Ok22
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Ok22-23 (Fablok
339/1929) at Jaworzyna Śląska depot (now Industry
and Railway Museum), photographed on
The same engine, in much better condition,
photographed on July 8, 2009.
Ok22-31 (Fablok
356/1929) at Wolsztyn depot, photographed on
Side drawing of the Ok22 from PNP.
On
Next year, on More pictures of this engine, taken at the 2008
Show, can be seen here.
Ok22-165. My data give ‘location unknown, April
1959’, but judging from the service number this is a pre-war picture. Photo
from my collection.
Ok22-32 (pre-war Ok22-89), photographed in Nysa in
1987. Photo by PhotoGataR (from my collection).
Ok22-187 (Fablok
586/1934) on a pre-war postcard from my collection. This engine was taken
over by DRG and impressed into service as 38 4608; after the
war she remained with DB and was written off in December
1951.
The caption reads: ‘The most beautiful PKP steam
engine’: such was the outcome of a 1929 poll. This photo adorns the cover of
the Technika
Parowozowa monthly 1929 annual set. Service number is
illegible. Class designation is given as ‘OK 22’, which is not proper.
Factory photo of an unidentified Ok22; source: Die Lokomotive November
1924.
Ok22-130 (Fablok 453/1930) has just completed an
overhaul at some railway stock repair works; photo taken in August 1940. The
locomotive is operated by DRG,
but still displays Polish service number. Later re-numbered 38 4572, this
engine went to DB and was
formally written off in December 1951. Source: National
Digital Archives (used by permission).
Ok22-82 (Fablok 387/1929), Gródek
Jagielloński, 1934. This locomotive was impressed
into NKPS and later MPS as Oк22-82;
withdrawal date is unknown. Source: as above.
Head-on collision of Ok22-11 (Fablok
280/1929) and Pn12-3 (former kkStB
310.17, BMMF 392/1911);
Kraków Towarowy station,
February 7, 1931. Five people lost their lives. Ok22-11 was later repaired;
impressed into DRG as 38
4507, it was returned after the war and served as Ok22-6 until January 1977.
Pn12-3, with its frame bent, was written off. Source: as above.
Ok22-74 (pre-war Ok22-174, then DRG 38 4625, Fablok 550/1933, location unknown,
1972. This engine was withdrawn in March 1976. Postcard from my collection. |
First
passenger locomotive, designed and built for PKP after WWI, was a derivative of Prussian P8 – a very
successful machine, built in almost 4,000 examples between 1906 and 1940 and
used in many European countries. Poland acquired 192 P8s as a part of war
reparations and bought 65 brand new machines from Linke-Hofmann,
Hanomag and Schwartzkopff
between 1921 and 1923; all these locomotives were classed Ok1. More examples
were taken over after WWII and Ok1 remained in service until 1980 as the most
numerous class of passenger locomotives with PKP. Immediately
after WWI, lack of engines suitable for passenger traffic was particularly
acute, as most acquired German, Austrian and Russian locomotives were
freighters, usually obsolete and in poor condition. New passenger engine was
thus badly needed and it was decided to pattern its design upon that of the
P8. New locomotive, later to be classed Ok22, was ordered in 1922 and first
five examples were built in 1923 by Hanomag
(10144/1923 through 10148/1923), as Polish locomotive industry still had to
be created – virtually from scrap. After extensive tests and some minor
modifications, production was undertaken by the First Locomotive Factory
in Poland (Fablok) of Chrzanów in 1928, first example (Ok22-6, s/n 275/1928)
being delivered in December. Until 1934, 185 machines were built there. Main
differences between P8 and Ok22 concerned the boiler which, however, remained
a fairly conservative design. In order to facilitate low-grade coal
combustion, boiler was raised by 400 mm to accommodate larger firebox (grate
was shorter by 260 mm, but wider by 690 mm, its area being increased from
2.65 to 4.01 sq.m). Number of flues was increased
from 119 to 175 and of smoke tubes – from 26 to 28. Evaporating surface was
larger by over 28%, but superheater heating surface
– only by less than 8%; with unchanged boiler pressure of only 12 bar and the
same dimension of cylinders, overall efficiency was slightly below that of
P8. Locomotive frame, steam engine and motion gear remained virtually
unchanged. Machines built by Fablok had
modified and enlarged cabs (similar to that of Ty23) and two boiler domes.
