EU06
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EU06-05 at the Warszawa
Wschodnia station, 1962. Photo from my collection.
EU06-20 at the Sucha Beskidzka station; photo taken on
EU06-02, photographed at the Chabówka station on
Again EU06-02, this time at the Kraków Płaszów depot;
In June 2007, EU06-20 hauled the Orient
Express! This photo was taken at the Warszawa Gdańska station on July 14.
Photo by Marek Graff (thanks for permission!).
EU06s that still remain in service are not frequently encountered with
freight trains. This photo of the EU06-01 was taken in Zduńska Wola Karsznice
on August 30, 2010. |
First electric locomotives in PKP service were of British origin. Following the contract for the electrification of the so-called ‘Diameter Line’ in Warsaw, signed between PKP and two British companies (English Electric and Metropolitan Vickers) in August 1933, two machines were supplied, first of them arriving in 1936. Four more were later assembled by Fablok. All were classed EL.100; last of them survived the war and was withdrawn in 1964. After WWII, electrification of principal lines soon gained momentum, but production of locomotives posed a serious problem. Given the needs of industry reconstruction and expansion, it is hardly surprising that freight machines were given priority: indigenous ET21, to some extent based on Soviet VL22M, appeared in 1957 and Pafawag of Wrocław (pre-war Linke-Hofmann) built 726 examples until 1971. Supplies of passenger locomotives were far less impressive. E110 (later re-designated EP02) prototype was rolled out in 1953, but only eight machines were built; this locomotive, based on pre-war EL.100, could hardly be considered modern. Eight E150s from Swedish ASEA, supplied between 1951 and 1952, stemmed from the same basic design and offered no significant advantage. These locomotives were in fact considered a stop-gap. Twenty-five EU04s from Eastern Germany, purchased in 1955 and 1956, proved rather unreliable and disappointing. In fact, from the very beginning
it had been assumed that electric locomotives were to be built in Poland. Due
to lack of experience with such machines, it was decided to purchase a
license. In 1955 a specification for a universal locomotive, capable of
hauling a 650-tonne draft at 125 km/h or a 2000-tonne draft at 70 km/h, was
submitted by PKP. After initial negotiation with Swiss and Austrian
companies, the choice once again fell on English Electric and Metropolitan
Vickers, mainly due to favorable terms of payment. New locomotive owed something to class AL3 (later re-classed 83),
then under development for British Railways. The contract, signed in
1959, stipulated that PKP would purchase twenty British-made
locomotives. First of them was completed at the former Vulcan Foundry
works in December 1961 and arrived in Poland in February 1962. All remaining
machines were accepted during 1962, with the exception of the last example,
which was accepted as late as in July 1965 – the delay had been caused by
necessary modification of electric motors. They had serial numbers from 3185
to 3204 and all had ‘1961’ given on name plates as the year of manufacture,
but according to PKP rosters nine were built in 1961, ten in
1962 and one in 1964. These locomotives were classed EU06, which implies an
universal locomotive, but from the very beginning it was clear that they had
been intended almost exclusively for passenger traffic. In fact, during their
last years in service they occasionally ran with freight trains. All twenty
examples were assigned to the Cracow District Management and those surviving
have remained in southern Poland until today. Modifications were few and
limited to minor details. At
the time of its introduction, EU06 – commonly nicknamed ‘Anglik’ (Englishman)
– was considered a modern locomotive. Compared to most of its predecessors,
it was characterized by good running qualities, high reliability and good
workmanship quality, considered better than that of first license-built
EU07s. This class has not, however, been particularly lucky: until now (early
2011) six examples have been written off as a result of crashes (EU06-03,
-06, -09, -13, -15 and -19). After PKP
had been split into several companies, EU06s were taken by PKP Cargo. Last scheduled passenger
train was hauled by the EU06-08 in March 2006 and it was intended to withdraw
this class from use. Later, however, eight EU06s underwent major overhauls
and were restored in service; they were encountered with freight and
passenger trains from time to time. There are rumours that EU06-01 has been
intended for preservation, but it still remains in use. In December 2010
seven examples, withdrawn in mid-2006 (EU06-02, -04, -05, -08, -11, -14 and
-16) were scrapped in Kraków and the remaining seven will probably remain in
service until 2012. EU06 had a decisive influence on
the design of passenger electric locomotives in Poland. Its license version
EU07 and slightly modified variant EP07, still remain the mainstay of the PKP fleet. EP08 was its direct
derivative, differing – apart from minor details – only in shaft bearings.
Many design features were used in ET22 freighter (including traction engines)
and EP09 express locomotive. The importance of EU06 for Polish railways
cannot thus be underestimated. Main technical data
References and acknowledgments
-
Monographic
article by Paweł Terczyński (SK
vol. 1/1999); - http://www.kolej.pl/~jareks/wtpkp (website by Jarek ‘Chester’ Stawarz – unfortunately, this link is no longer active); - Chris West (private communication); - Marek Graff (private communication – many thanks for the photos!); - AL; - SK, various issues. |
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