Ty45

Ty45-145, Warszawa Praga depot, July 1961. Photo from my collection.

Ty45-139 + 30D43-68 (HCP 1047/1947), Kościerzyna depot,, August 13, 2004: the weather was very bad!

Ty45-149 + 30D43-318 (HCP 1058/1947), plinthed in Kluczbork; photo taken on August 22, 2005.

Ty45-205 + 32D47-221 (HCP 1126/1947) in pristine condition, plinthed in Iłowo; photo taken on October 24, 2004.

This Ty45-94 + 27D47-3 (Fablok 1638/1947) is plinthed at the Ostrów Wielkopolski depot; photo taken on November 26, 2003.

Ty45-94 was externally refurbished in late 2005 and now looks much better; photo taken on June 7, 2006.

Ty45-379 + 27D47-35 (HCP 1388/1949), Wolsztyn depot, September 8, 2004.

Ty45-217 + 30D43-217 (Fablok 1752/1947), withdrawn in 1984, is plinthed at the Tarnowskie Góry depot; September 28, 2005.

Ty45-39 + 32D43-22 (HCP 988/1946), preserved at the Zduńska Wola Karsznice depot; photo taken on May 27, 2001.

The same engine, photographed on August 13, 2008.

Side drawing of Ty45 + 32D47; source – PPN.

Ty45-20 (Fablok 1598/1946) at the Industry and Railway museum In Jaworzyna Śląska, May 1, 2006.

The same engine, photographed on July 8, 2009.

Ty45-2560 (Fablok 2560/1950) was used by the Kotlarnia sand mine and has been plinthed at the company’s premises; photo taken on October 4, 2006. The engine in the background is Ty2-2118.

Another picture of the Ty45-2560, taken on June 15, 2008.

Ty45-6 (Fablok 1584/1946), abandoned near the Kędzierzyn-Koźle depot…

…and another picture of the same engine; both taken on April 18, 2009.

Ty45-158 (HCP 1068/1947), owned by TOZKiOS railway fan society; Pyskowice, May 2, 2009.

Another Ty45 from the TOZKiOS collection: Ty45-125 (Fablok 2592/1951), photographed on the same occasion.

An unknown Ty45, location and date unknown. Photo by A.Żmuda (postcard from my collection).

Since the introduction of Ty23 in mid-1920s until the end of the steam era, Decapods dominated heavy freight traffic in Poland. Pre-war output of Ty23 and its derivative, Ty37, amounted to 639 examples. After WWII, many German BR42s, BR44s, BR50s and BR52s were impressed into service; together with those built in Poland after 1945, their number reached almost 1900 examples. Apart from three-cylinder BR44 (Ty4 in PKP service), of which only 132 were at hand, all these machines were substantially weaker then pre-war Ty37. As it was obvious that coal transport from Silesia to the Baltic ports would be of vital importance for Polish economy, it was decided to re-commence the production of Ty37 in a slightly modified variant. Fortunately, technical documentation of this machine was saved.

Drawing on experience with ex-German locomotives, it was decided to fit a fully enclosed driver’s cab, which changed the silhouette. Steel firebox replaced copper one, previously used, and exhaust-steam injector was fitted. Contrary to Ty37, circulation tubes were initially deleted, but they were fitted in last production examples and later standardized. Grate and ashpan were later modified during overhauls and some engines were fitted with coal feeders and/or rocking grates. From 1964 onwards, several Ty45s (probably seventeen) were converted to oil firing, but this was soon abandoned and they were finally restored to initial configuration. Ty45s were typically coupled with 32D47 tub tenders which, compared to 22D23s used with Ty37s, took much more water (32 cu.m instead of 22 cu.m); coal capacity was also increased from 10 to 12 tonnes. New tenders were manufactured by Pafawag company of Wrocław (pre-war Linke-Hofmann); those fitted with coal feeders were re-designated 27D47. Many early engines ran also with similar 30D43 or 32D43 tub tenders of German design.

