Th22

DBE No. 28 (WrN 2265/1876) was later impressed into kkStB and re-numbered 55.20. This engine went to PKP and was withdrawn before 1925. Location and date unknown. Source: www.commons.wikimedia.org.

BNB No.63 (Sigl 1212/1871), later kkStB 53.33, shared the same fate. Location and date unknown. Source: as above.

A possible pretender: KFNB 524 (WrN 3567/1891), later kkStB 159.18 and ČSD 334.012, withdrawn in 1962 and used as a stationary boiler until 1967. Location and date unknown. Source: as above.

Side drawing of kkStB class 53 (ex-DBE)…

…and ex-BNB; source: EZ vol. 1.

An unknown class 53 locomotive, photographed probably in Lwów (Leemberg) during the war. Plates are either illegible or missing. Photo from my collection.

Th22 – most probably yet another ‘class that never was’. Possibly this designation was assigned to former kkStB class 53, but confirmation is lacking. Just like with several other ex-Austrian classes, these locomotives were written off before new PKP designation system came into use. Assignment of fourteen PKP class designation to 0-3-0 freighters of Austrian origin still needs to be clarified, to put it mildly.

Class 53 of Austro-Hungarian state railways included locomotives that previously belonged to two private railways. Between 1872 and 1882 Dux-Bodenbacher-Eisenbahn (DBE) took delivery of 26 engines from Sigl (17), Wiener Neustadt (six) and StEG (three), classed BO II. They were numbered 9 through 34. Böhmische Nordbahn (BNB) purchased 33 similar locomotives, classed V, from Sigl (10) and Wiener Neustadt (23); their delivery took as long as thirty years, from 1871 to 1901. They were numbered 61 through 89 and 57 through 60 (last four). Given such long production run, it is hardly surprising that individual batches differed in details. Steam pressure was progressively increased from 9 to 10 and then to 12 bar and there were several boiler variants, with number of flues ranging from 162 to 191. Most engines were later re-boilered to new standards. Locomotives built for BNB were slightly lighter and faster. Both DBE and BNB were nationalized, in 1892 and 1908, respectively; above-mentioned engines were taken over by kkStB and re-numbered 53.01 through 26 (ex-DBE) and 53.31 through 63 (ex-BNB). 53.44 (ex-BNB 74, Wiener Neustadt 3059/1885) was later experimentally fitted with Brotan-type boiler.

After the war all locomotives of this type were divided between Poland and Czechoslovakia, with the sole exception of 53.55, taken over by Italian state railways FS; re-numbered 218.001, it was withdrawn in December 1923. Czechoslovakian state railways ČSD obtained 20 engines originally built for DBE. They were classed 314.0. Fifteen ex-BNB locomotives were classed 323.1, apart from two examples, which were written off before new designation system came into use. These elderly locomotives enjoyed long service life: last were withdrawn in December 1952. PKP took over six and seventeen engines from DBE and BNB, respectively; all were written off before 1925, so their re-numbering, if ever done, was only formal. Available sources give inconsistent information: EZ states that the above-mentioned ex-DBE locomotives were withdrawn from use before 1918, while KT lists them as taken over by PKP.

To complicate things even further, LP mentions a source from 1923, according to which designation Th22 was assigned to two kkStB class 159 locomotives, later handed over to Czechoslovakian state railways. Confirmation is, however, lacking. Class 159 included fourteen engines originally built for k.k. privilegierte Kaiser Ferdinands-Nordbahn (KFNB) by Wiener Neustadt between 1890 and 1891 in three variants (class Ve, service numbers 511 through 524). They were impressed into kkStB following nationalization of KFNB in 1906. According to www.pospichal.net/lokstatistik, one engine of this type (kkStB 159.12, Wiener Neustadt 3548/1891) briefly served with PKP, before being transferred to ČSD and re-numbered 334.006. In my opinion, this may be a plain error, as it does not seem probable that new class designation was reserved for a single locomotive which was promptly disposed of. This is, however, only a conjecture.

Main technical data – kkStB 53.01 through 26

No.	Parameter	Unit	Value
1.	Years of manufacture	-	1872 – 1882
2.	Total built / used in Poland	-	26 / 6
3.	Tender class	-	?
4.	Axle arrangement	-	0-3-0
5.	Design maximum speed	km/h	45
6.	Cylinder bore	mm	2 X 475
7.	Piston stroke	mm	632
8.	Engine rating	kW/hp	280 / 380
9.	Tractive effort	kG
10.	Boiler pressure	MPa	0.92^1) / 1.02^2)
11.	Grate dimensions	m X m	1.54^1)/ 2.00^2) m^2
12.	Firebox heating surface	m^2	8.0^1) / 9.0^2)
13.	Distance between tube plates	mm	4 200
14.	Number of flue tubes	-	181^1) / 177^2)
15.	Heating surface of flue tubes	m^2	121.6^1) / 119.1^2)
16.	Number of smoke tubes	-	-
17.	Heating surface of smoke tubes	m^2	-
18.	Evaporating surface, total	m^2	129.6^1) / 128.1^2)
19.	Superheater heating surface	m^2	-
20.	Diameter of drivers	mm	1 176
21.	Diameter of idlers front/rear	mm	- / -
22.	Total weight, empty	kg	37 700
23.	Total weight, working order	kg	41 000
24.	Weight on drivers, working order	kg	41 000
25.	Weight with tender, empty	kg	49 700
26.	Weight with tender, working order	kg	68 000
27.	Maximum axle load	T
28.	Axle base (with tender)	mm	10 445
29.	Overall length (with tender)	mm	14 805
30.	Brake type	-	Hand

1) 53.01 through 17.

2) 53.18 through 26.

Main technical data – kkStB 53.31 through 63

No.	Parameter	Unit	Value
1.	Years of manufacture	-	1871 – 1901
2.	Total built / used in Poland	-	33 / 17
3.	Tender class	-	?
4.	Axle arrangement	-	0-3-0
5.	Design maximum speed	km/h	50
6.	Cylinder bore	mm	2 ´ 475
7.	Piston stroke	mm	632
8.	Engine rating	kW/hp	290 / 395
9.	Tractive effort	kG
10.	Boiler pressure	MPa	1.02^1) / 1.22^2)
11.	Grate dimensions	m X m	1.65 m^2
12.	Firebox heating surface	m^2	8.6^1) / 9.3^2)
13.	Distance between tube plates	mm	4 200
14.	Number of flue tubes	-	191
15.	Heating surface of flue tubes	m^2	130.9
16.	Number of smoke tubes	-	-
17.	Heating surface of smoke tubes	m^2	-
18.	Evaporating surface, total	m^2	139.5^1) / 140.2^2)
19.	Superheater heating surface	m^2	-
20.	Diameter of drivers	mm	1 176
21.	Diameter of idlers front/rear	mm	- / -
22.	Total weight, empty	kg	34 500^1) / 35 900^2)
23.	Total weight, working order	kg	39 500^1) / 39 900^2)
24.	Weight on drivers, working order	kg	39 500^1) / 39 900^2)
25.	Weight with tender, empty	kg	46 500^1) / 46 900^2)
26.	Weight with tender, working order	kg	66 500^1) / 66 900^2)
27.	Maximum axle load	T
28.	Axle base (with tender)	mm	10 300^1) / 10 530^2)
29.	Overall length (with tender)	mm	14 805
30.	Brake type	-	Hand

1) 53.31 through 49.

2) 53.50 through 63.

References and acknowledgments

- www.pospichal.net/lokstatistik (website by Josef Pospichal);

- KT vol. 2, LP, EZ vol. 1;

- Josef Pospichal (private communication).