term "wing tank" was sometimes used as a synonym for side tank. Wing tanks were mainly used on narrow gauge industrial locomotives that could be frequently re-filled with water and where side or saddle tanks would restrict access to valve gear. The Kerry Tramway 's locomotive Excelsior has been described, by various sources, as both

1340-556: Is a type of secondary track used by railroads to allow customers at a location to load and unload railcars without interfering with other railroad operations. Industrial spurs can vary greatly in length and railcar capacity depending on the requirements of the customer the spur is serving. In heavily industrialized areas, it is not uncommon for one industrial spur to have multiple sidings to several different customers. Typically, spurs are serviced by local trains responsible for collecting small numbers of railcars and delivering them to

1407-412: Is injected into the boiler. However, if the water becomes too hot, injectors lose efficiency and can fail. For this reason, the tanks often stopped short of the hotter and uninsulated smokebox . [REDACTED] Media related to Saddle tank locomotives at Wikimedia Commons Pannier tanks are box-shaped tanks carried on the sides of the boiler, not carried on the locomotive's running plates. This leaves

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1474-458: Is present, for at least part of their length. This was a common configuration in the UK. The length of side tanks was often limited in order to give access to the valve gear (inside motion). Tanks that ran the full length of the boiler provided greater water capacity and, in this case, cut-outs in the rectangular tank gave access to the valve gear. Longer side tanks were sometimes tapered downwards at

1541-532: The Bay of Plenty Region , lines were built inland to provide rail access to large logging operations. Today, many of the branch lines have been closed, including almost all of the general-purpose country lines. Those that remain serve ports or industries far from main lines such as coal mines, logging operations, large dairying factories, and steelworks . In Auckland and Wellington , two branch lines in each city exist solely for commuter passenger trains. For more, see

1608-753: The Gladstone Branch in New Jersey; as well as the New Canaan Branch , Danbury Branch , and Waterbury Branch in Connecticut . The Long Island Rail Road also refers to its services as "branches". In Chile, there are a lot of branch lines on its main line, of only a few remain operational. Most only operating in turistic services (like the Antilhue-Valdivia branch line), others have been taken over by other railways (like

1675-788: The North South Line between Jurong East and Choa Chu Kang stations was operated as a separate line, known as the Branch line . It was merged into the North–South Line with the opening of the Woodlands Extension in 1996. The future Jurong Region Line and Cross Island Line will also have branch lines. New Zealand once had a very extensive network of branch lines, especially in the South Island regions of Canterbury , Otago , and Southland . Many were built in

1742-564: The Pisa-Rome railway mainline at Roma San Pietro railway station , to Vatican City station . Many British railway branch lines were closed as a result of the " Beeching cuts " in the 1960s, although some have been re-opened as heritage railways . The smallest branch line that is still in operation in the UK is the Stourbridge Town Branch Line from Stourbridge Junction going to Stourbridge Town . Operating on

1809-704: The South Tseung Kwan O Spur Line to LOHAS Park station , opened in 2009. Earlier, a spur line was built in 1985 on the East Rail line to serve Racecourse station , bypassing Fo Tan station . Also, the Tsim Sha Tsui Extension  [ yue ] was built in 2004 on the East Rail line to serve East Tsim Sha Tsui station . However, after the Kowloon Southern Link was completed in 2009, this spur line turns into

1876-634: The Tokarahi Branch . The other extension proposal was for a line into the hinterland behind Waimate, and this one was successful. Local residents established the Waimate Railway Company in late 1878 to construct an extension from Waimate to the Waihao Valley , and work commenced after W. J. Black's tender for construction of the first section was accepted on 16 April 1882. The initial 11.27 km were built quickly, with

1943-546: The firebox overhangs the rear driving axle, as this counterbalances the overhanging weight of the firebox, stabilising the locomotive. There are several other specialised types of steam locomotive which carry their own fuel but which are usually categorised for different reasons. A Garratt locomotive is articulated in three parts. The boiler is mounted on the centre frame without wheels, and two sets of driving wheels (4 cylinders total) carrying fuel bunkers and water tanks are mounted on separate frames, one on each end of

2010-517: The list of New Zealand railway lines . Tank locomotive There are several different types of tank locomotive, distinguished by the position and style of the water tanks and fuel bunkers. The most common type has tanks mounted either side of the boiler. This type originated about 1840 and quickly became popular for industrial tasks, and later for shunting and shorter-distance main line duties. Tank locomotives have advantages and disadvantages compared to traditional locomotives that required

