EL2
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EL2-30 from the Konin lignite mine, photographed near Kleczew on
Another
one from the Konin
mine: EL2-48, photographed near Konin on
EL2-26,
photo taken on the same occasion.
Yet another ‘Crocodile’ from the Konin mine: EL2-33, photographed near Kleczew on
EL2-10
from the Adamów
lignite mine, photographed near Turek on
Two
Chinese EL2s, No.2302 and No.2303, from the Hegang Mining Railway, photographed by Duncan
Cotterill (thanks for permission!) on
Two other EL2s from the Adamów
lignite mine: No.9, also from the Vockerode
power station...
...and No.6, purchased from the Lübbenau power station (Lausitz), which was closed down in
1996; both photos taken on January 18, 2008.
Another EL2 from the Adamów
mine, photographed on a loading ramp near Władysławów on
...and a close-up, which reveals that this
locomotive has also been purchased from the Lübbenau
power station and still has old livery and service number.
Yet another EL2 from the Adamów
mine: No.4, photographed near Turek on the same day.
And yet another: No.11, photographed at nearly the
same location on
Another picture of No.11, taken near Turek on
...and No.3 with a ‘service train’, photographed on
the same occasion.
Another picture of No.3, taken near Turek on May
18, 2009.
EL2 No.13, also from Adamów
mine, photographed near Władysławów on the same day. More pictures of EL2s from
the Adamów
Lignite Mine railway, taken during the visit on September 19
and 20, 2011, can be found here.
EL2-21, Konin lignite
mine, photographed in Gosławice near Konin on September 16, 2008. On that day
I paid a visit to the Konin mine; photos taken on
this occasion can be seen here.
EL2-29, Konin
lignite mine, photographed at the Poznań Starołęka station on September 10, 1994, probably during
transportation to or from a repair establishment. Photo by Marek Niemiec (from my collection). |
The majority of
electric locomotives used by Polish railways were built in Poland by Pafawag of Wrocław or HCP
of Poznań, but some were imported from UK, Sweden,
East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Soviet Union. Among locomotives of foreign
origin, the most numerous were those built by VEB Lokomotivbau – Elektrotechnische
Werke ‘Hans Beimler’ of
Hennigsdorf near Berlin (the site formerly occupied
by AEG and Borsig plants, now a part
of Bombardier), commonly known as LEW.
This factory, apart from twenty-five EU04s and thirty-four EU20s for PKP, supplied also a number of
locomotives for mining industry. Between
1951 and 1952 at LEW three basic
types of locomotives for open-pit mines were put into production: six-axle
EL1 and four-axle EL2 for standard or broad gauge (1435 or 1524 mm) and
four-axle EL3 for the 900 mm gauge. All were based on pre-war AEG
design (from late 1920s, further developed during WWII) and had many common
features. Heavy, 150-tonne EL1s (Bo’Bo’Bo’) were
built mostly for export to the Soviet Union (477) and China (64), only five
were supplied to the Espenhein
open pit lignite mine in Lausitz, East Germany. Production
of the narrow-gauge EL3 totaled 791 examples for East Germany (620), Soviet
Union (102), Poland (49) and Yugoslavia (20). As for the EL2, first examples
were outshopped in 1952 and subsequently this type
was built in large numbers, enjoying a very long production run: last
examples left the assembly lines in 1988. According to data provided by
Florian Menius and Holger Neumann (thanks a lot!),
total output amounted to 1380; another source gives 1477, most probably
incorrectly. First deliveries were to open-pit mines in East Germany. In all,
German enterprises received 681 examples. Later EL2s were exported to the
Soviet Union (245, between 1957 and 1970), China (186, between 1957 and
1984), Bulgaria (206, between 1960 and 1987) and Poland. Many of them still
remain in use with industrial railways. Some German examples have been
modernized and fitted with single-arm current collectors. Despite
comparatively young age, EL2 has already earned itself a heritage locomotive
status: in December 2007, withdrawn 4-1124 (LEW 13605/1980) was plinthed at the Bombardier – Werk
Henningsdorf premises. EL2
is a robust and straightforward machine with the Bo’Bo’
axle arrangement, designed to haul heavy drafts at a moderate speed. Tractive
effort at the one-hour traction engines rating is 16.7 tonnes
(at 28.5 km/h); startup tractive effort exceeds 30 tonnes.
