Standard-gauge locomotives designation system
It may perhaps be helpful to keep in
mind that, in Polish, lokomotywa (locomotive)
is feminine, while parowóz (steam
locomotive) is masculine.
1.
Steam locomotives
Current designation system for steam engines used by PKP was introduced in early 1920s and has remained unchanged until today. Each class is designated by one or two capital letters, one small letter and one-, two- or three-digit number, followed by a dash and service number (up to four digits).
First capital letter indicates locomotive type: O – passenger (in Polish, osobowy), P – express (pospieszny), T – freight (towarowy). Basically, diameter of drivers was the criterion: drivers above 1800 mm in diameter qualified the engine as an express one, 1500 to 1800 mm – passenger and below 1500 – freight. There were few exception, e.g. OKz32 tank engine was classed as a passenger one (an in fact served exclusively as such!) despite 1450 mm drivers.
Second capital letter K (derived from Polish kusy – literally ‘short’ in colloquial language) indicates a tank locomotive; otherwise this letter is omitted.
Third small letter indicates axle arrangement, namely:
|
Letter |
Axle arrangement |
Letter |
Axle arrangement |
|
a b c d e f g h i j k l m |
one driven axle 0-2-0 2-2-0 or 0-2-2 0-3-0 not used 2-3-0 or 0-3-2 1-3-1 2-3-1 |
n o p q r s t u v w x y z |
0-4-0 not used not used 0-5-0 not used*) |
*) Reserved for narrow-gauge engines
Note that, contrary to British and
American practice, number of axles rather than of wheels is used; e.g.
For locomotives built in
For locomotives of foreign origin,
numbers 1 to 10 were reserved for German (in practice, Prussian ex-KPEV) machines and 11 to 19 for
Austro-Hungarian ones. Within each group (type and axle arrangement) these
numbers were assigned one after another, starting from 1 or 11, respectively,
e.g. Tp1, Tp2, Tp3 etc. Again, there were few
exceptions, mainly concerning Austro-Hungarian engines: in some groups, numbers
from 1 to 19 proved insufficient and numbering was continued (e.g. Th24 was an
Austrian, not Polish design). Another exception was Tr20, which was built by
Several tank engines were assigned number 100 (e.g. TKh100). Such designations referred to miscellaneous standard-gauge locomotives, taken over by PKP from various local railways, mainly German (Kleinbahnen, not DRG) and industry (mostly sugar plants). They were usually built for individual customers, as single examples or in very small batches. It was decided to group them in classes according to the wheel arrangement rather than distinguish each type.
Numbers above 100 were reserved for
locomotives of foreign origin other than Prussian or Austro-Hungarian. Most of
them were engines from German lands other than
Contrary to what is sometimes encountered in foreign references, second (or third with tank engines) letter was always a small one and there was no dash: Ty51 has never been a ‘TY-51’ and so on.
Tenders are designated by a two-digit number indicating the water box capacity in cubic meters, capital letter corresponding to the number of axles (C – three, D – four) and numerical designation of the origin or year of acceptance – exactly as for engines. Thus e.g. 16C1 refers to a three-axle Prussian tender with 16 m3 water box capacity. This designation is followed by a dash and service number (up to four digits). If the tender was rebuilt so that its water box capacity changed, so did its designation; e.g. 32D43 with coal feeder became 27D43.
Industrial operators often designated tank locomotives by a two- or three-letter code (locomotive type and axle arrangement), followed by the serial number; e.g. TKb 2845 was the 0-2-0 tank freight engine with serial 2845 (Linke-Hofmann, 1925). Sometimes this designation is written with a dash, in this case TKb-2845. This system was, however, not obligatory. Tender locomotives used by ‘sand railways’ were designated in exactly the same manner as those in PKP service, with the only exception of Ty2s (ex DRG class 52), which had service numbers not assigned in any sequence, but simply corresponding to DRG numbers; e.g. Ty2-3458 was ex-DRG 52 3458. Some operators had their own designation systems.
Finally, it should be kept in mind that several preserved steam locomotives have been fitted with type and number plates taken from other examples, usually scrapped earlier. In some cases, PKP plates have also been fitted to engines previously used by industrial operators, which have never served with the state railways. I try to account for such cases when referring to individual examples.
1.
Electric and diesel
locomotives
All electric and diesel locomotives in the PKP service are designated by two capital letters and a two-digit type number, followed by a dash and two- or three-digit service number.
First letter indicates drive type: E
– electric (elektryczna), S – diesel
(spalinowa – literally ‘internal
combustion’).
Second letter indicates locomotive
type: P – passenger (pasażerska), T –
freight (towarowa), U – universal (uniwersalna), M – switcher (manewrowa). Typically, if a machine is
rebuilt for service other than the original one, this letter is changed; e.g. a
SM42 fitted with car-heating equipment became a SP42. Sometimes such
reconstruction, or any major modernization, involves allocating a new service
number, but this is not the rule.
Two-digit type numbers are allocated
in succession within the following batches:
Electric locomotives:
01 to 14 – 3000
15 to 19 – AC, Bo’Bo’ axle
arrangement,
20 to 24 – 3000
35 to 39 – AC, Co’Co’ axle
arrangement,
40 to 49 – voltage or axle arrangement other than above.
Diesel locomotives:
01 to 09 – single control,
mechanical transmission,
10 to 14 – multiple control,
mechanical transmission,
15 to 24 – single control, hydraulic
transmission,
25 to 29 – multiple control,
hydraulic transmission,
30 to 39 – single control electric
transmission,
40 to 49 –
multiple control, electric transmission.
These numbers were allocated irrespective of
the service type indicated by the second letter, so e.g. first line diesel
freight locomotive with electric transmission and multiple control was
designated ST43, as it was preceded by SM40, SM41 and SM42 switchers. It should
also be noted that some of these blocks have not been used until today (there
are no AC electric locomotives at all and no diesels with mechanical
transmission and multiple control).
Prior to the introduction of this
system in 1958, electric locomotives were designated by the letter E, followed
by a number, initially corresponding to the service numbers batch allocated and
then to the sequence of introduction; this applies to six classes. Diesel
locomotives in the PKP service were
designated by the LWe symbol (L – locomotive, W – diesel (from Polish wysokoprężny), e – electric
transmission; there were probably provisions for another design features, never
used in practice), plus two-digit number indicating the year of acceptance – as
for steam locomotives. This system was used for just two classes. List of these
designations is given below.
|
Before 1958 |
After 1958 |
|
E100 > E01 E110 > E02 E150 > E03 E200 > E04 E400 > E05 E500 > E06 LWe55 LWe58 |
EP01 EP02 EP03 EU04 EU20 ET21 SM30 SM40 |
The above-described system applies
only to locomotives operated by PKP.
Industrial and private operators are not obliged to use it, but sometimes they
do. Many of them – e.g. sand railways – use factory designations followed by a
service number; thus, 201E is equivalent to ET22, TEM2 to SM48 etc. Some
switchers built by Fablok as type 6Da (SM42 in the PKP service) are designated Ls800 (derived from their rated power)
plus serial number. Second-hand diesel and electric locomotives, purchased by
private operators since 2003, have been designated in a number of ways and no
unified system has been introduced. Many retain their original designations
(e.g. M62s that correspond to the PKP
class ST44). Details are given in individual entries.