DRB Class 52 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weights are for locos with plate frames |
DRB Class 52 (condensing tender) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Deutsche Reichsbahn's Class 52 [note 1] is a German steam locomotive built in large numbers during the Second World War. It was the most produced type of the so-called Kriegslokomotiven or Kriegsloks (war locomotives). The Class 52 was a wartime development of the pre-war DRG Class 50, using fewer parts and less expensive materials to speed production. They were designed by Richard Wagner who was Chief Engineer of the Central Design Office at the Locomotive Standards Bureau of the DRG. About a dozen classes of locomotive were referred to as Kriegslokomotiven; however, the three main classes were the Class 52, 50 and 42. They were numbered 52 1-52 7794. A total of 20 are preserved in Germany.
Many locomotives passed into Russian ownership after the Second World War. In the USSR, the class were designated TE (TЭ). Other operators of the type included Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Norway and Turkey, among others.
The Class 52 was a simplified version of the prewar Reichsbahn class 50 locomotive (produced 1938–1942). The simplified design of the class 52 was intended to reduce the man-hours and skills needed to manufacture it and to adapt to wartime shortages of strategic materials. Additional design changes gave the locomotives and their crew better protection against the cold. [1] Between 1942 and the end of the war in May 1945, over 6,300 Class 52 locomotives were built. Additional locomotives were built post-war, giving a class total of probably 6719 units, delivered by seventeen manufacturers. The Class 42 was a larger version of the Class 52, but was produced in smaller numbers.
Wagner had wanted locomotives which were long-lasting and easy to maintain, and unlike British engineers did not consider a high power-to-weight ratio a priority. The resulting Kriegslokomotive had a low axleload of 15 tonnes (14.8 long tons; 16.5 short tons) and could haul 40 percent more freight than the old Prussian locomotives they replaced. The Class 52 could haul 1,200 tonnes (1,180 long tons; 1,320 short tons) at 65 km/h (40 mph) without significant strain. On a 3% grade they could haul 800 tons at 5 km/h.
Over 7,794 locomotives of DRB Class 52 type were built across Europe for use on the Eastern Front during the Second World War. Thus it was one of the most numerous steam locomotives in the world. To achieve such numbers, the German locomotive manufacturers were merged into the 'Community of Greater German Locomotive Manufacturers', Gemeinschaft Grossdeutscher Lokomotivhersteller (GGL), which was a subdivision of the 'Rail Vehicles Main Committee', Hauptausschuss Schienenfahrzeuge (HAS) founded in 1942. Key HAS figures were the Reichsminister for munition and armament, Albert Speer and the Reich transport minister, Julius Dorpmüller.
Following the invasion of Poland in September 1939 Nazi Germany disbanded the Polish State Railways (PKP). Polish rail officials were either executed in mass shootings or imprisoned, and some 8,000 managerial positions were staffed with German officials. [2] Former Polish companies began producing German engines BR44, BR50 and BR86 as early as 1940, some using forced labor. By 1944, the factories in Poznań and Chrzanów were producing the redesigned Kriegslok BR52 locomotives for the Eastern Front. These locomotives were made almost entirely of steel; locomotives in that battlespace were not expected to survive for long, so managers eliminated the use of higher-value non-ferrous metals like bronze, chrome, copper, brass, and nickel. [2]
The GGL included the following locomotive manufacturers (including an approximate number of Class 52s produced):
In the early postwar years, Class 52s were used by many European countries. Western European countries replaced them with more modern locomotives as soon as possible, with the exception of Austria where they were used until 1976. The simplicity and effectiveness, plus the large production total, meant that many eastern European countries were slow to withdraw their Kriegslokomotiven. Poland used them into the 1990s; some in Bosnia are still in use as of 2023.
Several Class 52s have been preserved in operating condition. One is at the Nene Valley Railway in Peterborough, England. Another one is in service with the Franconian Museum Railway in Bavaria, Germany.
PKP class OKl27 is a class of ordinary passenger (O) tank (K) 2-6-2 (l) steam locomotives designed in 1927 for Polskie Koleje Państwowe. It was the first completely Polish construction. The design was prepared by eng. Bryling.
The DRB Class 50 is a German class of 2-10-0 locomotive, built from 1939 as a standard locomotive (Einheitsdampflokomotive) for hauling goods trains. It had one leading axle and five coupled axles and was one of the most successful designs produced for the Deutsche Reichsbahn.
Kriegslokomotiven or Kriegsloks were locomotives produced in large numbers during the Second World War under Nazi Germany.