2077-694: The Belgian State and for la Société Générale d'Exploitatation (SGE) , a private company grouping smaller secondary lines. In the United Kingdom , pannier tank locomotives were used almost exclusively by the Great Western Railway . The first Great Western pannier tanks were converted from saddle tank locomotives when these were being rebuilt in the early 1900s with the Belpaire firebox . There were difficulties in accommodating

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2144-780: The German Class 61 and the Hungarian Class 242 . The contractor's locomotive was a small tank locomotive specially adapted for use by civil engineering contractor firms engaged in the building of railways. The locomotives would be used for hauling men, equipment and building materials over temporary railway networks built at the worksite that were frequently re-laid or taken up and moved elsewhere as building work progressed. Contractor's locomotives were usually saddle or well tank types (see above) but required several adaptations to make them suitable for their task. They were built to be as light as possible so they could run over

2211-695: The San Rosendo-Talcahuano branch line, which has been taken over by Biotrén and the Laja-Talcahuano train service) however, there is one branch line that still remains as fully operative. The Talca-Constitución branch line, which uses trains with bus motors. Two extensions to the MTR rapid transit network were built as branches of existing lines: the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line to Lok Ma Chau station , which opened in 2007; and

2278-560: The U.S. state of New Jersey . The line is a short branch of the Northeast Corridor Line , running from Princeton Junction northwest to Princeton with no intermediate stops. Also known as the "Dinky Line", at 2.9 mi (4.7 km) it is the shortest scheduled commuter rail line in the United States. The run takes 4 minutes, 47 seconds. Other than the Princeton Line, other surviving branch lines include

2345-685: The Waimate Branch was the terminus, located 7.42 km from the Main South Line junction in Studholme. The following stations were located on the Waimate Gorge Branch (in brackets is the distance in kilometres from Waimate): From the opening of the Waimate Branch, a shuttle service operated between Waimate and the mainline at Studholme, while a daily mixed train ran between Waihao Downs and Waimate. Motive power on

2412-406: The Waimate Branch, as picnic trains still ran on occasions. Traffic surged during World War II , in part due to petrol restrictions, but it slipped again with the coming of peace in 1945. New freight handling techniques and changes in coastal shipping patterns served to further lower the traffic on the branch, and with running costs mounting and deferred maintenance becoming more and more necessary,

2479-411: The Waimate Gorge Branch was provided by F class tank locomotives for many years, primarily by F 10, F 41, and F 251. Due to Waimate's status as the central town of the surrounding region, it attracted inbound freight from over 160 km away, and most outbound traffic went to Timaru or Oamaru and the wharves located in those two centres. Waimate is known for its berry gardens, and at the height of

2546-544: The boiler. Articulation is used so larger locomotives can go around curves which would otherwise restrict the size of rigid framed locomotives. One of the major advantages of the Garratt form of articulation is the maintenance of the locomotive's centre-of-gravity over or inside the track centre-line when rounding curves. A crane tank (CT) is a steam tank locomotive fitted with a crane for working in railway workshops or other industrial environments. The crane may be fitted at

2613-438: The coastal plain without deviating. Both government and residents agreed that a link from the main line village of Studholme to Waimate was necessary. In 1876, tenders were called for the line and the winning offer, George Pratt's of £4,831, was accepted on 10 March 1876. Construction was not difficult and the branch opened on 19 March 1877. The first train was hauled by an A class tank locomotive and had three carriages plus

2680-407: The dubious distinction of being New Zealand's first major town to lose its railway line. Located roughly halfway between Timaru and Oamaru , Waimate is the major market and service town for the surrounding district, but when the Main South Line between Christchurch and Dunedin was constructed, it was built some 7 km to the east of the township so that it could follow a direct route along

2747-409: The early belief that such locomotives were inherently unsafe, the idea quickly caught on, particularly for industrial use and five manufacturers exhibited designs at The Great Exhibition in 1851. These were E. B. Wilson and Company , William Fairbairn & Sons , George England, Kitson Thompson and Hewitson and William Bridges Adams . By the mid-1850s tank locomotives were to be found performing

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2814-569: The first president of the Canadian National Railway , said that although most branch lines cannot pay for themselves, they are even essential to make main lines pay. In the United States, abandonment of unproductive branch lines was a byproduct of deregulation of the rail industry through the Staggers Act . The Princeton Branch is a commuter rail line and service owned and operated by New Jersey Transit (NJT) in