They were coupled with 22D23 four-axle tenders (again from Ty23) which,
compared to 22D2s of Hanomag-built examples,
had slightly lower empty weight, but were longer and had coal box capacity
increased from 7 to 10 tonnes. First
twenty Ok22s were assigned to the Warsaw regional management, which was
common practice with new locomotive types. Between two world wars, Ok22 was
one of the most important classes in PKP
service, used throughout the country. Five machines, Ok22-151 to Ok22-155,
based in the Kapuścisko Tranzytowe
depot near Bydgoszcz, were leased to the French-Polish Railway
Company for passenger traffic on the Coal Trunk Line between Upper
Silesia and Gdynia. Until the introduction of Pt31, they were also commonly
used with express trains (more powerful Os24 had poor running qualities at
higher speed). In-service modifications, apart from fitting electric lighting
from 1931 onwards, were rather few. Five examples (Ok22-117 through Ok22-121)
had Lentz valve gears which, although generally successful, proved somehow
troublesome in maintenance and have not found widespread use. Several
machines had Dabeg or Worthington feedwater pumps instead of standard Metcalfe-Friedmann exhaust-steam injectors. Ok22-23 was in 1935
experimentally fitted with Nicolai-type piston valves. According to PNPP, 55 engines were fitted with
Langer or Pyram devices for smoke-less combustion
(air and steam jets directed into firebox to improve combustion), which
proved unsuccessful and were soon removed. In
1939, Ok22s shared the fate of other Polish locomotives. 111 examples
captured by Germans were impressed into the DRG service and classed 3845-46
in 1941. 78 engines fell into the hands of the Soviets. Ok22-132 (Fablok 472/1932) went with an evacuation
train to Lithuania and was absorbed by state railways LG; classed K9 and numbered 41, it became a Soviet booty in
1940, but was destroyed in Wilno by a direct bomb
hit in June 1941. Most Soviet engines were converted to 1524 mm track and
served in Western Ukraine and Belarus, with original Polish service numbers.
First converted example (in November 1939) was Ok22-100 and, according to
Toms Altbergs (see References), total number of
re-gauged Ok22s reached 72 until January 1941. After German attack most of
them were sent eastwards. Such fast conversion (compared to other ex-PKP classes)
seems indicative of the Ok22 being highly valued by their new owners. After Fall
Barbarossa, 19 examples fell into German hands; most were impressed into DRG. These included prototype Ok22-1, which was badly damaged in 1944.
