Tr6
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Tr6-41, photographed at the Wrocław
Główny depot in August 1961. Photo from my
collection.
Side drawing of the 5620-29
© Lokomotiv-Revue (source: TB vol.1).
Tr6-39 (Linke-Hofmann
2616/1923), Railway Museum,
Warsaw; photo taken on September 5, 2006.
The same locomotive, photographed on July 6, 2023.
TCDD 45002 (NOHAB
1782/1927), preserved at the Çamlık Buharlı Lokomotif Müzesi,
56 3007 (former LBE
97, Linke-Hofmann 3128/1929), photographed in Bochum-Dahlhausen on October 5, 1985, by someone who wishes to
be known as MPW57. Source: www.de.wikipedia.org.
56 2363, photographed at the Frankfurt-Nied depot in 1938. Withdrawn in 1943, this engine became
Soviet war booty and remained in use with MPS
until August 1951. Photo by Wolfgang Heedmann (from
www.commons.wikimedia.org).
56 2573, DR
(Henschel
19593/1922), Erfurt, September 1965. Assignment of individual names (in this
case, ‘Frieda’) was not a common practice in Germany. This engine was
withdrawn in October 1967. Photo by M.R. Delie
(postcard from my collection).
56 2477, DB
(formerly KPEV Cassel
3373, Linke-Hofmann 2748/1922), photographed near Dinslaken in1959.
This engine was withdrawn in September 1960. Postcard from my collection. |
The
heaviest Prussian freight locomotive G12, which appeared in 1917, weighted
over 141 tonnes in working order with tender and
maximum axle load was 16.7 tonnes. Soon after it
was accepted into service it was realized, however, than a replacement was
also necessary for older and lighter freighters, of which many were still in
use (e.g. G71 and G72, running on saturated steam, with
maximum speed of only 45 km/h). Rather than producing an entirely new design,
a ‘scaled-down’ version of the G12 was proposed, with shortened boiler
(distance between tube walls reduced from 4 800 to 4 100 mm) and four coupled
axles instead of five. Such engine, designated G83, was ordered
from Henschel in December 1918, but was not
entirely successful. Obviously a three-cylinder steam engine, inherited from
the G12, was not a must for a locomotive of this size and power, and Prussian
state railways KPEV valued simplicity. Thus G83 was built
in a modest number of 85 examples (later DRG class 561) and
was promptly supplanted by a two-cylinder variant G82. Apart from
steam engine layout, it differed in slightly narrower firebox and 190 flues
instead of 189. First example, also from Henschel,
appeared in April 1919 and went into production which lasted until 1924
(additional eleven examples were built in 1927 and 1928). In all, KPEV
(and later German state railways DRG) received 846 examples, built by
six manufacturers: Allgemeine Elektricitäts Gesellschaft
(AEG, 71), Hanomag (61), Henschel (319), Jung (119), Krupp
(188) and Linke-Hofmann (88).
Five more, also classed G82, were built in 1921 by Hanomag for Oldenburgische
Staatsbahn; they were fitted with Lentz valve
gears and had smaller 3T16.5 tenders. All these engines were in 1925 classed
5620-29 and given service numbers 56 2001 through 2916; numbers
from 2486 to 2550 were not assigned and those from 2276 to 2280 went to the
engines from Oldenburg. Finally, eight examples were built between 1922 and
1930 by Linke-Hofmann for Lübeck-Büchener Eisenbahn
(LBE, service numbers 91 through 98): on January 1, 1938, they were
also taken over by DRG and numbered 56 3001 through 3008. Foreign
orders came from Romania and in 1921 state railways Căile Ferate Române
(CFR) purchased 104 brand new G82s from Henschel
(76), Jung (10) and Linke-Hofmann
(18). In 1926 further forty followed, but these were second-hand DRG
engines. Classed 1404-5, they were among the most important
freighters in the CFR service, although proved too weak on some
mountain lines – double-heading was common, at times augmented even by two
pushers! Many sources mention also an order from Turkish state railways TCDD;
in fact, these engines (service numbers 45001 through 45062), built between
1927 and 1935 by NOHAB (Sweden) and Tubize
(Belgium), although based on the G82, were heavier by some 2.6
tonnes in working order and had longer boilers
(distance between tube walls increased to 4500 mm). Thus, production of this
class amounted to 963 examples. In
the KPEV and later DRG service G82s were typically
coupled with three-axle 3T20 tenders. Between 1928 and 1930 four engines (56
2130, 2801, 2906 and 2907) were tested with pulverized coal firing system,
developed by AEG; this concept was finally rejected, but revived in
Eastern Germany in the 1950s. After the war, most of these locomotives
finally went to DB: in all, 581 examples, plus one returned by
Norwegian railways NB and one by Austrian ÖBB. The latter had
one more engine of this type, which was withdrawn in early 1950s (class
designation 756 was reserved, but not assigned formally). In 1948 DB
sold one engine to Osthannoversche Eisenbahn. Last examples in the DB service
were written off in 1964. DR had only seventy engines of this type,
which remained in use until early 1970s. Soviet Union took 100 examples, some
damaged during hostilities; this number includes also four engines withdrawn
in 1943. Moreover, the majority of Romanian 1404-5s (125 of 144)
were taken by the Soviets after occupation of Romania in 1944. Most – perhaps
all – ex-CFR locomotives of this type were converted to the 1524 mm
track and re-classed TO (with original CFR service numbers); it is not
clear, however, if ex-DRG engines were re-designated in a similar
manner. They remained in service until 1957, some went to industry. EZ
lists fifteen examples taken over by Czechoslovakian railways (class 437.0),
but details are available only on four; most probably the rest were promptly
taken over by other railway managements – possibly Soviet, but this is only a
conjecture. Very little is known about their service, apart from the fact
that the last one was written off in 1956. Polish
railways ended up with 52 locomotives of this type, classed Tr6, of which all
were given consecutive numbers and impressed into service. Most of them – at
least 35 – were based in Lower Silesia and often ran even with local
passenger trains. In late 1950s many were relegated to switching; one
(Tr6-38, ex 56 2788, Linke-Hofmann
2609/1923) was sold to the Bielszowice
colliery in 1955. Last survived in service until early 1970s, the very last
one being Tr6-3 (ex KPEV Kassel 3375, DRG 56 2479, Linke-Hofmann 2750/1923), withdrawn in
December 1972. Fortunately, one engine of this type has survived in Poland:
Tr6-39 (ex 56 2795, Linke-Hofmann
2616/1923) can now be seen at the Railway Museum in Warsaw. The second
preserved locomotive of this type is 56 3007 (ex LBE 97, Linke-Hofmann 3128/1929), which remained
with DB until 1950, when it was sold to the Hessische
Industriewerke GmbH and later, in 1951, to the Carl-Alexander
colliery, Baesweiler. After the colliery was closed
down in 1975, the locomotive was transferred to the Eisenbahnmuseum
Darmstadt-Kranichstein and can now be seen
there on static display. Furthermore, as many as seven ‘derivatives’, built
for TCDD, have survived in Turkey. Main technical data
1)
Excluding engines built for Turkey. List of vehicles
can be found here. References
and acknowledgments
-
TB vol. 1, EZ vol. 3, DA
vol. 2, ITFR, AP, LOZD vol. 1; -
www.beitraege.lokomotive.de
(Ingo Hütter’s locomotive database); |
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