Pd4

No. 210 of the Oldenburg railways, named ‘Gerda’ (Hanomag 5866/1910) Postcard from my collection.

Factory photo of the Hannover 297 (Vulcan 2392/1908), still classed S3. Source: www.en.wikipedia.org .

DRG Class 13^6-8, side drawing © Lokomotiv-Revue (from TB vol.1).

LBE No.3 (until 1917, No.74 ‘Mosel’, Schwartzkopff 3974/1907), location and date unknown. This engine was written off in 1930. Photo by Werner Hubert (source: www.commons.wikimedia.org).

Prussian class S3 express locomotives were very successful, 1074 examples being built between 1893 and 1904 mostly for Königlich Preußische Eisenbahnverwaltung (KPEV), but also for the railways of Alsace-Lorraine and Oldenburg. In 1905 the prototype of a more powerful version, initially known as the ‘verstärkte S3’, or up-rated S3, was outshopped from the Vulcan works of Stettin. Externally similar, it retained two-cylinder compound steam engine running on saturated steam, but featured larger boiler (heating surface increased by about 20 percent) and slightly enlarged cylinders. New locomotive was soon standardized as Musterblatt III-2c. Between 1905 and 1911, 367 examples were built for KPEV by Vulcan (186) and Schichau (181). Initially included into class S3, they were re-classed S5² in 1911. Moreover, between 1907 and 1911 seven examples were built by Schwartzkopff (three) and Linke-Hofmann (four) for private Lübeck-Büchener Eisenbahn (LBE). Finally, between 1909 and 1913, Hanomag delivered eleven examples for Grossherzogliche Oldenburgische Eisenbahnen; the latter differed in being fitted with Lentz poppet-valve gear.

Class S5² was successful, but with the appearance of more powerful engines running on superheated steam it was soon relegated to light express trains and passenger traffic. After WWI the majority remained with KPEV, but many had been withdrawn before new DRG designation system was introduced in 1925, so that only 200 were renumbered 13 651 through 850, plus eleven from Oldenburg (13 851 through 861). All were withdrawn until 1928, as express locomotives with two driven axles were declared obsolete. After LBE was nationalized in 1938, a single engine of this type became DRG 13 001; it survived in service until April 1944. Several examples were handed over to other railways as a part of war reparations. Belgian SNCB received nine, Lithuanian LG three (class K5.2, acquired following incorporation of Klaipeda into Lithuania in 1923) and Latvian LDV six (included into class An).

Polish state railways took over 32 engines of this type, previously assigned to Bromberg (Bydgoszcz) and Danzig (Gdańsk) regional KPEV managements, of which 29 were classed Pd4 in 1926. The remaining three were included into class Pd1 (KPEV S3), as for some unknown reasons they had not been re-classed by the Bromberg regional management, to which they had been assigned before the war. Until WWII these three served as Pd1-87, Pd1-88 and Pd1-89, the latter soon re-numbered Pd1-3Dz, where Dz stood for Danzig. Before 1939 the majority of these locomotives had been transferred to eastern Poland, so after the September campaign most fell into Soviet hands. Germans captured just three (Pd1-87, Pd1-3Dz and Pd4-19), but further 21 followed after the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. They were renumbered 13 002 through 021, those erroneously classed Pd1 becoming 13 303 and 13 338. Two (Pd4-7 and Pd4-28) served with Ostbahn with their pre-war Polish numbers. The fate of five engines remains unknown.

After WWII thirteen locomotives of this type were returned, but post-war class Pd4 numbered fifteen examples, as two Pd13s were erroneously included (former Pd13-6 and Pd13-8). Pre-war Pd1-88 was destined to be erroneously classed throughout its entire life with PKP, becoming Pd1-16 after 1945. Six ex-Polish locomotives were used by DR; five returned in 1955 and 1956, but were not given new service numbers and were immediately scrapped. Class Pd4 remained in service until 1955. Not a single locomotive of this type has been preserved. 

Main technical data

No.	Parameter	Unit	Value
1.	Years of manufacture	-	1905 – 1913
2.	Total built / used in Poland	-	385^1) / 32^2)
3.	Tender class	-	22D1
4.	Axle arrangement	-	2-2-0
5.	Design maximum speed	km/h	100
6.	Cylinder bore	mm	475 / 700
7.	Piston stroke	mm	600
8.	Engine rating	kW/hp	571 / 777
9.	Tractive effort	kG	6 200
10.	Boiler pressure	MPa	1.22
11.	Grate dimensions	m x m	2.32 m^2
12.	Firebox heating surface	m^2
13.	Distance between tube plates	mm	4 100
14.	Number of flue tubes	-	237
15.	Heating surface of flue tubes	m^2
16.	Number of smoke tubes	-	-
17.	Heating surface of smoke tubes	m^2	-
18.	Evaporating surface, total	m^2	136.39^3)
19.	Superheater heating surface	m^2	-
20.	Diameter of drivers	mm	1980
21.	Diameter of idlers front/rear	mm	1000 / -
22.	Total weight, empty	kg
23.	Total weight, working order	kg	53 600^4)
24.	Weight on drivers, working order	kg	32 700
25.	Weight with tender, empty	kg
26.	Weight with tender, working order	kg	104 600
27.	Maximum axle load	T	16.4
28.	Axle base (with tender)	mm	14 715
29.	Overall length (with tender)	mm	17 761
30.	Brake type	-	Knorr

1) Including those built for LBE and Oldenburg railways.

2) Including those erroneously classed Pd1.

3) Some sources give 141.8 m².

4) Some sources give 54 500 kg or 55 200 kg.

References and acknowledgments

- Dampfloks der Preußischen Staatsbahn by Thomas Estler (Transpress, 2012);

- Lokomotiv-Archiv Mecklenbur/Oldenburg by Hans-Joachim Kirsche, Hermann Lohr and Georg Thielmann (Transpress, 1989);

- TB vol. 1;

- LP.