SM30
/ Ls300 and SP30
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This SM30-691 was photographed at the basalt
quarry in Sulików on
SM30-302 at the Toruń Kluczyki loco depot;
photo taken on
Derelict SM30-002, photographed at the Ełk
depot on
SM30-1060 (Fablok 7878/1970) under restoration at the Railway and Industry Museum in Jaworzyna Śląska; photo taken on
Operational Ls300-5/948, formerly used
by Batory steel works of Chorzów,
now at the railway stock heritage park in Pyskowice; photo taken on
Withdrawn SM30-073, photographed at the
Ostrołęka loco depot on
SP30-006, displayed at the Kościerzyna railway stock heritage park; photo taken in August 2001.
Second preserved SP30-218,
photographed at the Skierniewice depot on
SM30-039 preserved at the Zduńska Wola
Karsznice depot,
This SM30-165, photographed at the same location on August 13, 2008, still remains in service.
SM30 side drawing by M.Cwikła (SK vol.2/2000)
Two SM30s at the Małaszewicze depot, probably
still in use: SM30-053...
...and SM30-275; both photos taken on
SM30-009, location and date unknown. Photo
from my collection.
SM30-244,
PKP, Czerwieńsk
depot, April
27, 2007.
This SM30-836, photographed in Rogów on
Two SM30s, photographed at the Gdynia Grabówek
depot on
...and SM30-250.
Relatively few SM30s still remain in the PKP inventory. This SM30-036 was
spotted near the Warszawa Żerań station on
Ls300-823, Konin lignite mine;
photo taken at the mining railway depot in Kleczew on September 16, 2008. |
First post-war diesel locomotive, developed in Poland, was Ls40, built by Pierwsza Fabryka Lokomotyw w Polsce (First Locomotive Factory in Poland) of Chrzanów, known as Fablok, in 1952. This machine, based on pre-war German Deutz OMZ 122, was a light switcher fitted with 40 hp diesel engine, mechanical transmission and mechanical brakes. It was built mainly for various minor industrial establishments, which had their own sidings; only nine examples were used by PKP as class SM02, but they were suitable only for service duties. Certainly more powerful switcher was necessary, not only for PKP, but also for many industrial operators, for which tractive effort of just three tonnes, provided by the Ls40, was far too low. Mechanical transmission was considered suitable for light machines only, while hydraulic one was out of question, as torque converters were not manufactured in Poland. Thus, for the first time in Polish locomotive industry, electric transmission was chosen. Design of such locomotive, designated 1D, was prepared by the Central Design Bureau of the Railway Stock Industry (CBK PTK) between 1954 and 1955. Production was entrusted to Fablok and prototype, with factory designation Ls300, was rolled out in 1956. In PKP service, this machine was initially classed LWe55; in 1958, with new relevant national standard introduced, it became SM30. By necessity, SM30 – in fact first indigenous diesel locomotive suitable for line service, albeit only with light drafts – was a simple and straightforward design, deliberately making use of as many off-the-shelf components as possible. Thus, Wola V-300 engine was a modification of the power unit used in military vehicles and light vessels, 600 V DC generator was developed from a stationary unit and traction engines were of the type used in streetcars. Such policy could not contribute either to high performance or to economy, but these factors were then of minor importance. Production lasted until 1970 (some sources give 1969) and totaled 293 examples for PKP, all given consecutive service numbers. More SM30s were built for various industrial operators (a total of 616 is quoted in most references, which gives a grand total of 909 machines). PKP acquired several SM30s from industry (various sources give nine to thirteen), which has caused some confusion concerning total output. Industrial operators had no uniform designation system, so their engines were designated as either SM30 or Ls300 plus service number (from 501 onwards, to distinguish from PKP machines, sometimes corresponding to serial, but this was not the rule). At least one Ls300 is operated by a private operator: Ls300-905 (Fablok 7394/1967), previously owned by a power plant, has been taken over by Rail Polska (information from SK 5/2008). Most important modifications concerned the power plant: V-300 engine was in later examples replaced by its improved derivative 2DVSa-350, up-rated to 350 hp. In the 1980s, during overhauls, many locomotives of this type were fitted with license-built Henschel 16H12A units. LT-31 traction engines were later supplanted by more modern LKAa-310 ones. Other modifications concerned mainly minor items of equipment. SM30 was primarily intended for switching, but it was also sometimes used with local passenger trains, often hauling one, two or three light two-axle passenger cars. Tendency to eliminate steam locomotives from such service resulted in an attempt to produce a passenger derivative of SM30, fitted with an electric car heating device. Low-voltage (500 V) system, fed from main generator, was chosen and first conversion of SM30-232 was completed in late 1970. Tests were considered satisfactory, but first ‘production’ machines – all converted from SM30s – appeared only in 1974. To distinguish them from standard version, they were re-classed SP30 (P for ‘passenger’), service numbers remaining unchanged. Actual number of converted machines is difficult to estimate: many sources give 109, while detailed rosters available at www.kolej.pl/~jareks list 115 examples. In service it soon turned out that at low speed, typical for many local lines, generator yielded only 200 to 400 V and heating was very inefficient. Comparatively few cars were also fitted with low-voltage heating systems, while special two-axle 94A cars were not successful, only 42 examples being supplied to PKP between 1976 and 1977. Thus obsolete steam heating systems (with heating cars) remained in use and most SP30s were in fact used as plain switchers. Last passenger cars with 500 V heating systems survived until late 1980s. On June 1, 2000, all SP30s remaining in service were re-classed SM30 (again retaining their service numbers) and heating devices were removed from those that still had them. One example of this class, SP30-006, is displayed at the former locomotive depot in Kościerzyna. Another one, SP30-218, was transferred in December 2005 from Łódź Olechów depot to Skierniewice, to become a part of the PSMK railway fan society collection. There are even plans to restore it to the operational status. Both preserved SP30s had probably been withdrawn before June 2000 and thus were not re-classed. It
was intended to supplant SM30 with more modern SM25 with hydraulic
transmission, but only three examples were built in early 1960s. Ultimate
replacement materialized in 1968 as 401Da – three-axle switcher fitted with
350 hp Henschel diesel, which was later produced in quantity and supplied to
industrial operators only. In late 1990s PKP intended to keep about a
hundred SM30 and SP30s in service for local trains (often comprising one or
two passenger cars), as a more economical alternative to 800 hp SM42s, but
these plans never materialized. According to SK, on January 1, 1999, PKP
had 63 SM30s and 33 SP30s. AL lists
79 examples in the PKP inventory five years later, probably not all of
them serviceable. Furthermore in 2005 private railway operators had six
locomotives of this type. Despite their obsolescence, many more SM30s are
still used by industrial establishments. A few machines have already found
their way to museums and railway stock heritage parks. Main technical data – SM30
1) Later
examples had 2DVSa-350 257 kW / 350 hp engines, modernized machines –
Henschel 16H12A 2) Later
LKAa-310 Main technical data – SP30
1) Service
numbers unchanged. 2) Rosters
quoted in SK give 109 examples,
those available at www.kolej.pl/~jareks
– 115. References
and acknowledgments
Detailed
account on the SP30 conversion can be found in the article by Paweł
Terczyński in SK vol2/2002. Brief description can be found in AL.
Concise description and rosters are available at www.kolej.pl/~jareks – this website is
maintained by |
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