War locomotive

Class 52 , the highest number of war locomotives produced, with blackout screens on the locomotive lanterns and the associated white buffer beam

War locomotive is the common name for locomotives whose construction was specifically geared to the economic conditions of a war, such as material shortages, easy maintenance under difficult conditions, insensitivity to extreme weather conditions and fast and inexpensive production in large numbers. In addition, it could be used on simple, less resilient or even only provisional routes. In order to meet these requirements, economic disadvantages, for example a relatively high fuel consumption and a limited service life, had to be accepted.

War locomotives were kept as technically simple as possible, and imported materials (in Germany especially copper) were largely avoided. For example, the German electric locomotives received aluminum windings in the traction motors and the transformer, and the steam locomotives had fire boxes made of steel, hence the term Heimstofflok .

The production of electric locomotives as war locomotives must, however, be viewed as a special case, since they could only be used in the core network provided that there was a functioning traction current supply (power plants, long-distance lines, transformer stations and contact lines). As a rule, designs were preferred that were as independent of additional infrastructure as possible.

Germany

overview

In Germany, war locomotives are those locomotives that were only allowed to be procured by the Deutsche Reichsbahn and other customers (industry, Heeresfeldbahn) after the beginning of the Second World War in 1939.

Class 52 (War Steam Locomotive 1 [KDL 1])
BMB class 534.0 (war steam locomotive 2 [KDL 2])
Class 42 (war steam locomotive 3 [KDL 3])
D n2t / D h2t industrial locomotive ELNA 6 (war steam locomotive 4 [KDL 4])
E h2t industrial locomotive (war steam locomotive 5 [KDL 5])
D n2t industrial locomotive (war steam locomotive 6 [KDL 6])
C h2t industrial locomotive (war steam locomotive 7 [KDL 7])
B n2t industrial locomotive (war steam locomotive 8 [KDL 8])
C h2t overburden locomotive 900 mm (war steam locomotive 9 [KDL 9])
B n2t construction locomotive 900 mm (war steam locomotive 10 [KDL 10])
HF 160 D (War Steam Locomotive 11 [KDL 11])
HF 70 C (War Steam Locomotive 12 [KDL 12])
Henschel construction locomotive type "Riesa" in a reduced version (war steam locomotive 13 [KDL 13])
WR 360 C 14 (war engine locomotive 1 [KML 1])
Köf II (war engine locomotive 2 [KML 2])
HF 130 C (war engine locomotive 3 [KML 3])
HF 50 B (war engine locomotive 4 [KML 4])
O&K MD 2 (war engine locomotive 5 [KML 5])
two-axle mine locomotives (war engine locomotives 6, 7, 8 [KML 6, KML 7, KML 8])
Class E 44 (war electric locomotive 1 [KEL 1])

Class E 94 (war electric locomotive 2 [KEL 2])

Bo'Bo'Bo'-mining locomotive (war electric locomotive 3 [KEL 3])

Bo'Bo 'overburden locomotive 900 mm (war electric locomotive 4 [KEL 4])

Bo industrial locomotive 550–630 mm (war electric locomotive 5 [KEL 5])

Bo'Bo'-mine locomotive 550–630 mm (war electric locomotive 6 [KEL 6])

Bo battery mine locomotive (war electric locomotive 7, 8, 9 [KEL 7, KEL 8, KEL 9])

C steam storage locomotive (KFL 1 - F: fireless)

B steam storage locomotive (KFL 2)

The construction of simplified, standard-gauge war steam locomotives began in early 1942 with the gradual simplifications of the class 50 (official term: refinement). The class 50 was finally further developed over the class 50 ÜK ( transitional war locomotive ) to the class 52 . ÜK variants of the 44 and 86 series were also built in larger numbers.

The refinements included the elimination of the preheater (which improves the economy of the locomotive), the feed dome, the circulation and smoke deflectors and other formwork.

In terms of construction, it is significant that with the war steam locomotives, welding technology was used on a large scale for the first time in German locomotive construction - previously, hot riveting was still common. In addition, the other production processes have also been converted from the previous one-off production to large-scale production. Up until then, many components, such as drive rods and coupling rods, had been forged from solid material at high manufacturing costs and machined on all sides, e.g. by planing. In the case of war locomotives, on the other hand, only the rod heads were drop- forged and butt- welded with rolled profile steel as the rod shaft, which significantly reduced the cost of materials and production (at the expense of mass balancing). Instead of the bar frames of the standard steam locomotives, sheet metal frames were used due to the better use of material, ultimately in a completely welded form, which would not be structurally possible with the bar frame.

Simplification using the example of smoke deflectors :
While Wagner sheets were initially installed in the 50 series ...
... these should be omitted from the war locomotives, ...
... then, since the view was reduced too much, simple sheet metal plates were used (there was no arching) ...
... which, however, have not proven themselves due to insufficient rigidity ; from then on normal Witte sheets were attached.

In addition, there were also attempts at the 52 180 with smoke deflectors made of wood in order to be able to save even more steel.

After the war, these series, especially series 52, 42 and 44 ÜK, continued to be used in many European countries and even smaller numbers were obtained, although some of the war-related simplifications and deficiencies were eliminated. With this war-related production - starting with the 50 series up to the 52 and 42 series - the procurement numbers of the Deutsche Reichsbahn locomotives increased considerably from 1939 to 1943 and ensured that with these series the previous dominance of the regional railway locomotives in the locomotive fleet was lifted. All suitable locomotive factories in Germany and the occupied territories, as well as forced laborers on a large scale, were used for production. More than 6,000 units of the 52 series were built. There were also variants with a condensation tender , which could be used in areas with poor water supply (e.g. in the steppes of the southern Soviet Union ) and which were more difficult to spot for attackers from the air because of the lack of evaporation cloud.

