TKb12

KEB 212 (Wiener Neustadt 2460/1880) was re-numbered 8805 in the kkStB service; it was withdrawn in March 1903. Factory photo; source: www.commons.wikimedia.org.

Side drawing of class 188; source: ITFR vol. 3.

The k.k. priviligierte Kaiserin Elisabeth-Bahn (KEB) was an Austrian private railway with main line between Vienna and Linz, opened in 1858 and later extended to Salzburg and German border. There were also numerous side lines. Locomotives were ordered from all major Austrian manufacturers, as well as from Sächsische Maschinenfabrik (Hartmann) of Chemnitz. In 1880 an order was placed with Wiener Neustadt for five 0-2-0 engines with factory numbers 2456 through 2460, intended mainly for light passenger trains on side lines and for switching. They were classed L and numbered 208 through 212. In 1884 KEB was nationalized and taken over by kkStB. Class L engines initially retained their original numbers, but were re-numbered 8801 through 8805 in 1885. Later they were fitted with modified boilers, steam pressure being boosted from 10 to 12 bar. This was accompanied by cylinder bore increase from 250 to 280 mm. No. 8805 was written off in March 1903 and in 1905 four remaining examples were again re-numbered 188.01 through 04, to distinguish them from ‘proper’ kkStB class 88, from which they differed in many details.

188.03 was written off in October 1913, but three remaining engines survived until 1918. One (188.01, Wiener Neustadt 2456/1880), assigned to the Stanislau depot (today IvanoFrankivsk, Ukraine), was taken over by Romanian railways CFR and withdrawn in the 1920s. Two went to PKP, but 188.04 (Wiener Neustadt 2459/1880) was written off as early as in 1921, so it is possible that it had not been restored in service. 188.02 (Wiener Neustadt 2457/1880) disappeared from the company’s rosters before 1926. According to www.pospichal.net, two Polish locomotives of this type probably were to be classed TKb12, which is also confirmed by LP. No engine of this type has been preserved.

KEB class L turned out to be a very successful design and was ordered, in a modified form, by state railways kkStB. Between 1882 and 1885 Krauss Linz built 47 examples, later classed 88. Two more, again differing in details, were supplied in 1884 by Krauss company of Munich to Böhmische Westbahn (class S). Later they became kkStB 8871 and 8872, in 1905 were finally re-numbered 288.71 and 288.72.

Main technical data

No.	Parameter	Unit	Value
1.	Years of manufacture	-	1880
2.	Total built / used in Poland	-	5 / 2
3.	Tender class	-	-
4.	Axle arrangement	-	0-2-0
5.	Design maximum speed	km/h	55
6.	Cylinder bore	mm	2 X 280^1)
7.	Piston stroke	mm	480
8.	Engine rating	kW/hp
9.	Tractive effort	kG
10.	Boiler pressure	MPa	1.22^2)
11.	Grate dimensions	m X m	0.95 m^2
12.	Firebox heating surface	m^2	3.9
13.	Distance between tube plates	mm	3 200
14.	Number of flue tubes	-	88
15.	Heating surface of flue tubes	m^2	45.1
16.	Number of smoke tubes	-	-
17.	Heating surface of smoke tubes	m^2	-
18.	Evaporating surface, total	m^2	49.0
19.	Superheater heating surface	m^2	-
20.	Diameter of drivers	mm	1 100
21.	Diameter of idlers front/rear	mm	- / -
22.	Total weight, empty	kg	20 000
23.	Total weight, working order	kg	25 500
24.	Weight on drivers, working order	kg	25 500
25.	Weight with tender, empty	kg	-
26.	Weight with tender, working order	kg	-
27.	Maximum axle load	T	13.5
28.	Axle base (with tender)	mm	2 600
29.	Overall length (with tender)	mm	7 920
30.	Brake type	-

1) Initially 250 mm.

2) Initially 1.02 MPa.

References and acknowledgments

- KT vol. 4;

- LP;

- www.pospichal.net/lokstatistik (website by Josef Pospichal).