Ok1
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Ok1-46, Wrocław Główny
depot, September 1961. Photo from my collection.
An Ok1 with a single coach was not an uncommon view on local lines in
the 1970s. This beautiful photo of Ok1-334 was taken near Dychów by Geoff
Plumb on
Ok1-325 (ex DRG 38 3267), Henschel
18371/1921 Jaworzyna Śląska loco depot,
The same locomotive photographed earlier, on
Ok1-112
(ex DRG 38 1698), Borsig 9076/1915, Kościerzyna loco depot, August
2000. Note incomplete motion gear and enlarged makeshift
smoke lifters.
Ok1-322 (ex DRG
38 3192), Linke-Hofmann, 2269/1921, Wolsztyn loco depot, September 8,
2004.
Earlier
picture of this machine, taken on
...and
yet another:
Slightly derelict Ok1-266 (ex DRG 38 3587, KPEV
Elberfeld 3034), Schichau 2925/1921, Ełk,
Another photo of Ok1-266, taken on the same
occasion...
... and the other example from Ełk: wreck of the
Ok1-258 (ex DRG 38 3272,
KPEV Elberfeld 2624), Henschel 18376/1921.
Ok1-198 (ex DRG
38 2402), Schwartzkopff 6947/1919, Żagań depot,
... and another photo of this engine, taken on the
same occasion.
Class 3810-40 side drawing from TB
vol.1 (© Lokomotiv-Revue).
Ok1-359 (Schartzkopff 6388/1917) appeared at the Steam
Locomotive Parade in Wolsztyn on
...but I was not particularly lucky in taking
pictures: this bald-headed guard and the pole!
Perhaps this rear view is the best one?
The same engine, photographed with a special train
near Staropole on July 25.1992. Photo by Wojciech Szpigiel (from my
collection). More pictures of the Ok1-359, taken at the 2008
Show in Wolsztyn, can be seen here.
Not excellent in quality, but nice: DRG 38 1259, (Borsig
7937/1911, ex ‘
Ok1-296 (ex 38 2425) on display at the Deutsches
Technikmuseum, Berlin; photo taken on May 16, 2009. Details of
Schmidt superheater can be easily seen.
Wolsztyn again: smoke-box cleaning in the Ok1-359.
Photo by D.Gulowaty (postcard from my collection).
Ok1-90: connecting rod assembly after a crash in
Krzeszowice, October 1934. This engine (BMAG
6386/1917, ex Kattowitz 2473) survived in service until 1939, but its
subsequent fate is unknown. Source: National Digital Archives (www.nac.gov.pl). Used by permission.
38 1474, DR (BMAG 5018/1913),
photographed somewhere in Eastern Germany in autumn 1967. Photo by Werner
Nagel (from my collection).
Ok1-288 (ex DRG 38
1928), BMAG 5887/1916, photographed at the Gdańsk Główny
station in September 1964. Photo by Sigurd Hilkenbach (from my collection).
Ok1-51 (Henschel
12667/1914), Tczew, March 20, 1975. This locomotive served with KPEV
as ‘Münster 2414’
and in 1919 became Belgian 6542. Having fallen into German hands in 1940, it
ended up with PKP and was withdrawn from use in October 1976. Photo
by Roman Witkowski (postcard from my collection).
Essen 2408, KPEV,
Borsig
8126/1912, location and date unknown. This locomotive later became DRG
98 1310, was taken over by NKPS in 1945 and transferred to
industry three years later. From my collection. |
Prussian
state railways KPEV had a
particular liking to passenger and even express locomotives with two driven
axles: class P4 remained in production until 1911, class S7 – even until
1914. The fact that their tractive effort was not sufficient for heavier
drafts was, however, recognized much earlier. This resulted in development of
express and passenger locomotives with three driven axles (classes S10 and
P6, respectively). Steam superheating was another important novel feature of
these machines, offering an alternative to complex and expensive compounds running
on saturated steam. Class S10 – the last express locomotive type ordered by KPEV – was built in over 550 examples.
On the contrary, class P6 (1-3-0 axle arrangement), introduced in 1901, was
not successful. 1600 mm drivers were too small for its design speed and there
were problems with weight distribution. Only 275 machines were thus built.
