EU06

EU06-05 at the Warszawa Wschodnia station, 1962. Photo from my collection.

EU06-20 at the Sucha Beskidzka station; photo taken on August 13, 2002.

EU06-02, photographed at the Chabówka station on July 29, 2006.

Again EU06-02, this time at the Kraków Płaszów depot; September 9, 2006.

In June 2007, EU06-20 hauled the Orient Express! This photo was taken at the Warszawa Gdańska station on July 14. Photo by Marek Graff (thanks for permission!).

First electric locomotives in PKP service were of British origin. Following the contract for the electrification of the so-called ‘Diameter Line’ in Warsaw, signed between PKP and two British companies (English Electric and Metropolitan Vickers) in August 1933, two machines were supplied, first of them arriving in 1936. Four more were later assembled by Fablok. All were classed EL.100; last of them survived the war and was withdrawn in 1964.

After WWII, electrification of principal lines soon gained momentum, but production of locomotives posed a serious problem. Given the needs of industry reconstruction and expansion, it is hardly surprising that freight machines were given priority: indigenous ET21, to some extent based on Soviet VL22^M, appeared in 1957 and Pafawag of Wrocław (pre-war Linke-Hofmann) built 726 examples until 1971. Supplies of passenger locomotives were far less impressive. E110 (later re-designated EP02) prototype was rolled out in 1953, but only eight machines were built; this locomotive, based on pre-war EL.100, could hardly be considered modern. Eight E150s from Swedish ASEA, supplied between 1951 and 1952, stemmed from the same basic design and offered no significant advantage. These locomotives were in fact considered a stop-gap. Twenty-five EU04s from Eastern Germany, purchased in 1955 and 1956, proved rather disappointing.

In fact, from the very beginning it had been assumed that electric locomotives were to be built in Poland. Due to lack of experience with such machines, it was decided to purchase a license. In 1955 a specification for a universal locomotive, capable of hauling a 650-tonne draft at 125 km/h or a 2000-tonne draft at 70 km/h, was submitted by PKP. After initial negotiation with Swiss and Austrian companies, the choice once again fell on English Electric and Metropolitan Vickers, mainly due to favorable terms of payment. New locomotive owed something to class AL3 (later re-classed 83), then under development for British Railways. The contract, signed in 1959, stipulated that PKP would purchase twenty British-made locomotives. First of them was completed at the former Vulcan Foundry works in December 1961 and arrived in Poland in February 1962. All remaining machines were accepted during 1962, with the exception of EU06-20, which was accepted as late as in July 1965 – the delay had been caused by necessary modification of electric motors. These locomotives were classed EU06, but from the very beginning it was clear that they were intended almost exclusively for passenger traffic. All twenty examples were assigned to the Cracow District Management and those surviving have remained in southern Poland until today. Modifications were few and limited to minor details.

At the time of its introduction, EU06 – commonly nicknamed ‘Anglik’ (Englishman) – was considered a modern locomotive. Compared to most of its predecessors, it was characterized by good running qualities, high reliability and good workmanship quality. Six examples (03, 06, 09, 13, 15 and 19) had been written off as a result of crashes and scrapped, so in early 2004 PKP still had fourteen EU06s. Last scheduled train was hauled by the EU06-08 in March 2006 and it was intended to withdraw them from use. In mid-2006 three were, however, restored in service and it seems that they will remain in use even until 2009. Currently PKP has seven examples (EU06-01, -07, -10, -12, -17, -18 and -20); moreover, EU06-02 is sometimes used with special trains.

EU06 had a decisive influence on the design of passenger electric locomotives in Poland. Its license version EU07 and slightly modified variant EP07, still remain the mainstay of the PKP fleet. EP08 was its direct derivative, differing – apart from minor details – only in shaft bearings. Many design features were used in ET22 freighter (including traction engines) and EP09 express locomotive. The importance of EU06 for Polish railways cannot thus be underestimated.

Main technical data

No.	Parameter	Unit	Value
1.	Years of manufacture	-	1961 – 1962
2.	Total built / used in Poland	-	20 / 20
3.	Axle arrangement	-	Bo’Bo’
4.	Control	-	multiplied
5.	Design maximum speed	km/h	125
6.	Traction motors (number X type)	-	4 X EE541A
7.	Voltage	V	3000
8.	One-hour rating	kW/hp	2080 / 2825
9.	Continuous rating	kW/hp	2000 / 2720
10.	Electric current at one-hour rating	A	370
11.	Electric current at continuous rating	A	355
12.	Rotational speed at one-hour rating	rpm	920
13.	Rotational speed at continuous rating	rpm	940
14.	Engine suspension	-	Alsthom
15.	Reduction gear ratio	-	79:18
16.	Diameter of drivers	mm	1250
17.	Total weight	kg	80 000
18.	Axle load	T	20.0
19.	Axle base	mm	11 600
20.	Overall length	mm	15 915
21.	Maximum width	mm	2 890
22.	Brake type	-	Oerlikon

References and acknowledgments

Detailed description can be found in a monographic article by Paweł Terczyński in SK vol.1/1999. Basic data are available at http://www.kolej.pl/~jareks/wtpkp website maintained by Jarek Stawarz aka Chester – or rather were, as this link has been dead for some time. Concise description canm be found in AL.