Small locomotive
As a small locomotives are locomotives of small size and low power for light shunting on railway stations called and industrial railways. It is mostly driven by a diesel engine , sometimes by a steam engine , gasoline or electric motor . The Deutsche Reichsbahn introduced the term around 1929 for standard gauge locomotives up to 150 hp at a maximum speed of 30 km / h and, after testing various test locomotives, procured over 1000 small locomotives of different performance of standardized design from 1933 .
In Switzerland, small locomotives are called tractors (tractor means puller ), in France they are called locotracteur .
history
The background to the development of small locomotives was the low average speed in rail freight traffic and the competition with railroad vehicles from trucks in road traffic that arose in the first third of the twentieth century . Up to now, the locomotive of the local freight train maneuvered the freight wagons at the intermediate stations and to the respective sidings . As a result, the stopping times of the local freight trains at the en-route stations were considerably extended and the average speed was severely impaired. The stationing of separate shunting locomotives (steam locomotives) at these stations was out of the question for reasons of profitability. The development of small locomotives with internal combustion or electric motors created new opportunities here: the small locomotives were smaller, cheap to buy and maintain, and easier to operate by just one man. By eliminating shunting work with the locomotive, the average speed of the local goods train could be increased. In addition, the train driver was able to get out of the low driver's cab quickly and economically if necessary in order to carry out coupling operations with an automatically falling shunting coupling - without an additional shunting worker .
Corresponding tests with small motor locomotives were carried out by the French Eastern Railway from 1923 , from 1925 by the Danish State Railways , from 1926 by the Dutch Railways and finally from 1927 by the Deutsche Reichsbahn and were very promising.
That is why in 1930 the Deutsche Reichsbahn placed its first orders for a total of 18 test locomotives with several manufacturers, four of them with an electric motor, the rest with a combustion engine. A shunting vehicle supplied by Berliner Maschinenbau AG to the Dutch State Railways in 1927, extended by a light protective roof, was to serve as a model. The vehicles proved themselves differently. For the deliveries of 1931 and 1932, the DRG then determined the first dimensions and divided the locomotives into two performance groups - locomotives with an engine output of up to 40 hp (29 kW) were classified in performance group I , and more powerful locomotives in performance group II . Experience with these vehicles led to a standardization of the design; from 1933 onwards, the second performance group only procured vehicles with a standard design.
Richard Paul Wagner was responsible for the design of the small locomotives in the Central Railway Authority as the department head for the design of steam and motor locomotives. Wagner, who did not like the size of the small locomotives specified by the Reichsbahn headquarters and who therefore referred to them as "edible crabs", left the development work largely to his scientific assistant Leopold Niederstrasser .
Typical of the small locomotive of the Reichsbahn design was the low-lying driver's cab at one end of the locomotive, the floor of which was only 560 mm above the top edge of the rail and could only be reached via one step, with its open side walls that could only be closed with a canvas to protect against the weather. The low overall height made it possible to load the locomotive onto a conventional flat wagon and thus, for example, to get to the repair shop without hindering other traffic due to the low top speed.
designation
Designation system of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft
The name of the first 1930 produced small locomotives initially consisted of a V for V erbrennungsmotor or an A for Akkumulatorlokomotive and a consecutive number, starting from the 6000th
In order to better take into account the design differences of the small locomotives in the designation, the Deutsche Reichsbahn introduced a new designation system in 1931, with which the term small locomotive was first made binding. Towing vehicles that were only used in railway or repair shops were not counted as small locomotives.
For the identification of small locomotives, the root letter K was introduced as a type designation. This was followed by a book rod for driving: b stand for petrol engine ( B Enzol), d for D ampfmaschine, ö for diesel engine ( E l) and s (for a akkumulatorgespeisten electric motor S PEICHER). For e lectric power transmission followed by an e, (hydraulic transmission F lüssigkeitsgetriebe ) f a, small engines with mechanical power transmission were not explicitly indicated. Small locomotives whose accumulators could be charged with a diesel or carburetor engine were called Köe and Kbe.
These letters were followed by a four-digit number, the allocation of which was based on the performance group. Locomotives of performance group I received numbers up to 3999, locomotives of performance group II were given numbers from 4000. The numbers were consecutive within the performance groups.
In 1944, the code letter g was introduced for locomotives with gas generator operation .
Like the other DR series designation schemes, that for small locomotives was initially retained by the Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) and the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR).
At the Deutsche Bundesbahn, the limit between performance groups I and II was raised from 40 hp to 50 hp in 1955. In 1956 a new performance group III was introduced for small locomotives with an engine output of over 150 hp, which were given road numbers from 10,000 to 20,000. In 1960 the code letter s was changed to a on the Deutsche Bundesbahn.
Numbering plan of the Deutsche Bundesbahn from 1968
The small locomotives were given the code number 3 in the numbering plan of the Deutsche Bundesbahn from January 1, 1968 . The second digit indicates the performance class (as of 1955). The third digit differentiates between the maximum speed and the type of brake or type of drive (chain or cardan shaft drive). Small locomotives of the type Ka received the new class designation 381 (pre-war types) and 382 (newer types). The existing narrow-gauge small locomotives of the Wangerooger Inselbahn became the class 329 .
In 1987 the diesel locomotives of the DB series 260/261 (up to 1968 series V 60) were assigned to the small locomotives in order to be able to manned them with shunting personnel who were not trained for route service. The series designation was changed accordingly to 360/361.
Numbering plan of the Deutsche Reichsbahn in the GDR from 1970
The numbering plan of the Deutsche Reichsbahn , which came into force on July 1, 1970 , summarized the existing small locomotives under the class 100, i.e. in the normal number range of combustion locomotives . The locomotives of the performance group I were classified in the sub-series 100.0, the locomotives of the performance group II in the sub-series 100.1–100.9. The narrow-gauge locomotives were also classified in the sub-series 100.9 until 1972 , then in the 199 series .
Newly designed small locomotives of the Deutsche Reichsbahn in the GDR did not receive the parent letter "K" before 1970, but were designated as the class V 15 (later 101) and V 30 C (later 103.9 and 199.3). In the 1992 DR and DB numbering plan, the locomotives of the 100 series were classified as the 310 series, and narrow-gauge locomotives as the 399 series if they were still in the DB's inventory.
See also
literature
- Stephan Kuchinke in the yearbook of locomotives 2005: Small locomotives of standard designs . Podzun-Motorbücher, Brilon 2004, ISBN 3-86133-362-7 , pp. 5 to 32
- Leopold Niederstraßer: About the development of small locomotives . In: Alfred B. Gottwaldt (ed.): Lok magazine . No. 118 . Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung W. Keller & Co., 1983, ISSN 0458-1822 , p. 21-31 .
- Leopold Niederstraßer: On the development of small locomotives, part 2 to issue 118 . In: Alfred B. Gottwaldt (ed.): Lok magazine . No. 119 . Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung W. Keller & Co., 1983, ISSN 0458-1822 , p. 114-121 .
Web links
- German small locomotives
- Small locomotives (pages by A. Klatt)
- DSB rangertraktorer 1924 - 2018 at jernbanen.dk
- Small locomotive Kö 0128 of performance group 1
Individual evidence
- ↑ Alfred B. Gottwaldt : History of the German standard locomotives. The steam locomotives of the Reichsbahn and their designers . Frankhsche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1978, p. 83 f.