The Prussian Class P 8 of the Prussian state railways was a 4-6-0 steam locomotive built from 1906 to 1923 by the Berliner Maschinenbau and twelve other German factories. The design was created by Robert Garbe. It was intended as a successor to the Prussian P 6, which was regarded as unsatisfactory.
The Deutsche Reichsbahn had a standard passenger train tank engine with a wheel arrangement of 1′C1′ or 2-6-2 and a low axle load, which was designated in their classification system as the DRG Class 64. The Class 64 was developed from 1926 onwards and it was built between 1928 and 1940. Many German manufacturers contributed to the series.
The DRB Class 42 was a type of steam locomotive produced for the Deutsche Reichsbahn. It is one of the three main classes of the so-called war locomotives (Kriegslokomotiven), the other two being class 50 and 52.
The German Class 41 steam locomotives were standard goods train engines (Einheitslokomotiven) operated by the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DRB) and built from 1937 to 1941.
Between 1934 and 1941 the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DRG) converted a total of 691 former Prussian-built Class 55.25–56 steam locomotives; the result was the DRG Class 56.2–8. The carrying axle enabled higher speeds and the engine could even be used as a passenger train locomotive. In addition the average axle load was lower, so that these locomotives could also be used on branch lines. The conversion entailed moving the boiler forward and raising it somewhat. The vehicles were given operating numbers between 56 201 and 56 891, although the numbering was not continuous.
The Prussian Class P 6s were passenger locomotives operated by the Prussian state railways with a leading axle and three coupled axles.
The Prussian Class T 11 were passenger tank locomotives produced between 1903 and 1910 in the service of the Prussian state railways for duties on the Berlin Stadtbahn.
The kkStB 229 was a class of passenger 2-6-2 tank engines with the Imperial Royal Austrian State Railways, kkStB.
The Prussian T 14s were German, 2-8-2T, goods train, tank locomotives operated by the Prussian state railways and the Imperial Railways in Alsace-Lorraine. They were later incorporated by the Deutsche Reichsbahn into their renumbering plan as Class 93.0–4.
The Austrian Society for Railway History is an Austrian society that was formed from a group of railway fans, who got together around 1971 in order to look after working steam locomotives at the ÖBB depot of Linz.
The Prussian Class T 12 were early German passenger tank locomotives built for the Prussian state railways in large numbers. These locomotives were superheated variants of the T 11.
The NMBS/SNCB Type 26 was a class of 2-10-0 steam locomotives built between 1945 and 1947. Originally commissioned as part of an order for 200 DRB Class 52 Kriegslokomotiven placed by the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DRG) with Belgian locomotive manufacturers in 1943, the 100 members of the Type 26 class were completed for the National Railway Company of Belgium (NMBS/SNCB) following the liberation of Belgium late in 1944.
The kkStB 270 was a class of 2-8-0 locomotives with the Imperial Austrian State Railways, kkStB.
The Prussian T 7 was a group of goods tank locomotives of the Prussian State Railways with an 0-6-0T wheel arrangement. It was not a class in the modern sense of identical locomotives.
The Prussian G 9 was the last saturated locomotive class developed for the Prussian state railways. A total of 200 were put into service between 1908 and 1911, first by Schichau, and later by other locomotive manufacturers. Since problems arose with the G 8, the superheated steam technology was not really trusted. The chassis was taken from the G 7, whereas the larger boiler was a new design. The G 9 remained inferior to the G 8 in terms of performance. At first a number of locomotives were referred to as G 7, but they were later reclassified G 9. They mainly operated in ore traffic between the Ruhr area and the North Sea.
The Prussian G 5.2 was a class of two-cylinder compound goods locomotive introduced in 1895. As with many Prussian locomotive design, simple and compound versions of the same type were built – in this case the G 5.2 was the two-cylinder compound version of the simple G 5.1. The compound locomotives were more economical and more powerful than the simple locomotives; they were more suitable for long stretches with few stops. The newly introduced air brakes made it possible to use the G 5.2 on passenger trains, which the Prussian State Railways often did.
The Prussian G 4.3 was a class of 0-6-0 goods locomotive of the Prussian State Railways; they were manufactured between 1903 and 1907 by Union Giesserei in Königsberg. The type was developed with the aim of improving the running characteristics of 6-coupled locomotives. They proved a more capable design than the normal-type, and so had a higher maximum speed of 60 km/h (37 mph). However, they were quickly outclassed by increasing weight of freight trains.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)