Tr11
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ÈSD 434.2298 is the ‘reko’ variant,
previously kkStB 170.162 (Wiener Neustadt 5199/1914). This
engine is on static display at the Czech Railway Museum in Lužna u Rakovnika.
Photo taken on June 14, 2008.
Another ‘reko’ engine: derelict 434.2218 (kkStB
170.98, StEG 3921/1913), recently transferred to Lužna. Photo taken on the same occasion.
Although bearing the ÈD designation 434.0170, this engine is in fact ex-GKB 56.3255,
which began life as kkStB 170.666 (Wiener Neustadt 5496/1919).
Photo taken at the Jaromeø depot on the same day (not a bad one, indeed!). This is the original variant
running on saturated steam, obtained in exchange for another heritage
locomotive. |
In
mid-1890s trains running through the Arlberg pass in Austria were hauled
mainly by kkStB class 73 four-axle engines. In view of rapidly increasing
traffic, these locomotives soon were found too weak and slow for this
demanding line. In order to provide a suitable successor, Karl Gölsdorf
designed an entirely new locomotive, which apperared in 1897 and was
designated class 170. While retaining some features typical to earlier
Gölsdorf’s designs, including compound steam engine, twin steam domes
connected with a large horizontal tube and Hardy vacuum brakes, new engine
was in some respects exceptional. Due to large boiler, with total heating surface
of almost 250 sq.m, it was one of the best steamers in Europe; at the same
time axle load barely exceeded 14 tonnes, which was essential for
comparatively weak tracks common in Austro-Hungary. Initial trials were very
successful: prototype (Wiener Neustadt 3950/1897) attained 84 km/h and
proved capable of hauling a 220-tonne draft on a 26‰ gradient at 25 km/h, a
very good result for that time. Despite
this success, production was slow in gaining momentum. Only one more engine
for kkStB was built in 1897, six in 1898 and one in 1901. All these
locomotives, which were given service numbers 17001 through 17009, later
170.01 through 170.09, had 3.36 sq.m grates and brakes on two axles only.
Next six examples, 170.10 through 170.15, delivered in 1905, featured
enlarged grates (3.91 sq.m) and brakes on three axles. In the meantime, class
170 was ordered by Südbahn, which received 54 examples between 1898
and 1908 (service numbers 3001 through 3054). All these engines were built by Wiener Neustadt.
Production for state railways started in the earnest, with various minor
modifications, in 1913 and lasted until 1919. In all, 783 examples were built
against kkStB orders by WLF (Floridsdorf, 234), Wiener
Neustadt (227), BMMF (PÈM, 149), StEG (113), Breitfeld
& Danĕk (52) and Krauss Linz (8). Of these, fifty engines
from Wiener Neustadt (170.646 through 170.695) and two from Krauss
Linz (170.748 and 170.749) were completed after the collapse of the
Austro-Hungarian empire and delivered to newly-formed Austrian state
railways, which later became Bundesbahnen Österreichs (BBÖ).
Two more (Krauss Linz 7340/1919 and 7341/1919) were sold to Saxon
railways and served briefly as class IXv, Nos. 1281 and 1282; after all
German Landesbahnen were merged into DRG, these untypical
engines were sold to BBÖ and became 170.750 and 170.751, respectively.
Finally, between 1919 and 1921, three Czechoslovakian factories built further
71 engines for state railways ÈSD, initially with consecutive kkStB
service numbers 170.784 through 170.854 (PÈM – 39, Breitfeld &
Danĕk – 22 and Škoda – 10). This gives the grand total of 908
examples, which makes class 170 the most numerous Austro-Hungarian locomotive
type ever. Class
170 had initially been conceived as a powerful locomotive for passenger
trains on difficult mountain lines, but finally emerged as a universal heavy
freighter – no wonder with 1260 mm drivers and tractive effort exceeding 11
tonnes. When ordered in quantity for kkStB in 1913, this engine – a
compound running on saturated steam, with slide valves – was already
obsolescent, as steam superheating had been widely accepted. This may perhaps
be attributed to the influence of Gölsdorf’s school, which favored compounds.
In fact, a development version running on superheated steam was soon ordered,
but it was not completed before Gölsdorf’s death in 1916. This engine was put
into production in 1917 as class 270, but only a handful were delivered to kkStB.
Last 170s left production lines in 1921, almost 25 years after the prototype,
when their design concept had already become anachronistic. After
WWI, BBÖ were left with 237 examples (including those built after the
Armistice and those taken over from Südbahn). The rest were divided
between four countries. The largest number went to Czechoslovakia: ÈSD took
over 305 examples, excluding those built after the war, classed 434.0.
