ET21
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ET21-100, PKP,
at the Jaworzyna Śląska locomotive heritage park,
ET21-539, PKP,
at Powroźnik station,
3E12 (designated ET21-1), Zduńska Wola Karsznice
loco depot,
ET21-66, PKP,
ET21-71, KP Maczki Bór,
new livery. Photo by Dawid Frątczak from www.kolej.pl/tabor
ET21 (3E/1 modified variant), side drawing from a Pafawag
folder.
This ET21-618 was photographed at the Sucha
Beskidzka depot on
… while this ET21-351, probably still in use,
was photographed at the same location almost exactly three years later, on
ET21-331, photographed at the Jelenia Góra
loco depot on
ET21-495, photographed at the same location
on November 29, 2008.
Withdrawn ET21 (number unknown), converted
into a stationary heating unit.
ET21-18, operated by CTL Rail; photo taken at Zduńska Wola Karsznice on
Another locomotive from CTL Rail: ET21-108, photographed on the same location on
3E-44, operated by PCC Rail,
photographed in Konstancin Jeziorna on
Another machine from the PCC Rail fleet: 3E-45, photographed near the Żerań power plant in
The same location and the same operator:
3E-55,
Four ET21s, photographed at the
... ET21-422 (two more in the background)...
...ET21-606...
... and ET21-644.
This ET21-324 ...
...and this ET21-436, both probably
withdrawn, were photographed at the
3E/1-86 from the PTKiGK Rybnik fleet,
photographed in Zduńska Wola Karsznice on July 16, 2008.
ET21-57, photographed between Chabówka and Skawa
with a special train on October 18, 1992. Photo by Wojciech Szpigiel (from my
collection).
3E-45 and 3E-42, posing at the CTL Rail
depot in Sosnowiec Jęzor; March 5, 2009.
Three more pictures, taken on the same
occasion: 3E-54…
…3E-75…
…and 3E-031 (the reason for using ‘0’
in this designation is unclear).
Two more pictures from the PCC Rail depot,
April 14, 2009: 3E-52…
…and 3E-51.
Another picture of the 3E-52 – this time with
a freight train in Zduńska Wola Karsznice; September 23, 2009.
ET21-157, location and date unknown. Photo
from my collection.
3E/1M-201 is the former ET21-464 which spent
several years as a stationary heating unit; owned by a trading company, it
has been leased to Pol-Miedź Trans. Photo taken at the Lubin Górniczy
station on September 1, 2010. |
Apart from a handful of EP02s (with traction motors and electric equipment imported from Great Britain), first Polish electric passenger locomotive of indigenous design, the EP09, appeared as a prototype in 1986. Freight machines were given priority and the ET21, in production from 1957 to 1971, can be viewed as the first electric locomotive, designed and built in Poland, to be produced in series – although some traces of foreign ancestry can also be found. It was also produced in large numbers, among electric locomotives second only to its successor, the ET22. In view of rapidly progressing electrification and the decision to terminate deliveries of steam locomotives, the need for an electric freight machine became obvious. Design work was entrusted to the Central Rolling Stock Design Bureau of Poznań, and series production to the Pafawag factory of Wrocław (pre-war Linke-Hofmann), with several sub-contractors. Two prototypes of the 3E (this was the manufacturer’s designation) appeared in 1957 and series production started the following year. From the mechanical point of view, new machine owed much to the experience gained with the EP02 passenger electric locomotive and, although still a simple and straightforward design, had better running qualities. Traction motors and electric equipment were patterned upon those of the Soviet freight locomotive VL22M, developed from the pre-war VL22 and produced by the Novocherkask works between 1947 and 1958 (1541 machines, never used in Poland). In 1960, after 83 machines (some sources give 73) had been delivered, a slightly modernized version was introduced, designated 3E/1; modifications were aimed mainly at improving reliability, simplifying maintenance, reducing overall weight (by some 5%) and better weight distribution. Production was halted in 1971, after 726 machines had been built. Later, during overhauls, several older machines were brought up to the E3/1 standard. Special version for industrial operators, with factory designation 5E, was not proceeded with, although later a few dozen standard machines went to industry. PKP designated their new machine first E500, then E06 and finally, in 1958, ET21, in accordance with new Polish Standard; it was commonly nicknamed ‘Sputnik’ among crews and railway fans. PKP received 658 examples; the rest went to sand railways (PMP-PW, or Filling Materials Enterprise of the Coal Industry) that supply filling material to Silesian collieries, factory designation being retained with this operator. In fact in the 70s, due to severe shortage of electric locomotives, PKP rented several machines from industrial operators, giving them the ET21 designation and out-of-sequence service numbers. Then, in the 80s, PKP sold seventeen some sources give fourteen) machines to sand railways, which in turn retained their original class designation, but assigned new service numbers. This brought about some confusion in identification of individual examples. 