Its repair was not completed and it was the only example that had not been
given DRG service number; it was, however, repaired by PKP and
restored in service after the war. According to some sources, a few
examples were evacuated to Romania in 1939, but in fact the only Ok22 in the CFR
service was the Ok22-112 (Fablok
433/1930), captured by the Soviets in 1939, then taken over by Wehrmacht,
transferred to Romania and re-numbered 230.903, to fall into the hands of
Soviets again in 1944 – a colorful life indeed! Some locomotives serving with
DRG were later, as the fortunes of war changed, captured by the
Soviets, but only one (ex Ok22-42), which had served with NKPS before 1941, was retained, as it
was considered Soviet property. In
1945, Polish administration initially took over 52 Ok22s, which were restored
in service and given new numbers. Four more were returned by ČSD between 1947 and 1949 and two by ÖBB between 1947 and 1948; this given
a total of 58 engines. Further three locomotives were damaged beyond repair
and were not re-numbered. As with many other pre-war classes, not a single
engine returned from the Soviet Union. Soviet Ok22s remained in use until
mid-1960s, later some went to industry to serve as stationary boilers. Of
Ok22s impressed into DRG, three
(Ok22-19, -76 and -181) were written off during the war. 29 examples taken
over by DB in Western Germany saw
probably no service; all were formally written off on December 13, 1951. DR in Eastern Germany took over 31
examples. One (Ok22-61, DRG 38
4545) was written off in 1946. Ok22-143 (DRG
38 4583) was returned in September 1950, the rest followed between July and
October 1955, as a result of mutual agreement concerning motive power
exchange. Most of them were in poor condition. According to some sources,
many saw no service, but withdrawal dates available at www.beitraege.lokomotive.de
indicate that that was not the case. After
introduction of Ol49, Ok22s were gradually shifted to local traffic, but
occasionally hauled even long-distance trains until late 1960s. Post-war
modifications were few and typical – steel fireboxes, standardized injectors
and boiler fittings and lighting (apart from 25 engines, all pre-war Ok22s
were fitted with gas lighting). Few examples were withdrawn before 1975 (in
January 86 Ok22s were in the PKP inventory), but afterwards they fell
in number quite rapidly, following deliveries of SP42s in large numbers. Last
survived in service in Lower Silesia until November 1979 – in fact they were
outlived by Ok1s. Mention
has also to be made of two Ok22s reboilered in 1952 with boilers taken from
Tr203s (ex-USATC S160 engines,
supplied after WWII). These were Ok22-35 (pre-war Ok22-137, Fablok
505/1932) and Ok22-45 (pre-war Ok22-170, Fablok 546/1933), both with
damaged boilers. Classed Ok203 and later re-classed Ok55, they were joined by
the third example – which did not use an Ok22 undercarriage – in 1959. This
reconstruction proved entirely successful, as Tr203 boilers were much more
modern and efficient than those of the original Ok22; plans for further
conversions were, however, abandoned, as it had been decided not to proceed
with any design work concerning steam locomotives. These hybrids were in
October 1970 impressed into the Ok22 class and re-numbered Ok22-89 through
Ok22-91, to be written off between 1976 and 1978 and scrapped. Class Ok55 is
described in more detail under a separate entry. Two
locomotives of this type have survived until today. Ok22-23 (Fablok 339/1929, pre-war Ok22-44, then DRG 38 4530), withdrawn from service
in 1979, can be seen at the Industry and Railway Museum in Jaworzyna Śląska. Ok22-31 (Fablok 356/1929, pre-war Ok22-51, then DRG 38 4536), based in Wolsztyn, was restored in service in 1987. Withdrawn in
September 1997 and kept in Wolsztyn on static
display, it was later overhauled (from December 2002 to May 2004), restored
in service once again and for several years hauled special trains. Withdrawn
again in May 2009 due to boiler ticket expiry, it awaits decision on possible
overhaul and future operation. Although
only marginally superior to its archetype P8, Ok22 was a successful machine,
tough and reliable, very important for passenger traffic both before and
after WWII. Intended to supplement rather than to replace Ok1, it served
along with the older class; in fact, the last Ok1 was withdrawn a few months
after the last Ok22. Main technical data
1)
Some sources erroneously give 540 mm 2)
Some sources give 8 560 kG 3) Ok22-1 to Ok22-5 4)
With 22D2 tender List of vehicles can be found here. References
and acknowledgments
-
www.parowozy.best.net
(website by Michał ‘Doctor’ Pawełczyk); -
monographic article by Paweł
Terczyński (SK vol. 1/1997); -
PNPP, AP, LP; -
www.parowozy.com.pl (website
by Wojtek Lis); -
www.beitraege.lokomotive.de
(locomotive database by Ingo Hütter); -
Standard
Gauge Locomotives in Russia and the Soviet Union by Toms Altbergs (Stenvalls, 2022); -
Ok22
monograph by Ryszard Stankiewicz (Eurosprinter,
2023). |
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