This remained consistent until the 1950s, when a sharp downturn in demand for coal led to certain members of the class being set aside as boiler work was required.

With an upturn in the late 1960s, and the purchase by Coal & Allied (C&A) in 1967 of Hebburn Limited which gave C&A 100% ownership of South Maitland Railway.

It was determined to be of greater benefit to allow the remaining RODs to work out their economic lives, and to start a system of repairing the 10 Class as soon as possible for the revived traffic.

All maintenance at this time was undertaken at East Greta Junction, with the locomotives being transferred dead on empty and loaded coal trains.

From then until September 1987, East Greta Junction Workshops became solely devoted to providing four 10 class at all times to Hexham, with the others in storage, except 19, which was on display at Port Waratah Coal Loader.

Following the handover of operations of the SMR to the State Rail Authority, the 10 class remained in service on the truncated J&A Brown railway between Stockrington and Hexham.

The men were dismissed, and in combination with their pleas being unheard, they lit up SMR 25, and ran it light engine over the swamp and to a location near Lenaghan's Drive, where a public protest was staged.

Unit 19 was gutted and placed on display on a plinth at Port Waratah Coal Loader, with three non-air hoppers and an ex J&A Brown brake van.

Following the cessation of steam services on the South Maitland Railway in 1983, those not required for Hexham workings was stored in the former loco shed at East Greta Junction.

Unit 22 was dismantled with a view to a return to steam in the early 1990s, however this was deemed to be uneconomical, and the locomotive was reassembled and put on static display at the museum.

Units 10 and 18 were overhauled by the Friends of the South Maitland Railways, and made their public debut at the Hunter Valley Steamfest 1990, with 10 in steam and 18 on static display.

[4] The locomotive was sent to Bradken Rail's workshops at Braemar and overhauled, and transferred to Hunter Valley Railway Works at Rothbury in early 2007.

In 2012, after discussions between 3801 Limited, the Hunter Valley Training Company and the Friends of the South Maitland Railway, a series of tours around the Sydney suburban network using 18 were announced.

This left 10 and 18 exposed to the elements, until HVTC constructed a small, non-serviced single road storage shed with 10 and 18 moved in late 2012.

[6] Unit 17 was pressed into sporadic service on the former Ayrfield Colliery branch hauling tour trains, however this ceased in the late 1990s.

Unit 23 was overhauled by the Friends of South Maitland Railways and Hunter Valley Training Company in 1998, and was painted in a powder blue livery and had a Pyle National headlight fitted.