LDH45
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LDH45-012, photographed at the Otmuchów sugar
plant on August 17, 2008, by someone who wants to be known as JanSuchy (source: www.commons.wikimedia.org).
LDH45-002, photographed at the Cedler
steelworks in Sosnowiec on April 23, 2002. Photo by Wojciech
Kolondra (from my collection). This locomotive has
already been scrapped.
LDH45-372, operated by Romanian PECO petroleum company, photographed
in Brazi on April 18, 2010. Photo by Stefan Puscasu (www.cfr.stfp.net)
– used by permission.
The same author and another Romanian
industrial operator: LDH45-023, UZUC
chemical plant, Ploiesti, August 10, 2007. Source: www.commons.wikimedia.org.
LDH45-025, operated by SKPL, photographed at the Pleszew Miasto station on May 17, 2017. Photo by Łukasz Bączek (thanks for
permission!).
Another picture of LDH45-025, taken at the
same location on October 19, 2018. |
Romanian works Uzinele
23 August (former Malaxa, now FAUR)
have been a major manufacturer of diesel locomotives, with both electric and
hydraulic transmissions. The latter were fitted with license-built Voith torque
converters and covered a broad range of rated power, from 100 to 2400 hp.
They were designated LDH (which stood for Locomotiva Diesel Hidraulica – no need to translate…) plus a number given
approximately by rated power divided by ten. They were built in large
numbers, for Romanian state railways CFR,
industry and export. Some had their narrow-gauge equivalents. Type LDH45 was similar to more powerful LDH55 and
LDH70 (the latter also used in Poland) and differed mainly in the powerplant: license-built Maybach MB836Bb six-cylinder in-line diesel. Externally these
three types were rather difficult to distinguish. The same prime mover was
used in narrow-gauge L45H, imported to Poland in fairly large numbers (PKP class Lxd2). LDH45 was basically a
medium switcher, which could also be used with light trains. Due to low axle
load it was particularly useful at smaller industrial plants on weak tracks.
Prototype was outshopped in 1966 and production
continued until 1993, totaling 754 examples. The majority – 465 – went to
various Romanian industrial establishments. CFR purchased only twenty (class 86), which were used for
switching. Five slightly modified examples, designated LDH45 MM, were
supplied to the Bucharest underground. A few locomotives of this type were
later sold to various private operators. The rest went for export to the
following countries: -
Hungary:
190 examples (160 for state railways MÁV,
three for GySEV
and 27 for industry); -
Czechoslovakia:
31 examples, all for industry (class 748.45, already withdrawn); -
Poland:
26 examples (see below); -
Egypt: 11
examples; -
Turkey:
three examples; -
Austria:
two examples; -
Switzerland:
one example. Production figures have been taken from www.le-rail.ch (see References). Polish LDH45s retained their factory designation and were assigned consecutive service numbers. All went to industry, most to various steelworks. Little is known about their service and most have already been withdrawn. According to www.kolejowaklatka.org, at the time of writing (mid-2017) four examples were known to still exist. As for LDH45-012 (Otmuchów sugar plant), LDH45-024 (Cargosped Braniewo) and LDH45-026 (CTL Logistics), no details on their current service are available and possibly they no longer remain in use. LDH45-025, originally delivered to Kronopol chipboard works of Żary (now a division of Swiss Krono), was sold in February 2013 to Kalisz-based SKPL (Association for Local Railway Traffic) and is used in local freight traffic. Main
technical data
1) Line operation / switching. References and acknowledgments
-
www.le-rail.ch
(website by Theo Stolz); -
SK,
various issues; -
www.kolejowaklatka.org (website
by Marek Dąbrowski); -
AV vol. 2. |
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