These locomotives were built for both 1435 mm and 1524 mm tracks and voltages
1.5 kV DC (for the Soviet Union) and 1.2 or 2.4 kV DC. Typically EL2s for
open-pit mines have two standard pantographs for normal overhead contact
system and two or four (sometimes as many as eight!) side-mounted ones for
lateral contact systems at terminal stations, to facilitate unobstructed
loading and unloading of dump cars. From 1961 onwards some locomotives were
fitted with multiplied control systems, which were used for double-heading or
for precise remote maneuvering by the excavator or loader operator during
loading. There were also several minor modifications and versions for
individual operators differed in details; in particular, Soviet and Chinese
examples were fitted with knuckle couplers. Recently a modernization program
has been launched in Germany and is intended to include EL2s operated by Lausitzer Braunkohle
AG (LAUBAG), which has 53 examples. This program is a joint
venture of DB (Fahrzeuginstandhandlung
Werk Cottbus) and Kiepe
Elektrik; its main point is to introduce IGBT
choppers to drive traction engines, but it includes also modified control
systems, new auxiliary power supply, new single-arm main current collectors
and modified cabs with air conditioning. Details can be found at www.vossloh-kiepe.com. First
sixteen EL2s appeared in Poland in 1958 and were purchased for the Konin lignite mine (KWB Konin).
Initially they were operated at 1.2 kV, but in 1960, following an upgrade of
power supply systems, they were converted to 2.4 kV. During next seven years
further 37 brand new examples followed. Apart from KWB Konin,
they went also to the nearby Adamów lignite
mine, as well as to the Bielawy limestone
mine (now a division of Lafarge – four examples) and a mining and
foundry complex near Ostrowiec in central Poland
(closed down in early 1980s). Further nine examples were obtained between
1970 and 1987, bringing their total number to 62. Later seventeen second-hand
surplus German EL2s from lignite open-pit mines and power stations in Saxony
and Saxony-Anhalt, were also bought and impressed into service, increasing
the grand total to 79. Most, if not all, were converted to 2.4 kV DC. The
largest fleet, of the KWB Konin, numbered 27
examples in early 2010s. At its peak, KWB Adamów
fleet numbered thirteen EL2s. They operated on about 30 km of tracks with no
physical connection with Poland’s railway network. The sole recipient of
lignite was Adamów
power plant, which closed down in December 2017; afterwards tracks were
lifted and all locomotives and rolling stock sold or scrapped. EL2s run on
comparatively short lines between an open-pit mine and a processing plant or
power station. Double-heading has never been practiced in Poland. There is no
consistent designation system: most locomotives of this type are painted dark
green and have two-digit service numbers painted in white. Some have retained
original German liveries and service numbers, at least for a time. Since 1996
some modifications have been introduced. First of all, Oerlikon
brakes have been standardized (some early and second-hand machines had Knorr,
Dako or Matrosov brakes).
In some examples more modern and reliable startup resistors and static
current converters have been fitted. Other modernizations concerned mainly
control systems. In late 2000s KWB Konin
introduced closed-circuit TV systems with LCD monitors located in cabs; this
has been dictated by the fact that there are no turntables at loading
stations and trains are operated in the push/pull regime. This modification
has virtually eliminated derailments and most probably is the only system of
this type used in Poland. These
somehow archaic-looking, but useful and efficient locomotives that remind of
the early years of electrification – although some were built as late as in
1987 – will probably remain in use for a long time. Their common nickname is
‘Krokodyl’ (crocodile). Of course they don’t enter
‘normal’ lines (electrified at 3 kV DC) and therefore are not an easy prey
for trainspotters. Narrow-gauge
EL3s, supplied between 1955 and 1964, were used by a few lignite mines in
Poland that once operated 900 mm industrial railways. The largest user of
them, and also the last one, was the Turów open-pit
mine in south-western Poland, where narrow-gauge railway was closed in 1981
and supplanted by belt conveyors. Afterwards some of them were sold back to
East Germany; as far as I know, not a single one has survived in Poland. Main
technical data
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Multiplied in some examples.
-
Modified locomotives. -
Initially, later 2400 V. References and
acknowledgments
-
Monographic article by Krzysztof Zintel
(SK vol. 1/2005); -
Monographic articles on LEW industrial locomotives by Krzysztof Zintel
(SS vols. 151 and 152); -
AL; -
Fern-Express vol.
1/2003 (article on EL2s in China by Nicholas Pertwee); -
Holger Neumann, Florian Menius and Duncan Cotterill
(private communication – many thanks!). I
wish to thank Mr. Andrzej Rudziński, who is in charge of the mining railway
of KWB Konin, and his staff for assistance and information provided
during my visit in September 2008, together with Holger and Florian. I
would also like to thank all the staff of the KWB Adamów mining
railway and in particular Mr. Bogusław Łączny for assistance and information
provided during my visit with Chris West on September 19 and 20, 2011. |
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