3E was the most numerous electric locomotive in the PMP-PW service, as heavier and more modern 201E (ET22) proved unsuitable for tight curves, typical for sand railways. Several examples were experimentally fitted with side-mounted current collectors, typical for locomotives used in open-pit mines. This modification, however, proved unsuccessful and all modified machines were later rebuilt to their original configuration. In 1989, shortly before PMP-PW was divided into four independent companies, this operator had 79 examples and this type remained in service until de-electrification of sand railways in the 1990s. Despite the ET21 designation, which implies a freight machine, all ET21s purchased by PKP were fitted with car heating couplings (3000 V DC) and could be used with passenger trains, although their characteristics in this role were considered far from satisfactory. Machines purchased brand new by sand railways had no heating devices. ET21s are still used by PKP, although in rapidly dwindling numbers, mainly for freight service in southern Poland. Withdrawal of these machines began in 1980 and initially was limited to the first production variant 3E variant. It reached its peak in late 90s, 107 examples being written off in 1998 alone. On January 1, 1999, only 107 locomotives remained in the PKP rosters and during next eighteen months their number fell to 60, of which 48 were serviceable. According to AL, in the beginning of 2002 PKP had only 44 examples, of which just a dozen or so remained in active service. According to some sources, ET21s were intended to be withdrawn from regular service altogether in 2002, but in fact they still can be seen on some southern lines, even with passenger trains. In 2005, ET21s still hauled passenger trains near Krynica. According to rosters available at www.lokomotywowniapkp.republika.pl, in early 2006 PKP still had fifty ET21s, obviously not all of them serviceable. Independent operators that came into being when PMP-PW was dissolved in 1990, as well as those established later, will use these machines for much longer, as they later expanded their scope of activity to include public transport throughout Poland. Despite purchases of second-hand electric locomotives in considerable numbers (mainly from Czech and Slovak operators), withdrawal of elderly ‘Sputniks’ is not planned for the near future. In fact, one of these companies bought two ex-PKP examples from a scrap-disposal company in 1999. In 2004, private operators had at least 45 examples (probably not all operational); largest fleets were owned by PCC Rail Szczakowa (since 2007 PCC Rail S.A., 18) and CTL holding (15). In 2006 two ET21s, owned by PCC Rail Szczakowa (3E-42 and 3E-53) were fitted with multiplied control systems and often double-head heavy drafts. Five more have followed until mid-2007 and further are expected to follow soon. According to SK, in mid-2007 private operators in Poland had 43 locomotives of this type; CTL group had 14, PCC Rail – 16, PTKH (until 2007, PTKiGK Zabrze) – 10, PTKiGK Rybnik – 2 and Orlen KolTrans – 1. Quite surprisingly, in late 2009 this number increased to 44, as former ET21-464 (Pafawag 503/1967), after spending ten years as a stationary heating unit, was restored in service with Pol-Miedź Trans and re-numbered 3E/1M-201. Some of them had been modernized to various extents (even including new traction engines) and resemble old ‘Sputniks’ only externally; as far as I know, one has been re-designated ET21M, possibly unofficially. Some – most probably six – ET21s have been preserved. One of them, now
in Karsznice railway depot, is designated ET21-1, but this is not the first
example built. This machine was used by K.P.
Maczki Bór sand mine as 3E-12 and its factory number is in fact 23; it
has retained its original color, quite different from typical PKP livery. Most probably its current
designation is purely fictitious, but anyway it is an early example. One
heritage machine – ET21-57, now in Chabówka railway stock heritage park – is
still serviceable and can sometimes be seen with special trains in southern
Poland. ET21-100, withdrawn in April 2000 and later transferred to the
Jaworzyna Śląska depot (now Industry
and Railway Museum), experienced a peculiar twist of fate: in 2006 it was
sold to Orlen KolTrans and, after
some modifications (including new control panels and Oerlikon brakes)
restored in service in March 2007 as 3E-100. Externally – apart from new,
bright red livery – this machine differs from others in having two windows in
each front wall instead of three (middle window has been eliminated). Main
technical data
1) After modernization References and
acknowledgments
-
http://www.kolej.pl/tabor/ET21
(website by Dawid Frątczak); -
http://www.kolej.pl/~jareks/wtpkp (website byJarek Stawarz aka Chester; -
AL; -
SK (various issues). |
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