StLB VL 11-16
| StLB VL 11-16 | |
|---|---|
 StLB VL 12 in Frojach (Murtalbahn)
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| Numbering: | StLB VL 11 - VL 16 |
| Number: | 6th |
| Manufacturer: | ÖMAG , Brown-Boveri |
| Year of construction (s): | 1965-1967 |
| Retirement: | since 1994 |
| Axis formula : | Bo'Bo ' |
| Gauge : | 760 mm ( Bosnian gauge ) |
| Service mass: | 31 t |
| Top speed: | 50 km / h |
| Continuous output : | 390 kW |
| Drive: | diesel-electric |
The locomotives VL VL 11 to 16 are diesel-electric narrow gauge - locomotives the Steiermarkbahn (formerly Styrian webs ).
Until the 1960s, the narrow-gauge railways of the state railways were operated almost exclusively with steam locomotives . The introduction of Austro-Daimler - petrol railcars in the interwar period failed because of their technical shortcomings, some diesel locomotives held by the heeresfeldbahn were after the Second World War for subordinate services such as shunting available.
The replacement of the steam locomotives was recognized as a necessity in order to run the narrow-gauge railways economically and to keep them competitive as a mode of transport. Since the 2095 series built for ÖBB was not considered suitable for the needs of the state railways, ÖMAG and Brown-Boveri developed a locomotive with a central driver's cab and diesel-electric power transmission for heavy line service.
The total of six locomotives were delivered from 1965 to 1967. The VL 11 was first tested on the Murtalbahn and then came to the Thörlerbahn in Kapfenberg , where it remained stationed until it was discontinued. The locomotives VL 14 and VL 15 were put into service on the Feistritztalbahn and VL 12, VL 13 and VL 16 on the Murtalbahn. With these locomotives, it was now possible for the state railways to largely remove the steam locomotives from everyday scheduled traffic. On the Murtalbahn and the Feistritztalbahn - until passenger traffic was discontinued there in 1973 - the locomotives were used for passenger and freight traffic, at the time of delivery there were only goods trains on the Thörlerbahn. The six locomotives were henceforth the operational backbone of the Landesbahn narrow-gauge railways. A complete conversion to diesel operation was not yet possible with them alone, as a reserve and also for the upcoming operation of the tourist slow trains, some steam locomotives were preserved.
VL 12, 13 and 16 received a new MTU diesel engine in 1978, 1979 and 1984 .
In the 1980s, with the purchase of the VT 31-35 diesel multiple units, the management of freight trains carrying passenger traffic , which had been common up until then , was given up on the Murtalbahn . The partial discontinuation of the Feistritztalbahn and the acquisition of two locomotives of the 740 series of the Yugoslav state railways (converted to VL 22-23) led to a lasting relaxation in the locomotive sector.
Declining freight traffic and the discontinuation of the Thörlerbahn led to a noticeably lower demand for mainline diesel locomotives from the 1990s. In 1994 VL 11 and 1999 VL 14 as well as VL 15 were decommissioned, VL 11 and VL 15 remained in Weiz as spare parts donors until January 2019. The VL 16 is now available as an operational reserve locomotive on the Feistritztalbahn, while the VL 13 is still used in freight train service on the Murtalbahn. The VL 12 was transferred to the Feistritztalbahn in May 2016 as a replacement for the VL 22-23.
literature
- Helmut Wittmann (Red.): The book of the Murtalbahn. Steiermärkische Landesbahnen - Direktion, Graz 1994, ISBN 3-901474-02-1 .
