DRB Class 52
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The Deutsche Reichsbahn's Class 52 was a German steam locomotive built in large numbers during the Second World War. It was the most produced type of the so-called Kriegslokomotiven or Kriegsloks (war locomotives). The Class 52 was a wartime development of the pre-war DRG Class 50, using fewer parts and expensive materials to speed production. They were designed by Wagner who was Chief Engineer of the Central Design Office at the Locomotive Standards Bureau of the DRG. About a dozen classes of locomotive were referred to as Kriegslokomotiven, however the three main classes were the Class 52, 50 and 42.
Overview
Over 6700 locomotives of this type were built, mainly for use on the Eastern Front during the Second World War. It therefore has a claim to being one of the most numerous steam locomotive classes in the world. To achieve such numbers, the German locomotive manufacturers were merged into the Gemeinschaft Grossdeutscher Lokomotivhersteller (GGL), which was a subdivision of the Hauptausschuss Schienenfahrzeuge (HAS) founded in 1942. Key HAS figures were the Reichsminister for munition and armament, Albert Speer and the Reich transport minister, Julius Dorpmüller.
The class 52 was a radically simplified version of the pre-war Reichsbahn class 50 locomotive (produced 1938-1942). The simplified design of the class 52 was intended to reduce the man-hours and skills needed to make it and an adaptation to war-time shortages of materials. Additional design changes gave the locomotives and their crew better protection against the cold winters experienced on the eastern front. Between 1942 and the end of the war in May 1945 over 6300 class 52 locomotives were built. Additional locomotives were built post-war giving a class total of probably 6719 units, delivered by seventeen manufacturers.
The Class 42 was a larger version of the Class 52 and was produced in small numbers.
In the early post-war years the 52s were used by many European countries, the largest user being the Soviet Union which had more than 2100 of this type. Poland was another country with more than a thousand and East Germany had about 800 examples. The type was also quite widespread in most of the other east European nations. West European countries replaced them with more modern locos as soon as possible, with the exception of Austria where they were used until 1976. The simplicity and effectiveness as well as the large production number meant that many east European countries were slow to withdraw Kriegslokomotiven, with Poland using them until the early 1990s. Turkey and Bosnia were also late users of the type.
Performance
Wagner had wanted locomotives which were long-lasting and easy to maintain and unlike British engineers did not consider a high power-to-weight ratio a priority. The resulting Kriegslokomotiven had a low axleload of 15 tons and could haul 40% more freight than the Prussian locomotives they replaced. They could haul 4,000 tons at 80km/h without significant strain.
The GGL included the following locomotive manufacturers (including an approximate number of Class 52s produced):
- LOFAG, Vienna: 1,053 units
- Henschel, Kassel: 1,050 units
- Schwartzkopff, Berlin: 647 units
- Krauss-Maffei, Munich: 613 units
- Borsig, Berlin: 542 units
- Schichau-Werke, Elbing: 505 units
- Maschinenbau und Bahnbedarfs AG (MBA) formerly Orenstein & Koppel, Babelsberg: 400 units
- DWM Posen/Posen: 314 units
- Krenau (Oberschlesische Lokfabrik): 264 units
- Maschinenfabrik Esslingen: 250 units
- Jung, Jungenthal, Kirchen: 231 units
- Škoda Works, Pilsen: 153 units
- Grafenstaden, Strasbourg: 139 units
100 were built for Romanian State Railways, becoming their Class 150.1
Over 150 were in use by the Bulgarian State Railways as Class 15.
10 were built for Turkish Republic Railways, forming the TCDD 56501 Class. Turkish Railways acquired 43 additional locos at the end of the war, these had previously been on hire.
Several have been preserved. One of these is preserved on the Nene Valley Railway in Peterborough, England. Another one is still in service with the Franconian Museum Railway in Bavaria, Germany.
The DR in East Germany had 200 machines reconstructed to the new DR Class 52.80.
For more information see "The German Class 52 Kriegslok" by Slaughter, Vassiliev and Beier, published in English and German editions in 1996 by Stenvalls, ISBN 91-7266-140-2
Gallery
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DB 52 8079-7
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DB 52 8080-5
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DB 52 8109 in Weimar (2003)
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DB 52 4867 at the Eisenbahnmuseum Kranichstein (2005)
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DB 52 8095 at Freiburg (2005)
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DB 52 4867 of the Historische Eisenbahn Frankfurt e.V.
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DB 52 8116 at the Dieringhausen Railway Museum (2006)
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Soviet TЭ-5200 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan
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Austrian (ÖBB) 52.6084, without deflector plates, at Graz shed, summer 1971
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Austrian (ÖBB) 52 class rebuilt with tender cab and Giesl ejector, Graz shed, summer 1971
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52 class as running after the War on PKP (Polish State Railways) as class Ty2; August 1976
In fiction
The Kriegslokomotiven are featured in the third sequel of the successful computer game series Railroad Tycoon under the name "Kriegslok 2-10-0".
In media
A DRB 52 Kriegslokomotive can be seen in the official music video for Extreme's "Stop the World" in model railway form. An actual Kriegslokomotive was also used for the video. An inconsistency can be seen where the model DRB 52 used for the opening (and briefly near the end) has boiler fins, while the real DRB 52 that is shown afterwards does not.
External links