2881-513: The flat top of the latter within an encircling saddle tank which cut down capacity and increased the tendency to overheat the water in the tank. Pannier tank locomotives are often seen as an icon of the GWR. In Logging railroads in the Western USA used 2-6-6-2 Saddle tanks or Pannier tanks for heavy timber trains. In this design, used in earlier and smaller locomotives, the water is stored in

2948-433: The formation created for the never-built extension is still visible. Branch line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line . A very short branch line may be called a spur line . Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located on a main line. Branch lines may also connect two or more main lines. An industrial spur

3015-536: The frames when extra weight and traction was required, then removed when it was not. Most had sanding gear fitted to all wheels for maximum traction. Some method of keeping mud and dust from clogging the wheels and brake shoes was also required – this either took the form of scraper bars fitted to the leading edge of the wheels or wheel washer jets supplied from the water tank. To handle long trains of loose-coupled (and often un-sprung) wagons, contractor's locomotives usually had very effective steam-powered brakes. Most lacked

3082-629: The frames). This may have been to increase the water capacity, to equalise the weight distribution, or else improve the stability by lowering the centre of gravity . Because tank locomotives are capable of running equally fast in both directions (see below) they usually have symmetrical wheel arrangements to ensure the same ride and stability characteristics regardless of the direction travelled, producing arrangements with only driving wheels (e.g. 0-4-0 T and 0-6-0 T ) or equal numbers of leading and trailing wheels (e.g. 2-4-2 T and 4-6-4 T ). However other requirements, such as

3149-429: The front to improve forward visibility. Side tanks almost all stopped at, or before, the end of the boiler barrel, with the smokebox protruding ahead. A few designs did reach to the front of the smokebox and these were termed 'flatirons'. The water tank sits on top of the boiler like a saddle sits atop a horse. Usually, the tank is curved in cross-section, although in some cases there were straight sides surmounted by

3216-411: The front, centre or rear. During the 1930s there was a trend for express passenger locomotives to be streamlined by enclosed bodyshells. Express locomotives were nearly all tender locomotives, but a few fast tank engines were also streamlined, for use on high-speed, but shorter, services where turn-around time was important and the tank engine's independence from turntables was useful. Examples included

3283-543: The government took the step of closing the Waihao Downs section on 11 December 1953 and then the entire line on 31 March 1966. All previous branch closures had been of lines serving rural areas and small townships, so Waimate became New Zealand's first major town to lose its railway connection if one excludes the 1955 closure of the isolated Nelson Section (although it served only small settlements, it began in Nelson and

3350-416: The greater flexibility and economic savings of trucking. Today, railroads remain the most economical way to ship large quantities of material, a fact that is reflected in industrial spurs. Most modern day spurs serve very large industries that require hundreds, if not thousands, of carloads a year. There is an international branch line between Italy and Vatican: the 300-metre Vatican Railway , connecting from

3417-546: The late 19th century to open up inland regions for farming and other economic activities. The branches in the South Island regions were often general-purpose lines that carried predominantly agricultural traffic, but lines elsewhere were often built to serve a specific resource: on the West Coast , an extensive network of branch lines was built in rugged terrain to serve coal mines, while in the central North Island and

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3484-573: The length of run was short, and a quick turn around time was needed or turning facilities were not available, mostly in Europe. With their limited fuel and water capacity, they were not favoured in areas where long runs between stops were the norm. They were very common in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. In the United Kingdom, they were frequently used for shunting and piloting duties, suburban passenger services and local freight. The GWR

3551-408: The lightly built temporary rails and had deeply flanged wheels so they did not de-rail on the tracks which were often very uneven. At the same time, they had to be very powerful with good traction as they would often have to haul trains of wagons up very steep gradients, such as the sides of railway embankments or spoil heaps. Many were designed so that large iron ballast blocks could be fitted to

3618-410: The line opened to Waihao Forks on 2 February 1883. Another 2.05 km of trackage to Waihao Downs followed, and this was opened on 24 April 1883, with a small locomotive depot established at the Waihao Downs station. On 1 April 1885, in accordance with the terms of the 1878 District Railways Act under which the Waimate Gorge Branch had been built, the government agreed to take control of the line. There

3685-519: The line's formation including a cutting, a bridge abutment, and some brick culverts can be located, and for about 5 km, a walkway follows the route of the line beside the Waihao River . At Waihao Forks, the old station still sits on a hillside with a carriage nearby, and at Waihao Downs, the loading bank and goods shed both exist in relatively good condition, though the goods shed has been added to on one side. Continuing past Waihao Downs, some of

