Tr104
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KukHB
370.005 (Linke-Hofmann 1093/1914), the last one from the first batch
originally ordered by SD.
This locomotive later became Tr104-5 and ended up as an industrial engine in
the USSR. Location and date unknown, possibly a factory photo. Source: LAÖ. |
In
1914 state railways of Serbia (Srpske Dravne eleznice SD) ordered five 1-4-0 freight
locomotives from Linke-Hofmann Werke
of Breslau. They were assigned factory numbers 1089 through 1093 and SD service numbers 7001 through 7005;
however, war broke out before any could be delivered. The order was taken
over by Austro-Hungarian military railways (kaiserlich und königliche Heeresbahn
kukHB),
which, due to shortage of indigenous manufacturing capabilities, purchased
locomotives mainly in Germany. Classed 370, they were followed by two more
batches: ten in 1916 (370.006 through 015, factory numbers 1377 through 1386)
and sixteen in 1917 (370.016 through 031, factory numbers 1526 through 1536).
This gives the total of 31 examples. Class 370 engines were quite modern for
their time, featuring steam superheating and comparatively large grate for
low-grade coal combustion. Axle load was moderate, at 14.3 tonnes. Compared with kkStB class 270, which had the
same axle arrangement, similar characteristics and only slightly higher
tractive effort, they were longer by over one metre
and featured large distances between driven axles (2400 mm, with 1330 mm
drivers), with fourth driven axle shifted far aft and located below the cab.
This gave them somehow peculiar, if not very pleasing, appearance. After
the war it was intended to keep 370.005 through 011, 370.020 and 370.021 in
Austria, while 370.001 through 004 were temporarily transferred to
Czechoslovakia. Eventually, however, all locomotives of this type were handed
over to PKP. They were classed
Tr104 and remained in south-eastern Poland. Six examples, including all from
the first production batch, were withdrawn from use in March 1938. Seven more
followed in January 1939 and not a single engine remained in service until
September. None was, however, scrapped and all Tr104s fell into Soviet hands.
They were undoubtedly regarded quite useful, as all were re-gauged and
restored in service. Fifteen went to industry; sixteen were impressed into NKPS and later transferred to NKTS (Narodniy Kommisariat Transportnovo
Stroitelstva Peoples Commissariat for Transportation Construction), for use
by railway construction enterprises. Nothing is known about their subsequent
fate. Although
SD never accepted a single
locomotive from their original order, this type finally found its way to
Serbia. Between 1922 and 1923 railways of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croatians and
Slovenians (SHS) purchased 100 examples from five German manufacturers: Linke-Hofmann (40), Vulcan (20), Henschel (fifteen), Hohenzollern
(fifteen) and Humboldt (ten).
During post-war recession such orders, although small, were certainly very
valuable for German factories. Numbered 7001 through 7100, they were later
taken over by newly-created state railways of Yugoslavia J and classed 26. During WWII they saw service with state
railways of Bulgaria (nineteen, class 24) and Italy (five). Main technical data
1)
Excluding post-war production for SHS. 2)
Some sources give 16 613 mm. List of
vehicles can be found here. References
and acknowledgments
-
www.pospichal.net/lokstatistik
(website by Josef Pospichal); -
Charakterystyka parowozów
(Steam Locomotive Characteristics)
by A. Czeczott (Ministry of Transport, 1927). -
LP. |