Operational examples are still available today, mainly in the form of the 52.80 variant , which was built in the GDR in the 1960s as a Rekolok with extensive modernization and a new boiler construction. At the Bundesbahn, however, the class 52 was completely retired at the end of the 1950s. The 42 series, on the other hand, was still to be found in Saarland until the early 1960s.

Series 53

The high point of the planning was a third series of war steam locomotives, which was started in 1943. An extremely heavy locomotive was planned for the occupied territories in Russia. 17 drafts were made for this, including a seven-coupler and various articulated locomotives.

The Borsig 1 design was an articulated locomotive with the rare, asymmetrical wheel arrangement (1'C) D. It should pull 1700 tons on an 8 per mille gradient at 20 km / h and be able to drive forwards and backwards at a top speed of 80 km / h. It is extremely unlikely that the construction of a copy has actually begun. A model of this design was marketed by Märklin as the "Class 53".

United States

To support troop transports during World War I, Baldwin developed the Class 1'D Pershing based on a British locomotive .

UNRRA locomotive in Poland

During the Second World War, war locomotives for various gauges were built for the United States Army Transportation Corps (USATC) . T. have found worldwide distribution. They include the following classes, among others:

Class 1'D Liberation , also known as UNRRA locomotives after they were financed
USATC class S 100 C n2 for standard gauge (1435 mm)
USATC class S 118 1'D1 'h2 for narrow-gauge lines (914, 1000 and 1067 mm)
USATC class S 160 1'D h2 for various gauges (1435, 1520 and 1067 mm)
USATC class S 200 1'D1 'h2 standard gauge (1435 mm)

These locomotives were not only used in the conquered areas in Europe and Asia (e.g. the S 160 class in France), but also delivered to the allies (e.g. Great Britain and the Soviet Union). Some of the locomotives were only delivered after the Second World War.

After the war, the ALCO MRS-1 and EMD MRS-1 diesel locomotives were specially designed for use by the armed forces .

United Kingdom

SR class Q1

During the First World War, the War Ministry ordered the following locomotives:

ROD 2-8-0 - 1'D freight locomotive derived from Class 8K of the Great Central Railway

During the Second World War the following war locomotives were built in Great Britain:

Southern Railway Class Q1 - C Freight Locomotive
Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST - C saddle tank tank locomotive ordered by the War Department for shunting service
LMS Class 8F - 1'D freight locomotive ordered by the War Department
WD Austerity 2-8-0 - war locomotive derived from the LMS class 8F
WD Austerity 2-10-0 - war locomotive further developed from the WD Austerity 2-8-0

literature

Alfred B. Gottwaldt : German war locomotives. 1939-1945. Transpress, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-344-71032-X ( traffic history ).
Alfred B. Gottwaldt: German railways in World War II. Armaments, war and railways (1939–1945). 2nd Edition. Franckh, Stuttgart 1985, ISBN 3-440-05161-7 ( Franckh's Railway Library ).

Individual evidence

↑ Overview on dampflokomotivarchiv.de
↑ Johannes Schwarze, Werner Deinert, Lothar Frase, Heinz Lange, Oskar Schmidt, Georg Thumstädter, Max Wilke: The steam locomotive. Development, construction, mode of operation, operation and maintenance as well as locomotive damage and its elimination . Reprint of the 2nd edition from 1965. Transpress Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-344-70791-4 , p. 42 f., 246 ff .
^ Karl-Ernst Maedel , Alfred B. Gottwaldt: German steam locomotives. The history of development. Transpress Verlag, Stuttgart 1994/1999, ISBN 3-344-70912-7 , p. 251.
↑ Alfred B. Gottwaldt: History of the German standard locomotives. The steam locomotives of the Reichsbahn and their designers . Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1978, ISBN 3-440-07941-4 .
↑ Steam locomotive science . In: Arge. for training funds on behalf of the main administration of the Deutsche Bundesbahn (ed.): Railway teaching library of the Deutsche Bundesbahn . 2nd Edition. tape 134 . Josef Keller, Starnberg 1959, p. 584 f .
^ The project of the war locomotive 53 0001. Archived from the original on December 15, 2016 ; Retrieved January 5, 2017 .

[1] Overview on dampflokomotivarchiv.de

[DD-42-246-2] Johannes Schwarze, Werner Deinert, Lothar Frase, Heinz Lange, Oskar Schmidt, Georg Thumstädter, Max Wilke: The steam locomotive. Development, construction, mode of operation, operation and maintenance as well as locomotive damage and its elimination . Reprint of the 2nd edition from 1965. Transpress Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-344-70791-4 , p. 42 f., 246 ff .

[3] Karl-Ernst Maedel , Alfred B. Gottwaldt: German steam locomotives. The history of development. Transpress Verlag, Stuttgart 1994/1999, ISBN 3-344-70912-7 , p. 251.

[GdEl-4] Alfred B. Gottwaldt: History of the German standard locomotives. The steam locomotives of the Reichsbahn and their designers . Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1978, ISBN 3-440-07941-4 .

[ELDB-134-584-5] Steam locomotive science . In: Arge. for training funds on behalf of the main administration of the Deutsche Bundesbahn (ed.): Railway teaching library of the Deutsche Bundesbahn . 2nd Edition. tape 134 . Josef Keller, Starnberg 1959, p. 584 f .

[br53-6] The project of the war locomotive 53 0001. Archived from the original on December 15, 2016 ; Retrieved January 5, 2017 .