Ol12
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Ol12-7, the sole surviving example in
The same machine, photographed on
Ol12-4. My data give ‘location unknown, June 1959’,
but this may be a pre-war picture. Photo from my collection.
Ol12-7 inside the Chabówka shed; November 12, 2008.
In September 2009 this engine participated in the ‘Parowozjada 2009’ steam
gala: some pictures can be seen here. |
Between 1907
and 1910, three Austrian manufacturers (Wiener Neustadt, StEG and BMMF)
produced 150 passenger engines with the 1-3-1 axle arrangement, designed by
renowned Karl Gölsdorf. They went to KkStB (93, class 329) MÁV (65, class
323) and Austro-Hungarian military railways KkHB (two, class 6). After WWI,
21 were taken over by PKP and classed Ol11. These locomotives were fitted
with compound engines and ran on saturated steam. Initially Austro-Hungarian
railways did not favor superheated steam, as they were afraid that high-grade
lubricants, necessary with higher steam temperature, could be in short
supply. For this reason, Austrian manufacturers produced a considerable
number of compounds and Gölsdorf preferred this layout. Advantages of steam
superheating, however, finally prevailed and some of these engines were later
redesigned and fitted with superheaters. Class 329 was no exception and was
developed into class 429, which featured steam superheating. Prototype (StEG
3581/1909) was followed by 56 examples which retained almost identical steam
engines and externally hardly differed from class 329. Further 132 engines
(class 429.100) differed mainly in having piston valves on both cylinders
(initially low-pressure cylinder had a slide valve). Tractive effort and
maximum speed remained unchanged. Compounds remained in production until
1912; furthermore, in 1916, StEG built an additional batch of ten examples
(s/n 4078 through 4087, KkStB 429.216 through 225, included in the above
total). Almost all went to KkStB. Only six (built by Magyar
Királyi államvasutak gépgyára, Budapest) served with Südbahn,
but due to certain differences they are sometimes considered a separate
class. In
parallel, a single-expansion version was developed and accepted as class
429.900. Prototype (WLF s/n 2018) was accepted in 1911 and production started
in 1913, to last until the end of the war. Superheater was slightly enlarged
and boiler pressure reduced from 15 to 14 bar. Tractive effort and power
increased by a few percent. 197 engines were delivered, all to KkStB,
bringing the total up to 386 examples from StEG (135), WLF (159), Wiener
Neustadt (49), BMMF (37) and Magyar Királyi államvasutak gépgyára
(6). After the
war, these locomotives were divided between several countries. 86 examples
remained with Austrian railways BBÖ, 152 went to Czechoslovakia (ÈSD class
354.7) and 25 to Italy (FS class 688). Small numbers served in Romania,
Yugoslavia and Hungary. In 1926, ÈSD launched a reconstruction program, with
the aim of unification within the 354.7 class made up of three distinct
versions. All machines were fitted with single-expansion engines and boilers
with two steam domes, connected with a horizontal tube. Only two compounds
survived until 1938. Some ÈSD machines were also fitted with Westinghouse
brakes and modified smoke-box door. Last of them were withdrawn in 1970. With
ÖBB and FS these engines survived until mid-1960s. PKP after
WWI acquired 106 engines in all three versions (18, 28 and 60, respectively).
Some sources give 18, 27 and 61, respectively. This error results from the
fact that Ol12-84 (ex 429.216) was from the above-mentioned batch of ten
compounds, built by StEG in 1916. All were classed Ol12 and numbered Ol12-1
through 18 (ex 429), Ol12-19 through 45 (ex 429.100) and Ol12-46 through 106
(ex 429.900, with the exception of Ol12-84). Due to comparatively low axle
load, they were particularly suitable in areas where weak tracks dominated,
so they served almost exclusively in southern and south-eastern Poland. In
1939, forty fell into German hands and were impressed into DRG class 352,3,
which included Austrian and Czechoslovakian engines taken over in 1938
(service numbers 35 349 through 388). One (Ol12-24, ex 429.116, BMMF
401/1911) went to Hungary, possibly with an evacuation train, later served
with MÁV as 323.907, then went to industry and was not returned. All
remaining 65 Ol12s were captured by the Soviets and later served with Polish
numbers, written in Russian script. Fifty of them later became German war
booty and were given DRG numbers 35 392 through 400 (after
ex-Yugoslavian engines captured in 1941) and 35 801 through 829, but
many of these numbers were assigned only formally and the engines actually
ran with old Polish designations. Some served with Ostbahn (similarly, with
original Polish numbers), while two (Ol12-25, ex 429.121, BMF 406/1911, and
Ol12-65, ex 429.972, WLF 2282/1916) were handed over directly to Romanian
state railways CFR – the latter was re-numbered 131.901. After
WWII, only a handful of engines were returned directly. As most ex-Austrian
locomotives were directed by DRG to Austria or Czechoslovakia, the majority
of pre-war Ol12s went to ÖBB or ÈSD. Most of them were later identified as
Polish property and returned in late 1940s. Eight engines taken over by
Yugoslavian railways JDŽ were returned in 1949. Two ex-Austrian engines that
did not serve with PKP before the war were also taken over: 429.175, then DRG 35 333, and 429.159, then DRG
35 327, became Ol12-1 and Ol12-3, respectively. Finally, in 1955, eight
locomotives were returned by DR, in a very poor condition, only to be
scrapped without even being given service numbers. In all, PKP received 57
examples, of which 47 were restored in service. Apart from their traditional
assignment to southern Poland, some later served in north-eastern region. A
few were converted to oil firing and used on the Puck-Hel area on the Baltic
coast, where fire hazard in forest areas excluded coal firing. Most were
withdrawn in late 1950s or early 1960s; probably the last one was Ol12-43.
This engine (WLF 2280/1916) had an eventful life. After a brief service with
KkStB as 429.970 it was taken over by BBÖ, but in 1924 went
to PKP and was designated Ol12-64. In 1939 it was captured by the Soviets and
later fell into German hands, to become 35 399. After the war it served
briefly with JDŽ as 106-017; in 1949 was returned to PKP and remained in
service until March 1966. Ol12-7 is
the only engine of this type preserved in Poland. Most sources give that this
locomotive is StEG 3849/1912, ex KkStB 429.195, which served with PKP before
the war as Ol12-43. In 1939 it was captured by the Soviets, then served with
DRG as 35 817, after the war went to Austria, but in April 1947 returned
to Poland. The problem is that Ol12-7 has a single-expansion steam engine!
Either it was rebuilt after WWII (possibly fitted with boiler and steam
engine taken for another machine), or Ol12-7 plates were fitted to a former
429.900 – such operations were not uncommon. I have found no information that
would support either of these conjectures. Anyway, Ol12-7 is alive and quite
well. In 1993 it was restored to the working order and for a few years was
the oldest operational steam engine in Poland. Currently it is under repair
and will probably be restored in service. Two more examples have survived
until today, namely ÖBB 35.233 (ex KkStB 429.1971, StEG 4147/1916) in Austria
and ÈSD 534.7152 (ex KkStB 429.1996 BMMF 657/1917) in the Czech Republic. Main technical data
1)
Data
in brackets for compound engine version. References and acknowledgments
Comprehensive
historical and technical account can be found in EZ. Concise information
can be found in AP.
Information on individual examples has been taken from the Josef Pospichal’s
website www.pospichal.net. Many thanks to
Ingo Hütter, Dieter Zoubek and Tomis³aw Czarnecki for information on the
Ol12-7. |
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