RP03   removable hard disk drive
RP11   controller

In October 2016 I received an email from a guy named Hans.

Dutch: Mijn schoonvader heeft nog een PDP 11/40 die weg moet inclusief alle randapparatuur. Hij is nog op te starten ...
Bent U geïnteresseerd, anders wordt hij waarschijnlijk vernietigd.
Ik ben ooit 38 jaar geleden op een 11/45 als operator gestart, dus dat laatste doet mij wel pijn ;-)

Translation: My father-in-law has a PDP-11/40 with peripheral devices that has to go. The system still starts ...
Are you interested, otherwise the machine will probably be scrapped.
Some 38 years ago, I started as an operator for an 11/45, so the latter does hurt me ;-)

I saw a beautiful 3-rack PDP-11/40 system.
The rack at the right side is the 11/40 computer, the rack at the left side contains a Kennedy 9300 tape drive and a TU60 DECcassette. The rack in the middle has a 5.25 inch lights panel in the top and the rest of the front to the bottom are filler panels. Later I found out that this rack is a complete RP11 controller and that "the peripheral devices" are three RP03 disk drives, an LA120 terminal printer/console and a XXXX high-speed lineprinter! Furthermore, a few terminals, modems, old PCs and PC printers.

The "catch" is that everything is stored in the cellar of a historical building. Between the cellar and the first floor are three flights of stairs, one of 8 steps, one of 6 steps and one with 4 steps. Searching the web I found that one RP03 disk drive weighs 415 lbs, ~200 kilos! It is clear that I will need some helping hands! On a Saturday I drove to Amersfoort to get an impression of what is awaiting me. I tried to "lift" an RP03 at one corner, and concluded that the RP03 is indeed very heavy. I think that planks on the stairs and then 3 guys pushing a drive on a blanket up the slope will get them out of the cellar. Same trick will do for the high-speed line printer and the racks. All other stuff is just a lot of excercise going up and down the stairs, carrying one item at a time. Jumps within this page are the following: System description RP11 controller RP03 disk drive

PDP-11/40 3-rack system, 3 RP03 drives, console printer and lineprinter

By now it was 16:00 and we decided to leave the drives behind (as if there was another option!), to call it a day and schedule a new appointment. Oh, the high-speed lineprinter (of DEC, I still don't know the type designation but it was connected to the 11/40) was also too heavy to get up the stairs, so that will also move out next time!
Driving home went smooth, and unloading the truck was done less than 20 minutes. Great that all this heavy stuff is on wheels. That's why I always rent a truck with a hydraulic tailgate.

At 20:00 hours I was back home, the three racks and all smaller stuff unloaded in the "museum" ... the muscles in my legs, back and shoulders clearly told me that I had moved something heavy that day (or am I just getting too old?) ...

The picture shows the rack with the Kennedy 9300 tape drive and TU60 DECcassette and the rack with the RP11 controller already loaded into the truck.
 

Marica's father purchased this system in the 1980ties for several tasks. Inventory, stock, purchases, personnel administration, etc. Just all the usage you would expect a company would have for a big computer for in the "eighties". In the evening, the system was sort of idling, and processor time and storage capacity was hired out to a nearby hospital.
The system was decommissioned at the end of the 1990ties, after serving the company for more than 15 years.
The history of the company (W. Ruitenberg Czn N.V.) goes back to the beginning of the 20th century (1904) when Marica's grandfather founded the company. He traded in potato starch. And now, more than a century later, the fourth generation is at the helm of this company. They are still active in the food industry and are a very successfull innovative company with almost 100 employees.