3752-557: The need to support a large bunker, would require a non-symmetrical layout such as 2-6-4 T . In the Whyte notation for classification of locomotives (primarily by wheel arrangement ), various suffixes are used to denote tank locomotives: In the UIC notation which also classifies locomotives primarily by wheel arrangement , the suffix 't' is used to denote tank locomotives On tank locomotives which use solid fuels such as coal ,

3819-572: The railways had owned. However, by the mid-20th century, railways began neglecting lines in western agricultural regions. This was historically driven by factors such as the Crow Rate , which regulated the price railways could charge for shipping grain. Railways had little incentive to invest in rural Prairie branch lines, but were legally unable to abandon them under the National Transportation Act , which also did not provide

3886-408: The safe speed. The squared-off shape of the Belpaire firebox does not fit easily beneath a saddle tank, and so most saddle tanks retained the older round-topped boiler instead. A few American locomotives used saddle tanks that only covered the boiler barrel, forward of the firebox. Water in the tank is slightly pre-heated by the boiler, which reduces the loss of pressure found when cold feedwater

3953-405: The season in 1898, an average of five wagons of strawberries were railed out of Waimate daily. Passenger traffic on the line ceased and was replaced by buses on 9 February 1931, and around this time, the locomotive depot in Waihao Downs was closed and the Waimate Gorge Branch's regular daily mixed train was replaced by a goods service when required. Passenger trains did not become wholly absent from

4020-833: The short line often continuing to exist as a subsidiary. For example, when the Canadian Pacific acquired the Algoma Eastern Railway (a short line) in 1930, it soon after abandoned much of the Algoma Eastern mainline, but retained sections close to Algoma Eastern–Canadian Pacific junctions as short branch lines or spurs. The National Transportation Act of 1967 provided government subsidies for branch lines. Western railway development in Canada worked in concert with land settlement and cultivation, as pioneers were settled near railway lines, often on land

4087-467: The world. Industries of the era were commonly built along railroad lines specifically to allow for easy access to shipping. Short (under a mile, oftentimes only several hundred yards) industrial spurs with very small (under ten car) capacities were a common sight along railroads in industrial and rural cities alike. As automobile and roadway technology improved throughout the early and mid-20th century, most low volume industry spurs were abandoned in favor of

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4154-411: Was a speciality of W.G.Bagnall . A tank locomotive may also haul a tender behind it. This was the common arrangement on the largest locomotives, as well as on narrow gauge railways where the small size of the locomotive restricts the space available for fuel and water. These combined both fuel and water in a proportion (where coal was used) of 1 pound of coal for every 6 pounds of water. . Where

4221-510: Was a well tank. [REDACTED] Media related to Well tank locomotives at Wikimedia Commons In this design, the tank is placed behind the cab, usually over a supporting bogie. This removes the weight of the water from the driving wheels, giving the locomotive a constant tractive weight. The disadvantage is a reduction in water carrying capacity. A rear tank is an essential component of the American Forney type of locomotive, which

4288-504: Was further extended to Vaishali in 2011. The line is planned to be extended from Vaishali to Mohan Nagar via Sahibabad Station to link with the main line. The East West Line of the MRT system in Singapore has a two-station branch to Changi Airport . The first station, Expo , opened in 2001. It was extended to Changi Airport station the next year. From 1990 to 1996, the section of

4355-461: Was local pressure to extend the line further and some formation was constructed in 1914 with the goal of continuing the railway to Waihaorunga . World War I brought construction to a halt as resources were diverted elsewhere and work did not resume after the war ended. By 1924, the government had decided that extending rural branch lines was not profitable and thus permanently put an end to any plans to build beyond Waihao Downs. The only station on

4422-502: Was repealed in 1994 in the wake of the North American Free Trade Agreement and budget-balancing initiatives in favour of a one-time payout by the federal government directly to farmers, to arrange transport of grain themselves. From the mid-1970s to the late 2010s, more than 9,300 kilometres (5,800 mi) of Prairie branch lines were abandoned or had a discontinuance of service. David Blyth Hanna ,

4489-425: Was the only railway to serve the city). The remains of old railways typically perish with time due to both natural influences and human development, and the Waimate Branch is no exception. There are no readily obvious remnants of the line in the town of Waimate, though the formation between Waimate and the junction with the Main South Line can be clearly seen. Along the route of the Waimate Gorge Branch out of Waimate,

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