Th20
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An unknown JDŽ class 127 (former kkStB class
56) locomotive; location and date also unknown. Photo courtesy Tadej Brate.
Side drawing of the ČSD
class 324.1 with class 412.3 (kkStB class 66) tender. Source: EZ
vol. 1.
KkStB
5641 (later 56.41, WrN
3270/1889) photographed around 1905, location unknown. This engine went to PKP and was withdrawn between 1927 and 1936; its
service number is unknown. Source: LAÖ.
Another photo from this source: kkStB 56.148 (WLF
966/1895), location and date unknown. After the war this locomotive went to
Italian FS, was
re-numbered 261.016 and remained in use until August 1928.
Factory photo of the kkStB 5659 (WLF
689/1889), date unknown. This locomotive was taken over by CFR and withdrawn before 1934. Source: www.commons.wikimedia.org.
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Contrary
to many earlier locomotive types, Austro-Hungarian class 56 was supplied not
only to state railways kkStB,
but also to several private and local operators. It was developed from
earlier class 48, of which 23 examples were built between 1885 and 1888.
Inner frame was introduced, which gave the locomotive a more modern look, and
Gooch valve gear replaced earlier Allan unit. Prototype was built by Wiener Neustadt (3199/1888) and this
type remained in production until 1895, with one additional engine delivered
in 1900. In all, 153 examples were built, by Wiener Neustadt (81), WLF
(69) and StEG
(three). The majority went to kkStB. Other recipients were Lemberg-Czernowitz-Jassy Eisenbahn
(two), Unterkrainer Bahnen
(eight), Eisenbahn Lemberg-Bełżec
(four), Valsuganabahn
(six) and Göpfritz-Groß Siegharts Eisenbahn (one, built in 1900) – all these
locomotives had kkStB
service numbers. As many as seven different types of three-axle tenders were
coupled with them. Class 56 underwent two re-boilering
programs; the first one was initiated in 1893 and the second one in 1912.
This type was considered successful and enjoyed a good opinion among
footplate crews. It was capable of hauling a 450-tonne draft at 35 km/h. Due
to good running qualities, class 56 was sometimes used with passenger trains
on secondary lines. In
1918, 152 engines of this type were still in use (kkStB 5668, WLF 698/1889, was destroyed by boiler
explosion in 1895). Austrian state railways BBÖ were left with 38 examples; most were withdrawn in late 1920s
and early 1930s, but thirteen survived until Anschluss. They were taken over by DRG, classed 5371, returned after the war and remained
in use until 1950s – the last one, ÖBB
253.7140 (former 56.122, WLF
904/1893) was written off in November 1959. Czechoslovakian state railways ČSD received 21 examples, of which
twenty were classed 324.1; withdrawals started in 1935 and the last one
survived until 1950. Italian state railways FS took over eighteen 56s, including all originally built for Valsuganabahn,
which ran between Trento and Venice; classed 261, they were withdrawn between
1927 and 1930. Romanian state railways CFR
received twelve examples, which retained their original numbers. The last of
them, 56.75 (WLF 780/1891) was
written off in 1937. Five went to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croatians and
Slovenians and four of them were later included in JDŽ class 127 (together with former kkStB classes 48, 59 and 155);
all were withdrawn in the 1930s. Two locomotives ended up in the USSR and
their fate is not known. Polish
railways were the major recipient of this type. In all, 56 examples were
taken over, including two from Unterkrainer Bahnen and two from Eisenbahn Lemberg-Bełżec. They were operated in
south-eastern Poland. Freighters enjoy longer service lives compared to
passenger locomotives, so in 1927 as many as 46 examples were still in use,
by that time classed Th20. Assignment of new PKP service numbers to individual examples is unknown. Until 1931
nineteen Th20s had been withdrawn and until 1936 this type had completely
disappeared from the company’s rosters. Despite considerable number of these
engines, not a single one has been preserved. Main technical data
Note:
dimensions and weights with kkStB class 66 tender. References
and acknowledgments
-
www.pospichal.net/lokstatistik
(website by Josef Pospichal); -
KT vol. 2, LP, EZ
vol. 1, ISRSL, LAÖ; -
Charakterystyki parowozów
(Steam Locomotive Characteristics)
by A. Czeczott (Ministry of Transport, 1927) |
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