Class P7 was an adaptation of Badische
Staatsbahn class IVe, designed by Alfred de Glehn and built by Grafenstaden and Maschinenbaugesellschaft Karlsruhe between 1894 and 1901 (73
engines in all). This locomotive featured two-axle lead truck, but its
four-cylinder compound engine, running on saturated steam, did not find much
favor in KPEV service and only
eighteen were delivered in 1901. Class P8, which followed, owed much to
earlier P6, but was a new design with two-axle lead truck. Such was the
origin of one of the most popular and widely used European locomotives, to be
built in almost 4,000 examples. Beginning
of the P8 career certainly did not presage such future. New machine was
designed by Robert Garbe in 1905 for passenger and to some extent also light
express traffic with maximum service speed of 110 km/h. Prototype was built
by Schwartzkopff (s/n 3616/1906) and tests began in August 1906. It
soon turned out that boiler design was very successful, despite moderate
pressure of only 12 bar (compared to 14 bar in earlier S7), while running
qualities left something to be desired; in particular, running was uneasy at
high speed. New machine was accepted for production, but some redesign was
undertaken: in 1910 diameter of cylinders was reduced from 590 to 575 mm,
weight distribution was corrected and maximum service speed was reduced to
100 km/h. Moreover, flat front cab wall replaced the V-shaped previously
used, intended to reduce drag. In this ultimate version, P8 finally emerged
as a versatile passenger locomotive, reliable and popular among crews. Production
for German railways lasted until 1923 and involved thirteen companies (AEG, Borsig, Hagans, Hanomag,
Henschel, Hohenzollern, Humboldt, Jung, Linke-Hofmann,
Orenstein & Koppel, Schichau, Schwartzkopff and Vulcan),
totaling (according to TB) 3438 examples, the vast majority of them –
3370 – for KPEV. Several
locomotives of that type, with only minor modifications, were built for
Lithuania, Romania and Poland (see below); production was finally halted in
1930. Furthermore, this machine was license-built between 1932 and 1939 by Malaxa
and Reşiţa in Romania. There are some discrepancies between various
sources, but most reliable ones give the total number of machines built at
3948 examples. After
WWI, German railways had to hand over 628 P8s to various countries as war
reparations – the majority went to Belgium, France and Poland. In post-war DRG service they were re-designated
class 3810-40. Second ‘batch’ of these machines went to several
European countries after WWII; it is difficult to estimate how many, but
according to some sources German railways were left with 2803 examples, of
which many were unserviceable. During post-war service, many of them were
fitted with long, narrow smoke lifters, remaining that of German Kriegsloks.
DR used their machines until 1972
and DB withdrew last example in
January 1975. At least eight machines (possibly more) have been preserved. In
1951, two DB engines (38 2919, Vulcan 3676/1921, and 38 2890, Vulcan
3647/1921) were converted into tank locomotives, by coupling them rigidly
with short, two-axle tenders. This rebuild was performed by Krauss-Maffei;
‘new’ engines were re-classed 78 1001 and 78 1002 and given new serial
numbers, 17677/1951 and 17678/1951, respectively. They were used mainly with
suburban trains and remained in service until 9161. The
following brief account of foreign users is based on sources available to me
and I hope to update it soon. -
Belgium (class 64) – 168 examples acquired in 1918,
slightly modified, in use until 1966; -
France (classes 230C and 230F) – 162 examples
acquired in 1918, several (probably 19) later sold to Poland; -
Romania (class 230.0) – first batch came in 1919 and
comprised eighteen ex-KPEV engines presented by French authorities. In
1921, CFR (Căile Ferate Române)
purchased 75 new engines from German factories, followed by eighteen
second-hand examples in 1926 and again twenty new in 1930 – the latter were
the last P8s built in Germany. Reşiţa and Malaxa built 139 and
91 examples, respectively, between 1932 and 1939. Nineteen engines from Reşiţa
(230.501 through 519) were fitted with Lentz poppet valves and eleven from Malaxa
(230.520 through 530) with Caprotti valve gear. Finally, three ex-DRG
engines (230.400, 230.401 and 230.402) were acquired after WWII. This gives
the grand total of 364 examples; -
Czechoslovakia (class 377.0) – 31 examples impressed
into ČSD after WWII, numbers
377.0500 to 0530, plus probably several more not repaired, many were
ex-Polish Ok1s, most returned to Poland and Western Germany between 1947 and
1952 (377.0519 was fitted with Riggenbach counter-pressure brake and used for
testing other locomotives until 1963, then scrapped); -
Soviet Union – first ‘batch’ comprised Polish Ok1s,
captured in September 1939, some later converted to 1524 mm track. Then, in
June 1940, after annexation of Bukovina, several CFR 230.0s were acquired, but only two were converted to 1524 mm
track and just one was evacuated in June 1941. More German and Romanian
machines were captured and impressed into MPS
service as Red Army advanced westwards. Probably no Soviet designation was
ever allocated and their total number remains unknown. These engines remained
in service until early 1950s. Other
foreign users included Lithuania (class K8), Greece (class Zd), Italy,
Austria (two heritage ex-CFR
engines with fictitious designations, owned by ÖGEG) and Yugoslavia (class 09). Some references also add Turkey,
but I have found no trace in Turkish sources (according to www.trainsofturkey.com, TCDD engines Nos. 46001 to 46025 were
derived from P8, but were different locomotives with four driven axles). Poland
had the largest fleet of these engines. After WWI, 190 examples were handed
over by German railways and re-designated Ok1-1 through Ok1-190; two more
were used in Gdańsk and designated Ok1-1Dz and Ok1-2Dz (Dz for ‘Danzig’).
