TKh12
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This ČSD
310.0118 – ex kkStB 97.27 – is currently on display at the
TKh-6322, ex kkStB
97.254, at the steam machines heritage park in
…and another picture of the same engine, taken on
April 29, 2009.
Side drawing, early version; source: EZ
vol.1
Side drawing, later version; source – as
above
ČSD 310.006 (ex k.k.St.B
97.20), now at Jaromeř
loco depot,
… and original manufacturer’s plate on this
machine.
Poor, but very interesting photo of an
armored TKh12 from P.P.17 ‘Saper’ armored train; source: http://republika.pl/derela - thanks for
permission!
310.037 (ex kkStB 97.98, StEG 2528/1896) is a part of the collection of Czech railway museum at Lužna u Rakovnika;
photo taken on June 14, 2008.
Another engine from Lužna: 310.619 (ex BEB I.a 419, WLF 1633/1905),
photographed on the same occasion. Note shorter water-boxes.
KkStB 97.152 (Krauss Linz 3822/1898) was converted into a test engine by BBÖ and re-designated 69.02. This explains the
unusual axle arrangement. In this form it is on display at the Heizhaus Strasshof; photo taken on June 20, 2009.
Poor, but interesting
pre-war photo of a TKh12 – number unknown, it seems there is no designation.
Probably this machine was used by a local railway, but no details on date and
location are available. Makeshift spark arrester is noteworthy. Source: National Digital Archives (www.nac.gov.pl).
Used by permission. |
In
Austro-Hungary there was always a need for small, but comparatively powerful
tank engines for local and branch lines, many of them running in mountainous
regions with steep gradients. One of the most widespread machines for such
perhaps inglorious, but important duties was class 97, which appeared in
1883. It was a simple, three-axle single-expansion engine with water boxes
extended forwards up to the smoke-box door. Manufacture of this type, at Krauss
Linz, StEG, Wiener Neustadt, Floridsdorf and BMF
(aka PČM, after its Czech name), lasted until 1911. According to data
provided by Josef Pospichal (thanks a lot!), 228 examples were built, but as
one of them (97.19) was written off as early as in 1910, most sources – e.g. EZ
– give 227 machines. Several of them were supplied to local operators, but
most (after 1888, all) had KkStB service numbers, so the conjecture
that total number was higher, which can be found in many sources, is
erroneous. As the highest service number was 97.255, some sources give 255 as
the total output. There
were some differences between individual machines. Early examples, up to
97.98 inclusive, had boiler axis at 1590 mm above track level; later boiler
was moved 160 mm upwards in order to accommodate a larger ash box. Cab was
also slightly enlarged and overall length increased from 7799 mm to 7927 mm.
There were other minor variations, such as smokestack (initially fitted with
large spark arrester, typical for many Austrian locos, sometimes removed in service),
boiler domes, water boxes size and shape (later enlarged from 3 to 4 sq.m),
as well as several boiler details. Class 97 proper had several derivatives,
which included: -
kkStB class 197: 43 engines built
between 1888 and 1905, formerly KFNB class IX re-numbered after its
incorporation into KkStB; they were slightly smaller and lighter, but
had boiler pressure increased to 12 bar and larger, 1000 mm drivers; -
kkStB class 397: six engines built
between 1881 and 1882 for Böhmische Commerzialbahnen as class IIIS,
with smaller boiler; -
BEB (Buštěhrad railway) class I.a: 22
engines, plus one more for Vojkovice-Kyselka local railway, built between
1890 and 1906, later impressed into ČSD service as class 300.6; they
had shorter water boxes and larger boilers with pressure increased to 12 bar. These
machines were still very useful after WWI, despite obsolescence of their
design. The majority went to Czechoslovak state railways (ČSD) –
initially 135 examples, designated class 310.0, plus several more (possibly
seventeen) for various local and industrial lines, with service numbers from
310.901 to 310.917 (three later incorporated into class 310.0). With growing
demands, due to increasing weight even of local trains, many were withdrawn
before WWII and sold to industry or scrapped. The last one – 310.097 – was
used for switching until 1968. Several machines served with Romanian railways
CFR (29 – designation unchanged) and Italian FS (19 – class
822). Three Italian machine were later taken over by Yugoslavian state
railways JDŽ (class 61, later re-classed 150). According to EDÖ,
certainly the most competent reference, nine machines have been preserved in
the Czech Republic (in mid-2006 three of them were kept in working order),
plus three more in Slovakia. Two examples are in Austria and one in Slovenia. After
WWI, Poland received thirteen (according to lists available at www.pospichal.net/lokstatistik)
engines of this type, classed TKh12. All of them, except TKh12-1, were of the
later version with elevated boiler; the latter machine was withdrawn as early
as 1923, so its service number was in fact assigned only formally and many
sources give a total of twelve examples. Most came from various local
railways within Polish borders after 1918. Apart from the above-mentioned
TKh12-1, they served with PKP until 1939. Few details on their service
record are available; most – perhaps all – were used in southern Poland on
local lines. Two served with the Cracow-Kocmyrzów local railway (later
incorporated into PKP), for which they had originally been built, in
mixed traffic. According to a very interesting Internet source (http://republika.pl/derela – in
English!), at least two class 97 locomotives were armored in late 1918 at the
Zieleniewski factory in Cracow. One was later used with the P.P.17
‘Saper’ armored train; unfortunately, service number of this machine is
unknown, but it is an interesting conjecture that it might be the intended TKh12-1,
which would explain its early withdrawal. The other was the preserved
TKh-6322. As far as I know, TKh12s regained after WWII did not return to PKP,
but were used by various industrial operators. Most, perhaps even all, of
them retained the TKh designation, supplemented by serial number – this was a
common practice with locomotives used in industrial establishments. Mention
must also be made of two ČSD engines: 310.0123 (ex 97.234, Krauss Linz 5128/1904) and 310.0127
(ex 97.241, Krauss Linz 5366/1905),
taken over from DRG in 1945 and erroneously designated TKh100-17 and
TKh100-18, respectively; they were returned to ČSD in 1948 after
little, if any, service in Poland. TKh-6322 (ex KkStB 97.254, Krauss
Linz, 6322/1910), pre-war TKh12-12, is the only surviving example in
Poland. It served with the Borki-Grzymałów local railway, saw some armored
service after WWI (with at least one armored train, the ‘Śmiały’), later went
to a colliery and can now be seen on static display at the steam machines
heritage park in Repty, near Tarnowskie Góry. It is noteworthy that, from
once large family of ex-Austrian locomotives, only four standard-gauge
engines have survived in Poland until today. Main technical data
1) Some
sources give 53.5 sq.m 2) Some
sources erroneously give 255 examples for KkStB
plus several for other operators References and
acknowledgments -
EZ, EDÖ; -
www.pospichal.net/lokstatistik
(website by Josef Pospichal); -
Josef Pospichal and Dieter Zoubek (private
communication). |
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