OKi1
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OKi1-28, photographed at the
The same engine, photographed on
A drawing from the LHW
catalogue card shows LBE
No.125 ‘Fuchs’ (Linke-Hofmann 334/1906). This engine was sold to the Altona-Kaltenkirchen-Neumünster railway
in 1923 and served there as No.18 until 1953. From my collection.
Class 740-3 side drawing, © Lokomotiv-Revue; source: TB vol.2.
KPEV class T11 Berlin 2132 (Vulcan
2032/1903). Postcard from my collection.
Berlin 2164, Borsig 5425/1904, location and date
unknown (probably factory photo). In 1925 this locomotive became 74 027,
but was withdrawn four years later. Photo from my collection.
74 101 (ex Berlin
7584, Union 1399/1905), photographed
at the Berlin Lehrter Bahnhof
depot on June 15, 1932. This engine was written off in August 1933. Postcard
from my collection.
KPEV Mainz
1658 (Hohenzollern
1873/1905) later became Mainz 7509 and then DRG
74 078; withdrawn in 1926. Location and date unknown. Source: Die Lokomotive June
1922.
Preserved 74 231 (Union
1602/1908) in its original livery as KPEV
Hannover 7512, photographed in Bochum-Wattenscheid
on April 18, 2010 by someone who wishes to be known as Tenderlok
(source: www.commons.wikimedia.org).
Warsaw Railway Museum (now Stacja
Muzeum) again: OKi1-28,
photographed on July 6, 2023 |
Prussian state railways KPEV designated both passenger and freight tank engines with capital T, for Tenderlokomotive. After steam superheating had been introduced, it was decided to use even and odd number for engines running on superheated and saturated steam, respectively. Thus, T9 was a freight locomotive with 1350 mm drivers and maximum speed set at 60 to 65 km/h, built in large numbers and three main variants. Next was T10, a modern passenger engine for suburban traffic with 2-3-0 axle arrangement, 1750 mm drivers and maximum speed of 100 km/h, of which only twelve were built. T11, designed by renowned Robert Garbe as a development of class T93, in fact preceded T10 by a few years and was a less advanced design, with 1500 mm drivers, single-axle Krauss-Helmholtz lead truck, tractive effort of 8.6 tonnes and maximum speed of 80 km/h. Prototype was completed by Union-Gießerei of Königsberg in 1903 and 470 examples were built for KPEV until production terminated in 1910. The majority came from Union (364 examples), the rest being supplied by Borsig, Hohenzollern and Vulcan. Furthermore, Linke-Hofmann Werke built nine almost identical machines for Lübeck-Büchener Eisenbahn (LBE) in three small batches, between 1906 and 1908. Most T11s ran with suburban trains; KED Berlin alone received 141 examples for Berliner Stadtbahn, Berliner Ringbahn and commuter lines. Despite the appearance of more economical superheated T12, the earlier engine remained in production for a few more years, as many railway managements favored simple and proven designs. Moreover, T12 initially suffered from some teething troubles, which was attributed to superheating. Robert Garbe was one of the keenest advocates of single-expansion engines running on superheated steam. No wonder, thus, that such derivative of T11 appeared even before the latter was ordered in quantity. In 1905 it was accepted as class T12 and was eventually destined to outnumber its predecessor: over 1000 were built until 1923. T12 offered more power and much better economy and therefore started to supplant its older kinsman as soon as initial problems had been solved. After WWI, newly-formed DRG were left with
358 T11s, classed 740-3. In 1926 twenty were rebuilt with steam
superheating, but this program was not proceeded with, as electrification of
suburban lines rendered these engines surplus. In particular, electrification
of the S-Bahn between 1924 and 1933 left a
few hundred tank engines with no job. While more modern T12s were relegated
to secondary lines and switching, many T11s were withdrawn. In late 1920s and
early 1930s as many as 204 locomotives of this type were written off, some
after less than twenty years in service. Two more followed during WWII;
furthermore, a few were sold to various private local railways. Similarly, of
nine examples in the LBE inventory (which had not been taken over by DRG),
seven were written off between 1926 and 1932 or sold; only two survived until
1953. After WWII, DB were left with just 65 engines of this type, most
were withdrawn in early 1950s. DR had sixty; a few soldiered on until
late 1960s, quite a lot went to industry. Four examples were taken over by
Soviet MPS (Ministry of Transport), but their service was probably
very short. Polish railways were a major recipient of T11s after
WWI. As many as 56 examples were taken over and impressed into service. They
were classed OKi1 and given service numbers from 1 to 52; four operated in Gdańsk were designated OKi1-1Dz through –4Dz, where Dz stood for ‘Danzig’ (in fact, all four had been
operated in Gdańsk by KPEV before 1918). Most of these
obsolescent, but reliable engines served in Upper Silesia on local lines. Two
(OKi1-5 and OKi1-24) were withdrawn before 1936, the rest survived until the
next war. In September 1939 the majority were taken over by DRG and
given service numbers after those withdrawn before the war; six fell into
Soviet hands (one after a brief period with Lithuanian railways LG),
but five of them were later re-captured by Germans. After 1945, thirty-seven
were returned to PKP, but one
(former OKi1-3Dz) was not given new service number and written off in April
1950. Furthermore, a number of DRG engines were taken over. Data from
various sources vary, but most probably they numbered twenty examples, of
which five (74 091, -197, -314, -321 and -323) were not given service
numbers and were formally written off in February 1946. Two engines, OKi1-47
and OKi1-48, were in fact ex-Belgian T12s. This erroneous classification was
eventually realized and these locomotives were re-numbered Oki2-82 and
Oki2-84, respectively (many thanks to John Peakman
for information!). This gives 50 examples in post-war PKP service. According to some sources, ex-Belgian T12 9604
(former Köln 7704, Borsig
6368/1908) was reported as belonging to a rolling stock repair establishment
in Poznań in 1950; confirmation is lacking. These
comparatively weak engines performed best on flat-profile lines, so all were
assigned to the regional railway management in Gdańsk.
Some were later relegated to auxiliary duties and switching. Their withdrawal
started in early 1950s and only eleven survived with PKP until 1960.
Between 1952 and 1959 sixteen were transferred to various industrial
establishments and some enjoyed there a few years’ lease of life. Last three
OKi1s in the PKP service were
withdrawn in 1966. One of them (OKi1-28, Borsig 5424/1904, KPEV Berlin 7560, then OKi1-14 and
74 104) has been preserved and can now be seen at the static display in
the Railway Museum, Warsaw. Only one more engine of this type still exists. Union 1602/1908 (KPEV Hannover 7512, then DRG
74 231) was kept by DR after
WWII and remained in service until 1968, when it was transferred to an
industrial plant. Plinthed at a railway school
premises in Erfurt in 1974, it was finally transferred to Museums-Eisenbahn
Minden in 1999. This engine was fitted with a new boiler and sometimes
runs with special trains.
Main technical data
-
After WWI. -
Plus five or six more with no service numbers,
written off in 1946 and 1950. -
Some sources give 116.4 sq.m. List of
vehicles can be found here. References
and acknowledgments
-
TB vol. 2, LP; -
www.beitraege.lokomotive.de
(database by Ingo Hütter); -
www.dampflokomotivarchiv.de; -
John Peakman (private
communication); -
Monographic article by Ryszard
Stankiewicz (SS
vol. 146 and 147). |
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