Italian state railways acquired 80 engines from kkStB and 35 from Südbahn
(FS class 729). Railways of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croatians and
Slovenians (SHS – later Yugoslavia) were allocated 22 engines from kkStB
and 12 from Südbahn; in 1933, all were taken over by JDŽ (Jugoslovenske Državne
Železnice) as class 24. Despite obsolescence, most of these locomotives remained
in service until WWII. In Czechoslovakia, where 434.0s were among the most
numerous and important engines in service, a major reconstruction program was
launched, aimed at improving economy and featuring conversion to superheated
steam and single-expansion steam engines with piston valves. First rebuilt
locomotive, 170.11 (WrN 4581/1905) was delivered by Škoda in
1924, three years after the acceptance of the last brand-new 170. Until 1925,
further eight examples were rebuilt; all were re-classed 434.2 and given new
service numbers. It should be noted that, despite having a large number of
class 434.1 engines, which corresponded to kkStB class 270, ÈSD
decided to develop an indigenous conversion design rather than copying the
Austrian pattern. Reconstruction program was re-commenced in 1930 and
continued until June 1951 (!), finally including 345 engines – last of them
was 434.0318 (PÈM 866/1920). This conversion was considered very
successful and 434.2s remained in service for a long time, last three
examples being withdrawn in 1980. Poland
acquired 146 engines of this type. Several (probably six) had been captured
by Russian troops during the 1915 offensive and saw some service in Ukraine,
converted to the 1524 mm track. They were re-converted to standard gauge by WSABP
in Warsaw, but one (WLF 2479/1917, ex kkStB 170.617) was
probably never restored in service and written off before 1924. With the
introduction of new designation system in 1923, all remaining 145 examples
were classed Tr11. As with most locomotives of Austrian origin, Tr11s served
mainly in southern and south-eastern Poland, assigned to regional PKP
managements in Kraków and Lwów. Apart from fitting Westinghouse air brakes
instead of Hardy-type vacuum ones, which was completed in 1936, modifications
were few and included mainly standard Friedmann-type injectors and fittings.
Several Tr11s were oil-fired: this conversion had been introduced by kkStB
even before the war. Typically coal-fired engines ran with three-axle
Austrian tenders (PKP class 16C11), but smaller 14C11s were also used.
The main shortcoming of Tr11 was its open cab, which was a nuisance for
crews, especially in winter and during reverse running; various makeshift
improvements did little to alleviate this problem. In
September 1939 the majority of Tr11s – 107 examples – fell into Soviet hands.
They retained their original PKP designations, written in Russian
script. Some (according to LOZD, about forty) were converted to the
1524 mm track and sent eastwards or transferred to industry. 38 examples were
captured by Germans. Apart from Tr11-71 and Tr11-80, which were badly damaged
and formally written off in 1943, they were included into DRG class 5631-34
(together with their Austrian, Czechoslovakian and Yugoslavian kinsmen) and
numbered 56 3336 through 56 3371. Later Germans captured further eighteen
Soviet engines, of which two were used by Wehrmacht, one by Ostbahn
and fifteen were impressed into DRG as 56 3391 through 56 3400 and 56
4251 through 56 4255. After the capture of Odessa, five Tr11s were taken over
by Romanian forces. Four were impressed into the CFR service as
140.901, 140.903, 140.921 and 140.922 (in 1947 they were returned to the
Soviets), the fifth one, ex Tr11-122, was badly damaged and written off in
1946. Only 33 ex-PKP Tr11s were returned after the war and eight of
them were not restored in service, due to poor condition. In fact, four of
them were handed over by DR only in 1956, when this class had already
disappeared from the PKP inventory. Apart from them, however, Polish
railways acquired sixty engines of this type from the DRG inventory
that had not been evacuated from the Polish territory by retreating German
forces; most of them were former ÖBB locomotives, but some came from
Czechoslovakia, Italy or Yugoslavia. Of these, two ex-ÈSD engines (ex
434.270 and 434.295 – both class 434.2) were returned in 1947 and eleven were
not restored in service, so post-war class Tr11 finally numbered 72 examples.
Given their obsolescence, it is not surprising that their post-war service
was not long. Sixty were withdrawn until 1952 and last two, Tr11-48 (ex
170.738, StEG 4271/1918) and Tr11-54 (ex 170.184, BMMF
506/1914) survived until mid-1955. Several examples were transferred to
industry or used as stationary boilers and possibly survived a few years
more, but detailed information is lacking. No
Tr11 has been preserved in Poland, but as many as eight locomotives of this
type still exist in Czech Republic (five), Austria, Slovakia and Slovenia;
five of them, however, are ÈSD class 434.2 ‘reko’ engines. Currently
only one of them is operational, namely 434.2186 (ex 434.1048, kkStB
170.323, Breitfeld & Danĕk 95/1916), based in Prague. Two
more saw some service in early 2000s and will probbaly be brought back to an
operational status: 434.2338 (ex 434.0226, kkStB 170.560, BMMF
646/1917), based in Košice, Slovakia, and GKB 56.3115 (ex kkStB/BBÖ
170.233, WLF 2180/1914) from Graz, Austria. The latter represents the
original variant running on saturated steam. Main technical data
1) Increased
to 1300 mm in the PKP service. 2) After
WWII. 3) Including
post-war production in Czechoslovakia (71 examples). 4) Early
production engines 5) Ultimate
production variant 6) Later
Westinghouse References and acknowledgments
Monographic
article by Bogdan Pokropiñski was published in KMD vol.2/2006. Technical and historical accounts can be found in
PNPP and EZ. Information on preserved examples has been taken from EDÖ.
Statistics can be found at www.pospichal.net. |
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