doors would be sufficient to allow diesel operation. The decision was made to decommission the Otira electrification which was no longer capable of meeting modern requirements and was also largely worn out after 74 years of heavy use. The OtiraArthur's Pass electrification was decommissioned in 1997. As a result, the EO class was withdrawn and placed into storage. A farewell excursion was held on 1 November 1997, with two EO units at one end, and two DC locos at the other end. EO 45 and EO 74 were moved to the Ferrymead Railway in June 1998 while EO 39, 51, and 68 were stored at Linwood Locomotive Depot in Christchurch. The trio at Linwood was stored outside, and became targets for local vandals, prompting Tranz Rail to move them to Ferrymead in November 1999. Ferrymead could not store the locomotives either - they were kept out in the open on the main line connection beside the electric depot at Moorhouse station. With an eye to possibly restoring them for use in Wellington, Tranz Rail had EOs 45, 51 and 74 moved to the Picton locomotive depot for storage in 2004. EO 39 and EO 68 remained at Ferrymead, where Electric Traction Group volunteers repainted EO 39. The ETG had also operated EO 45, 68, and 74 on several notable occasions while they were there. Reuse in Wellington In 2007 the three Picton locomotives were transferred north to the Hutt Workshops where they were refurbished for use by Tranz Metro on Wellington Metlink suburban trains as a short-term solution to increase capacity before the arrival of the Matangi EMUs. Two locomotives top and tailed six SE carriages owned by the Greater Wellington Regional Council and refurbished at Hillside Workshops, while the third locomotive was kept as a spare. The first such train ran on 8 December 2008. In October 2008 the two remaining EOs at Ferrymead, EOs 39 and 68, were also moved north to Hutt Workshops, where they were used for donor parts and remained unrestored. The EO/SE train was typically stabled in Upper Hutt overnight, running an early morning service into Wellington before running to Plimmerton and back on the Paraparaumu Line (now the Kapiti Line). It stabled in Wellington until the afternoon peak, when it ran to Upper Hutt - a projected afternoon service to Plimmerton never eventuated. In early 2011 the Plimmerton run was discontinued, and towards