LDH18
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LDH18-002 (23 August 25440/1988), photographed in Świdnica on February 6, 2002. Photo by Wojciech Kolondra (from my collection).
Romanian LDH18-012, operated by an unidentified
industrial enterprise; Videle, December 22, 2006.
Photo by Stefan Puscasu (www.cfr.stfp.net).
LDH180-001 (23
August 25290/1987) is currently owned by TOZKiOS railway
fan society; Pyskowice, October 9, 2004. |
In the 1960s Romanian
locomotive and machinery manufacturer Uzinele
23 August (formerly Uzinele Malaxa) of Bucharest began development of a family of
diesel locomotives with hydraulic transmission, with power rating ranging
from 180 hp to 2400 hp. The smallest of them was a
light switcher LDH18 (for the entire family, numerical designation indicated
rated power divided by ten), of which 147 examples were built. These two-axle
locomotives with the axle load of just ten tonnes
were intended mainly for minor industrial establishments which had their own
sidings. Some of them, however, were also built for state railways Căile Ferate Române (CFR). Initially they were classed 18,
then 96 and finally 88. It seems that there is some confusion with more
powerful type LDH25 and with narrow-gauge type L18H, which featured the same
power plant, but was a three-axle locomotive. Several examples were exported.
According to MAL and AV, one locomotive of this type was
included in Czech class 706.4 (together with Polish types Ls150 and 409Da)
and numbered 706.423. It was purchased in 1984 for Textilka Primona, Česká
Třebová, which was closed in 2004. This locomotive
has been preserved and is currently owned by KPKV railway fan society of Brno. It is unclear if other Czech
and/or Slovak industrial enterprises had any LDH18s. As
with other locomotives of this family, LDH18s were imported to Poland in
moderate number and only for industry. According to www.enkol.pl, four examples were purchased;
this not confirmed by other sources known to me. LDH18-001 (23 August 25290/1987) was used by Magazyny Państwowe (state warehouses)
in Opole from 1987 to 1998. Later, despite considerably young age and good
condition, it was transferred to the locomotive heritage park in Pyskowice,
owned by TOZKiOS railway fan
society. Most probably this locomotive is still operational. On the other
three examples I have no information, apart from factory numbers 25440, 25441
and 25442 (service numbers LDH18-002, -003 and -004, respectively). All were
delivered in 1988. Main
technical data
1)
Number unconfirmed. References
and acknowledgments
-
www.enkol.pl; -
MAL, AV. |
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