This number includes second-hand engines from France. Furthermore, 65 brand
new machines were supplied by Linke-Hofmann, Hanomag and Schwartzkopff
between 1921 and 1923 and given service numbers from Ok1-201 to Ok1-265. This
gives a total of 257 machines. They were used throughout the country and
earned a good reputation for manufacturing quality, reliability and ease of
maintenance. In 1938, five machines were leased to the French-Polish Railway
Company for passenger traffic on the Coal Trunk Line between Upper Silesia
and Gdynia; their service numbers remained unchanged. Even after the
appearance of Ok22 (its direct development – 190 examples built between 1923
and 1934) and much stronger, albeit less successful Os24, Ok1 remained the
principal passenger locomotive in Poland. As
with other types, in September 1939 Polish Ok1s were divided between Germany
and Soviet Union. German examples (160) were impressed into class 3810-40
and most of them were given service numbers of machines withdrawn in the
1930s. The Soviets took 84 and some were converted to the 1524 mm track, but
exact number is not known. Two (Ok1-54 and Ok1-230) were evacuated to
Lithuania and taken over by LG (service numbers 67 and 68,
respectively); in 1940 they fell into Soviet hands. The fate of eleven Ok1s
is not known. After WWII, Polish railways took over 429 machines, so again
Ok1 became one of the most numerous and important classes – in fact it was
the most important passenger locomotive at least until mid-1950s. Ok1s were
still held in high esteem; despite their age, failure rate was in fact lower
than with indigenous Ol49, designed for the same duties. On the other hand,
Prussian engine, due to narrow firebox, demanded high-quality coal. In early
1970s there were still about 250 examples in service, but then their number
dwindled rapidly and last were withdrawn in 1980. Four of them (Ok1-112, 258,
289 and 303) were for some time used as stationary boilers at various
industrial plants. As many as eight machines avoided scrapping, but Ok1-296 (Schichau
2739/1919, KPEV Danzig 2441, then Stettin 2536 and finally DRG
38 2425), withdrawn in January 1981, was sold to Germany and is now exhibited
at Deutsches Technikmuseum (formerly Museum für Verkehr und Technik), Berlin.
Thus, seven Ok1s can now be seen in Poland. Ok1-359 (Schwartzkopff
6388/1917, ex KPEV Osten 2545, ex DRG 38 2155), based in Wolsztyn, had
long been the oldest operational steam locomotive in Poland (before
Chabówka-based Ol12-7, which is five years older, was again restored in
service). This engine, withdrawn from service in 2001 due to boiler
certificate expiry, underwent major repair and re-appeared in service in
November 2006. List of preserved P8s can be found here;
this list is probably neither complete nor error-free, so any amendment or
correction is most welcome. According to Internet sources (mainly www.enzia.com), as many as 21 locomotives of
this type have been preserved in Romania. Main technical data
1) After WWII – some sources give 430 examples.. References and acknowledgments
Comprehensive
account of this class history and design by Michał ‘Doctor’ Pawełczyk can be
found at www.parowozy.best.net.
For concise description, see AP. Information on individual examples
has been taken mainly from the impressive Ingo Hütter’s locomotive database
(available at www.lokomotive.de) and LP.
Details on service and production in Romania can be found in ITFR. |
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