‛Baziel’

TKb-10 (Fablok 1725/1948) at the Karsznice loco depot; photo taken on October 27, 2003.

Another photo of the same machine, taken on October 26, 2005…

…and yet another: August 13, 2008. 

Baziel side drawing from PNP.

Narrow-gauge Baziel designated 1B13260 (Fablok 2638/1953), previously used by a cement plant, abandoned in Ryn in north-eastern Poland. Photo taken on October 15, 2005. This engine was transferred to Mrągowo in July 2008.

In 1947, Fablok design bureau developed a small, two-axle tank locomotive for industrial operators. This machine was based on pre-war T1C and T3C, built in small numbers (three and one example, respectively), as their technical documentation had been preserved during the war. From the outset it was intended to develop standard-gauge and narrow-gauge variants in parallel. As boilers were to be built at Babcock-Zieleniewski boiler plant (this pre-war name was in use until formal nationalization in 1948) in Sosnowiec, new locomotive was soon dubbed Baziel and this name was adopted throughout its production and service.

Baziel was a fairly simple and straightforward machine, running on saturated steam, with piston valves, steam and mechanical brakes and kerosene lighting (some were later fitted with electric headlights). Despite modest rated power of only 200 hp it proved capable of hauling drafts of over 700 tonnes. Small axle base of only 2100 mm allowed negotiating tight curves (minimum radius 70 m).

Despite long production period, from 1948 to 1959 (some sources give 1960), total output was rather small. Only twenty standard-gauge Baziels were built and all, or almost all, went to various industrial plants in Upper Silesia. PKP never used this locomotive. As usually with industrial switchers, their service attained little publicity and few details are available. Narrow-gauge variants were built for domestic operators and for export to Bulgaria (twenty examples known as type Pernik II, 900 mm track, built between 1949 and 1950) and to Vietnam (five examples – some sources give three or four, 1000 mm track, built in 1959 – these were the last narrow-gauge steam locomotives built in Poland). Number of narrow-gauge (1000 mm track) Baziels used in Poland is difficult to estimate: various sources give numbers from 15 to 37. Lists quoted in KMiD vol.3/2001 give 32 examples, but this total includes also those for Vietnam. Most of them also went to Silesian industrial plants. Externally they differed from the standard-gauge variant only in details; late examples, built in 1959, had two boiler domes faired over by a single cover.

Only one standard-gauge Baziel has been preserved, namely TKb-10 (Fablok 1725/1948). This machine is displayed at the Zduńska Wola Karsznice locomotive depot, although it was built for the ‘Zygmunt’ foundry (where it remained in use until withdrawal in 1975) and has never served with PKP. Its current designation may be fictitious. Besides, two narrow-gauge (1000 mm) engines have survived. One of them, used for some time as a stationary boiler in Ryn, has recently been externally refurbished and plinthed in Mrągowo. The other is kept in Tarnowskie Góry, at the premises of an abandoned industrial plant.

Main technical data

No.	Parameter	Unit	Value
1.	Years of manufacture	-	1948 – 1959^2)
2.	Total built / used in Poland	-	20 / 20^1)
3.	Tender class	-	-
4.	Axle arrangement	-	0-2-0
5.	Design maximum speed	km/h	35
6.	Cylinder bore	mm	2 X 330
7.	Piston stroke	mm	400
8.	Engine rating	kW/hp	147 / 200
9.	Tractive effort	kG	4 300
10.	Boiler pressure	MPa	1.43
11.	Grate dimensions	m X m	1.0 m^2
12.	Firebox heating surface	m^2
13.	Distance between tube plates	mm
14.	Number of flue tubes	-
15.	Heating surface of flue tubes	m^2
16.	Number of smoke tubes	-	-
17.	Heating surface of smoke tubes	m^2	-
18.	Evaporating surface, total	m^2	56.0^3)
19.	Superheater heating surface	m^2	-
20.	Diameter of drivers	mm	850
21.	Diameter of idlers front/rear	mm	-
22.	Total weight, empty	kg	19 000
23.	Total weight, working order	kg	25 000
24.	Weight on drivers, working order	kg	25 000
25.	Weight with tender, empty	kg	-
26.	Weight with tender, working order	kg	-
27.	Maximum axle load	T	12.5
28.	Axle base (with tender)	mm	2 700
29.	Overall length (with tender)	mm	7 300
30.	Brake type	-	hand, steam

1) Apart from this, narrow-gauge machines (900 and 1000 mm) were built, also for export.

2) According to some sources, production was terminated in 1960 (refers to all variants).

3) Some sources give 50.3 m²

References and acknowledgments

- PNP and PNPP;

- Publications by Bogdan Pokropiński in KMiD vol. 3/2001 and SK vol. 5/2011 (mainly narrow-gauge versions).