Locomotive factory Floridsdorf
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The Floridsdorf locomotive factory (the abbreviations are Flor , WLF for Wiener Lokomotivfabrik Floridsdorf , and LOFAG for Lokomotivfabrik Floridsdorf AG ) was founded on September 6, 1869 and, thanks to its structural diversity and quality, has achieved a top position among European locomotive factories .
After the locomotive factory of the State Railway Company (StEG, Vienna ) and that of Georg Sigl (Vienna and Wiener Neustadt ), the Floridsdorfer Lokomotivfabrik was the third such factory in the area of the Danube Monarchy.
history
The Wiener Lokomotiv-Fabriks-Actien-Gesellschaft received its license and the articles of association on September 6, 1869, held the constituent assembly on August 1, 1870 and was finally entered in the commercial register at the Korneuburg Commercial Court on October 2, 1871 . The official seat of the company was Vienna with a "branch in Groß Jedlersdorf near Floridsdorf near Vienna" . On the exposed area between the Nordbahn and the Nordwestbahn , the generously planned factory facility by Bernhard Demmer - previously technical director at StEG - was built in 1870/71 . In addition to the buildings required for production and administration, seven workers' houses with 117 apartments were built.
The management was already trying to get orders during the construction work, and so the first locomotive , the "HUMBOLDT" , was handed over to the customer, the ÖNWB , on June 10, 1871 .
In 1881 the first rack railway locomotive was designed and manufactured. The client was the works railway of a Hungarian ironworks. This locomotive was designed as a narrow-gauge locomotive (790 millimeter gauge). As the only licensee for the Abt rack railway system in the Danube Monarchy, the company supplied almost all rack-and-pinion locomotives required in Austria-Hungary. a. the locomotives of the Erzbergbahn and the Bosnian-Herzegovinian State Railways ( gauge 760 mm ).
After the military (“Eisenbahnbureau des Generalstabs”) had given its approval for the electrification of railway lines, electric locomotives were also built for line service from 1911 onwards.
The order situation - in line with the general economic situation - fluctuated. After the Vienna stock market crash of 1873, only seven locomotives were sold. The number of jobs also developed accordingly. In bad years fewer than 1,000 workers were employed here, while in good years there were about 1,500 people. During the Second World War , the number of workers rose to 8,000.
Since numerous customers were lost after the end of the First World War , the business policy had to change. For the Austrian Federal Railways , the main overhaul of steam locomotives was carried out, from 1922 road rollers and from 1926 stationary boiler systems were manufactured. In addition, there was industrial plant construction.
In 1924/1925, on behalf of the Polish State Railways, formerly Russian freight locomotives were switched to standard gauge and the main overhaul was carried out.
Of the four locomotive factories in Austria during the interwar period ( StEG in Vienna, Krauss & Co in Linz , Lokomotivfabrik Wiener Neustadt (formerly G. Sigl)) only the Floridsdorf locomotive factory survived.
During the Second World War , the plant suffered from heavy bombing , but was able to continue producing. Mainly steam locomotives of the class 52 were produced, over 1172 pieces for the DR and 20 pieces for the CFR (there referred to as 150 ), the highest production number of all locomotive factories involved in the building of 52! In the spring, production was switched to the DR class 42 and on June 13, 1944, the 42 2301 was handed over to the DR . On March 9, 1945, 42 2580 left the 2,115. and last locomotive built during the war the factory.
In mid-April 1945, after the fighting in Vienna ended, large parts of the plant were dismantled and transported to the Soviet Union. In addition to machines, raw material was also removed, allegedly 800 wagon loads. Nevertheless, at the end of October, the D 42, the first steam locomotive built after the war, was standing in front of the workshop. In addition to the construction of new locomotives - due to the destruction of the neighboring main workshop in Floridsdorf - the main overhaul of locomotives of the ÖStB was the main work in the plant.
In 1946 the Soviet occupation forces placed the Floridsdorf locomotive factory under the administration of the USIA . At the same time, the work was to become the property of the Republic of Austria through the Nationalization Act of July 26, 1946. In the Soviet-occupied territories, however, this law could only be implemented after the negotiations on the Austrian State Treaty were concluded in 1955.
During the USIA's time, only a few locomotives were produced, but among other things, central heating boilers , cable winches and chassis for railway slewing cranes. It was not until 1953 that the focus was more on locomotive construction. Only 99 replacement boilers were delivered for India , followed by 140 locomotives by 1958.
When the Floridsdorf locomotive factory was handed over to the Austrian administration on August 13, 1955, the nationalization of 1946 came into effect.
The main product in the period after 1955 were diesel locomotives for Germany and abroad, including Czechoslovakia . However, the number of units fell, which looks like low productivity, but actually bogies were manufactured as commissioned work for Henschel and the Simmering-Graz-Pauker plant in Simmering . 158 bogies were intended for railcars on the Cairo - Heluan ( Egypt ) electric rapid transit railway .
On February 14, 1958, it was decided to merge the Floridsdorfer Lokomotivfabrik with Simmering-Graz-Pauker AG , which meant the end as an independent company.
Although there was another major order for 50 diesel locomotives for the Bulgarian State Railways , the order books emptied overall. The production of tank wagons was an emergency solution.
On September 19, 1969, the 1042.540 - an electric locomotive - was the last of 6,043 Floridsdorf traction vehicles to be handed over to the ÖBB.
In the 1980s, shortly before all the systems were razed, there was still talk of setting up an Austrian transport museum on the site of the locomotive factory in the halls, some of which were still in good condition.
Today there is nothing left of the factory. In its place stands next to various small businesses, a hardware store (meanwhile a grocery store) and furniture stores, the Shopping City Nord. One last relic is an obelisk that commemorates the victims of National Socialism among the company's employees.
In 1901, the Lokomotivgasse in Floridsdorf was named after the locomotive factory.
The “Lokfabrik” station on tram line 331 (now 31) was between today's “Bahnsteggasse” and “Brünner Straße - Schnellbahn” stations.
Prominent employees
- Adolph Giesl-Gieslingen : His work at the Floridsdorfer Lokomotivfabrik was interrupted by a long stay in the USA . He returned in 1938 and became chief designer after World War II.
- Johann Rihosek , locomotive designer
- Franz Jonas : The trained typesetter worked after 1938 as a clearing clerk in the Floridsdorf locomotive factory. From June 22, 1951, he was Mayor and Governor of Vienna and from June 1, 1965 until his death on April 24, 1974, Federal President of Austria.
literature
- Johann Stockklausner: The Viennese locomotive factory Floridsdorf. Eisenbahn-Kurier Verlag, Freiburg, ISBN 3-88255-561-0
- Ingrid Trummer, Alexander Stollhof (eds.): "... Here at Lofag ...", memories of the Floridsdorf locomotive factory - Vienna's largest industrial company. Edition Volkshochschule, Vienna 2005, ISBN 3-900799-67-9
- Arthur Meyer, Josef Pospichal: Rack railway locomotives from Floridsdorf , Verlag bahnmedien.at, Vienna 2012, ISBN 978-3-9503304-0-3
Web links
- Locomotive factory Floridsdorf. In: dasrotewien.at - Web dictionary of the Viennese social democracy. SPÖ Vienna (Ed.)
- Floridsdorf locomotive factory
- Secret projects.at - Floridsdorf Lokomotivfabrik
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 48 ° 16 ' N , 16 ° 24' E