Production of Ty45 started in 1947, both at Fablok in Chrzanów and at HCP (Cegielski) in Poznań. Until 1951, these two companies built for PKP 170 and 258 examples, respectively. Moreover, twenty were supplied to industrial operators in Upper Silesia (probably all from Fablok), bringing the grand total to 448. As its predecessor, Ty45 was an economical and reliable machine which gave a good service. Compared to later Ty51 and imported Ty246, it was weaker and demanded high-grade coal (with almost the same cylinder diameter, its grate area was smaller by about 28%). Before these two types appeared in quantity, however, Ty45s were the most powerful freight engines in Poland and sometimes hauled drafts weighting over 3000 tonnes.

Ty45s remained in service throughout the country until the end of steam era, together with other Polish Decapods. With mounting supplies of heavy diesel locomotives since mid-1960s and progressing electrification of main lines, most of them were withdrawn from line service in the 1970s and relegated to switching, mainly in Upper Silesia. In this role they survived until late 1980s. Industrial operators kept Ty45s in service for a few years longer, probably until 1993. Apart from twenty engines built for them, they took over a few dozen Ty45s withdrawn from PKP. According to www.parowozy.best.net, Silesian collieries and sand railways had 56 examples. Some of them retained PKP numbers, other were identified by serials, while some had individual designations given by operators. If an engine was transferred to another operator, which happened quite often, its designation could change: there was no general rule.

In 1999, seventeen Ty45 still existed and two (Ty45-20, Fablok 1598/1946, and Ty45-379, HCP 1388/1949) were operational. According to www.holdys.pl/tomi, fourteen have survived until today, but two are listed as wrecks (Ty45-301 was scrapped, probably in 2003, Ty45-345 followed in August 2006 and Ty45-418 in 2007). Some of them are plinthed at various locations. Two above-mentioned engines kept in working order have seen no service for a couple of years due to boiler certificate expiry. Ty45-20 from Jaworzyna Śląska depot was transferred to Wolsztyn in December 1999 and served there until May 2000. Later it returned to Jaworzyna and most probably will remain on static display. Wolsztyn-based Ty45-379 (last example in PKP service) hauled its last train in October 2002 and was then used for a couple of weeks as a stationary boiler, to be finally withdrawn in February 2003.

Main technical data

No.	Parameter	Unit	Value
1.	Years of manufacture	-	1946 – 1951
2.	Total built / used in Poland	-	448 / 448^1)
3.	Tender class	-	30D43, 32D47
4.	Axle arrangement	-	1-5-0
5.	Design maximum speed	km/h	75
6.	Cylinder bore	mm	2 X 630
7.	Piston stroke	mm	700
8.	Engine rating	kW/hp	1265 / 1720
9.	Tractive effort	kG	18 380
10.	Boiler pressure	MPa	1.63
11.	Grate dimensions	m X m	2.81 X 1.62
12.	Firebox heating surface	m^2	17.0
13.	Distance between tube plates	mm	5 100
14.	Number of flue tubes	-	130
15.	Heating surface of flue tubes	m^2	95.7
16.	Number of smoke tubes	-	40
17.	Heating surface of smoke tubes	m^2	86.16
18.	Evaporating surface, total	m^2	196.85
19.	Superheater heating surface	m^2	81.1
20.	Diameter of drivers	mm	1450
21.	Diameter of idlers front/rear	mm	860 / -
22.	Total weight, empty	kg	90 000
23.	Total weight, working order	kg	97 500
24.	Weight on drivers, working order	kg	85 000
25.	Weight with tender, empty	kg	111 600^2)
26.	Weight with tender, working order	kg	163 100^2)
27.	Maximum axle load	T	17.25
28.	Axle base (with tender)	mm	18 708^2)
29.	Overall length (with tender)	mm	22 388^2)
30.	Brake type	-	Knorr, Westinghouse

1) Including 20 for industrial operators.

2) With 32D47 tender; 159 000 kg in working order with 30D43 tender.

References and acknowledgments

Concise information can be found in PNP and AP.