Tr6
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Tr6-41, photographed at the Wroc³aw G³ówny depot in
August 1961. Photo from my collection.
Side drawing of the 5620-29
© Lokomotiv-Revue (source: TB
vol.1).
Tr6-39 (Linke-Hofmann
2616/1923), Railway Museum, Warsaw; photo taken on
September 5, 2006.
TCDD 45002 (NOHAB
1782/1927), preserved at the Çamlık Buharlı
Lokomotif Müzesi, |
The
heaviest Prussian freight locomotive G12, which appeared in 1917, weighted
over 141 tonnes in working order with tender and maximum axle load was 16.7
tonnes. Soon after it was accepted into service it was realized, however,
than a replacement was also necessary for older and lighter freighters, of
which many were still in use (e.g. G71 and G72, running
on saturated steam, with maximum speed of only 45 km/h). Rather than
producing an entirely new design, a ‘scaled-down’ version of the G12 was
proposed, with shortened boiler (distance between tube walls reduced from 4
800 to 4 100 mm) and four coupled axles instead of five. Such engine,
designated G83, was ordered from Henschel in December 1918,
but was not entirely successful. Obviously a three-cylinder steam engine,
inherited from the G12, was not a must for a locomotive of this size and
power, and Prussian state railways KPEV valued simplicity. Thus G83
was built in a modest number of 85 examples (later DRG class 561)
and was promptly supplanted by a two-cylinder variant G82. Apart
from steam engine layout, it differed in slightly narrower firebox and 190
flues instead of 189. First example, also from Henschel, appeared in
April 1919 and went into production which lasted until 1924 (additional eleven
examples were built in 1927 and 1928). In all, KPEV (and later German
state railways DRG) received 846 examples, built by six manufacturers:
Allgemeine Elektricitäts Gesellschaft (AEG, 71), Hanomag
(61), Henschel (319), Jung (119), Krupp (188) and Linke-Hofmann
(88). Five more, also classed G82, were built in 1921 by Hanomag
for Oldenburgische Staatsbahn; they were fitted with Lentz valve gears
and had smaller 3T16.5 tenders. All these engines were in 1925 classed 5620-29
and given service numbers 56 2001 through 2916; numbers from 2486 to 2550
were not assigned and those from 2276 to 2280 went to the engines from
Oldenburg. Finally, eight examples were built between 1922 and 1930 by Linke-Hofmann
for Lübeck-Büchener Eisenbahn (LBE, service numbers 91 through
98): on January 1, 1938, they were also taken over by DRG and numbered
56 3001 through 3008. Foreign
orders came from Romania and in 1921 state railways Cãile Ferate Române (CFR) purchased 104 brand new G82s
from Henschel (76), Jung (10) and Linke-Hofmann (18). In
1926 further forty followed, but these were second-hand DRG engines.
Classed 1404-5, they were among the most important freighters in
the CFR service, although proved too weak on some mountain lines –
double-heading was common, at times augmented even by two pushers! Many
sources mention also an order from Turkish state railways TCDD; in
fact, these engines (service numbers 45001 through 45062), built between 1927
and 1935 by NOHAB (Sweden) and Tubize (Belgium), although based
on the G82, were heavier by some 2.6 tonnes in working order and
had longer boilers (distance between tube walls increased to 4500 mm). Thus,
production of this class amounted to 963 examples. In
the KPEV and later DRG service G82s were typically
coupled with three-axle 3T20 tenders. Between 1928 and 1930 four engines (56
2130, 2801, 2906 and 2907) were tested with pulverized coal firing system,
developed by AEG; this concept was finally rejected, but revived in
Eastern Germany in the 1950s. After the war, most of these locomotives
finally went to DB: in all, 581 examples, plus one returned by
Norwegian railways NB and one by Austrian ÖBB. The latter had
one more engine of this type, which was withdrawn in early 1950s (class
designation 756 was reserved, but not assigned formally). In 1948 DB
sold one engine to Osthannoversche Eisenbahn. Last examples in the DB
service were written off in 1964. DR had only seventy engines of this
type, which remained in use until early 1970s. Soviet Union took 100
examples, some damaged during hostilities; this number includes also four
engines withdrawn in 1943. Moreover, the majority of Romanian 1404-5s
(125 of 144) were taken by the Soviets after occupation of Romania in 1944.
Most – perhaps all – ex-CFR locomotives of this type were converted to
the 1524 mm track and re-classed TO (with original CFR service
numbers); it is not clear, however, if ex-DRG engines were
re-designated in a similar manner. They remained in service until 1957, some
went to industry. EZ lists fifteen examples taken over by
Czechoslovakian railways (class 437.0), but details are available only on
four; most probably the rest were promptly taken over by other railway
managements – possibly Soviet, but this is only a conjecture. Very little is
known about their service, apart from the fact that the last one was written
off in 1956. Polish
railways ended up with 52 locomotives of this type, classed Tr6, of which all
were given consecutive numbers and impressed into service. Most of them – at
least 35 – were based in Lower Silesia and often ran even with local
passenger trains. In late 1950s many were relegated to switching; one
(Tr6-38, ex 56 2788, Linke-Hofmann 2609/1923) was sold to the Bielszowice
colliery in 1955. Last survived in service until early 1970s, the very last
one being Tr6-3 (ex KPEV Kassel 3375, DRG 56 2479, Linke-Hofmann
2750/1923), withdrawn in December 1972. Fortunately, one engine of this type
has survived in Poland: Tr6-39 (ex 56 2795, Linke-Hofmann 2616/1923)
can now be seen at the Railway Museum in Warsaw. The second preserved
locomotive of this type is 56 3007 (ex LBE 97, Linke-Hofmann
3128/1929), which remained with DB until 1950, when it was sold to the
Hessische Industriewerke GmbH and later, in 1951, to the Carl-Alexander
colliery, Baesweiler. After the colliery was closed down in 1975, the
locomotive was transferred to the Eisenbahnmuseum Darmstadt-Kranichstein
and can now be seen there on static display. Furthermore, as many as seven
‘derivatives’, built for TCDD, have survived in Turkey. Main technical data
1) Excluding
engines built for Turkey. References and acknowledgments
-
TB vol. 1, EZ vol. 3, DA
vol. 2, ITFR, AP, LOZD vol. 1; -
Ingo Hütter’s website www.lokomotive.de/lokomotivgeschichte/datenbank;
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