TKp
(T2D, ‘Śląsk’)
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Factory photo of the export TKp version for
TKp-2011 in Chabówka locomotive heritage park,
TKp-20, Fablok 6289/1063,
Zduńska Wola Karsznice loco depot, June 20, 2001.
Another picture of this engine, taken on August 13,
2008.
OS (TKp-102), Fablok 982/1942, Skierniewice
loco depot, May 15, 2002.
The same machine, photographed on
Derelict TKp-5878, Gosławice
sugar plant,
TKp drawing from www.parowozy.best.net.pl
Two Duncan Cotterill's photos from his website www.railography.co.uk (thanks for
permission!): Chinese ET7 5331 at Baotou Steelworks
in January 1990…
… and ET7 5335 converted into tender engine (tender
from class PL2 locomotive)
Three of five examples preserved at Pyskowice
heritage park: TKp-4409…
… TKp-6046 (both from Dębieńsko colliery…
… and TKp-4422 from Chybie sugar plant – alive and well! More pictures of this engine, taken in
Gliwice in June 2008, can be seen here.
This TKp-2816 (Fablok 2816/1951), photographed at PCC Rail Polska premises in Szczakowa, is listed as ‘plinthed’…
Sorry.
This TKp 2261 (Fablok 2261/1951) is designated TKp1, but has nothing to do with PKP class TKp1 (= Prussian T13); photo
was taken in Krzeszowice on
TKp 5485 (Fablok
5485/1959), NVR, photographed
during the 2005 Steam Gala at Wansford, UK on July 23, 2005; more photos
taken on this occasion can be found here.
TKp 6042 (Fablok
6042/1962) under restoration at the Skierniewice depot; photo taken on
Another picture of TKp 6042, taken on
This photo of the TKp 16 (from my collection)
was probably taken somewhere in mid-1990s, prior to the sale of this engine
to VVT. |
Shortly after WWII there was a
demand for virtually all kinds of locomotives and rolling stock. Among
others, a simple and reliable tank freight engine was necessary for rapidly
expanding heavy industry – collieries, steel plants and other similar
establishments. Typical road locomotives were not well suited for such
service on factory sidings: they were too large, uneconomical and difficult
to maintain. It was thus decided to build a suitable switcher, modern and
undemanding, and the choice fell on a German design, built during the war at
the Fablok factory in Chrzanów (then Oberschlesische Lokomotivwerke Krenau A.G. – 25 examples, built
in 1942). It had been intended for service mainly on factory sidings in the Polish prototype, also built at
Chrzanów (factory designation T2D – sometimes written as T-2-D), which
appeared in 1950, did not differ much from its German predecessor. OS had
been built in variants running both on saturated and superheated steam and
the latter was chosen as a prototype. For the sake of simplicity and ease of
manufacture, riveting was widely supplanted by welding, and boiler
accessories of normalized Polish types (also used by PKP) were fitted. Series production started soon afterwards and
continued until 406 examples had been built. 316 of them were supplied to
various industrial establishments in Ninety T2Ds were sold to No locomotive of this type was
used by PKP; therefore – in
accordance with typical practice – their designation just reflected the axle
arrangement, without any class number. Individual operators allocated service
numbers without any common sequence (often corresponding to serial numbers,
but this was never the rule). Some operators had their own designation
systems, with no relevance to axle arrangement or any other feature. For
example, Łabędy steel plant in As it has often been the case
with steam locomotives owned by industrial operators, many of them after
withdrawal from service were just left to rust on some forgotten sidings. In
March 2001 I saw one of them, namely TKp 5878, by Gosławice sugar plant; it
was scrapped a few months later. According to data from www.kolej.pl/tabor/parowozy
(unfortunately, this link has been dead for some time), TKp 2066 had also
been kept in Zebrzydowice, but current sources don't confirm its existence.
Very comprehensive lists of preserved steam locos, available at www.holdys.pl/tomi/ (site maintained by
Tomisław Czarnecki) and actualized in March 2005, give eighteen examples
kept at various locations in Poland; of these, eleven are preserved in
various heritage parks and four are plinthed (in Kraków, Gliwice, Zabrze and
Szczakowa). However, one-third of all surviving examples are listed as
‘wrecks’, so their future may be rather uncertain. Rolling stock heritage
park at Pyskowice, owned by the TOZKiOS
society, has five engines of this type and sixth one is likely to follow
soon. This collection includes TKp 4422 (s/n 4422/1955) transferred from Chybie sugar plant – the only TKp in Original German OS locomotives have also been given the TKp designations. Of them, TKp 102 (Fablok 982/1941, but built in 1942) has been preserved by PSMK railway fans society at the Skierniewice locomotive depot as the sole surviving example of this type. This machine had enjoyed a long service life with sand railways and a colliery and was finally withdrawn in April 1995. PSMK has yet another ‘Śląsk’: – TKp 6042 (Fablok 6042/1962), transferred from a Silesian colliery, currently under restoration. According to the above-quoted Internet source, as many as nine machines of Fablok post-war production were sold abroad between 1989 and 1996 to various heritage railways and railway societies, namely: -
VVT (Vapeur Val-de-Travers), - Veluwsche Stoomtrein Maatschappij, Beekbergen, The Netherlands (4429/1953 – operational, designated TKp 23, and 5353/1957 – static display), -
Nassauische Touristikbahn, - Stoomcentrum Maldegem, Belgium (4430/1955 – resold in 2005 to CITEV, France, now undergoing overhaul at MALOWA, Klostermansfeld, Germany; 4436/1955 – stored; and 6281/1963 – operational, last major overhaul in 2002; many thanks to Rik Degruyter and Jason Van Landschoot for information!), -
Nene Valley Railway, - Stoomtrein Hoorn, The Netherlands (5150/1958 – current status unknown). Preserved Locomotives of British Railways by Peter Fox and Peter Hall
(Platform 5, 2002) lists also 3399/? – probably 1954 – owned by Pontypool
& Blaenavon Railway; this, however, is not confirmed by their
website. According to some sources, TKp-101 (Fablok 2013/1950) has also been offered for sale. No details are
available; according to the above-mentioned list of preserved locomotives,
this machine is kept in Przezchlebie in Upper Silesia in a very poor
condition. Main technical data
1) According
to less reliable sources. Ninety examples, slightly modified, sold to China. This
number does not include at least six OS machines, impressed into the TKp
class. Some sources give that export to China amounted to 102 machines. 2) Other
sources give Knorr brake. List of surviving examples is available here. References and
acknowledgments Most
historical data has been taken from the web page maintained by ‘Doctor’ – www.parowozy.best.net.pl. Concise
information can also be found in AP and PNP. Data on existing
examples are available at the above-mentioned websites. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
