PKP class TKt48 (original) (raw)

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Class of Polish 2-8-2T locomotives

PKP/HSH TKt48
TKt48 in 2010
Type and originPower typeSteamBuilderFablok, HCPModelHSH: 1681-1684,[1] 2922, 2923HSH (other[2] source): 13028-13029, 13052, 13067, 13072-13073Build date1950-1957Total produced293
SpecificationsConfiguration:​ • UIC1′D1'Gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)Driver dia.1,450 mm (57.09 in)Length14.200 m (46 ft 7 in)Width3.100 m (10 ft 2 in)Height4.532 m (14 ft 10 in)Loco weight78.0 tonnes (76.8 long tons; 86.0 short tons)Fuel typeCoalBoiler pressure16 kg/cm2 (1.57 MPa; 228 psi)Cylinder size500 mm × 500 mm (19.69 in × 19.69 in)Loco brakeAirTrain brakesAir
Performance figuresMaximum speed80 km/h (50 mph)Power output785 kW
CareerOperatorsPKP HSHNumbersPKP: TKt48-1 - 191HSH: 48.01 - 48.06[2]Delivered1951, 1952Last runHSH: 1991

The PKP class TKt48 was a class of freight tank (TK) 2-8-2 (t) steam locomotive of the Polish State Railways (PKP). Originally intended for use in suburban traffic, the locomotives were later mainly used for passenger and freight trains on the low mountain range in southern Poland. Six locomotives were sold to Albania.

The locomotive was designed in the central Polish design office in Poznan from 1948. The basis of the construction were never implemented plans for a series 83 of the DR, which came from the Linke-Hofmann-Werke in Breslau. In the years 1950–57, over 200 locomotives were supplied by the Polish locomotive factories Cegielski and Fablok, 191 of which were delivered to PKP.

The locomotives proved to be unsuitable for their original application in fast suburban traffic because of their rather low power. Thanks to the relatively high frictional mass, however, the locomotives were ideal for operation on the low mountain range. On the routes in the Giant Mountains and in the foothills of the High Tatras, the locomotives proved themselves as real universal locomotives. In addition, due to the top speed of 80 km / h in both directions of travel, these machines do not have to be turned - a major advantage when they are used on secondary routes.

The locomotives were still in scheduled use in large numbers until the end of the 1980s. It was only when most of the branch lines in Poland were closed in 1989 that the locomotives were no longer used. Most of them were decommissioned and scrapped but many survived into preservation and were restored to operational condition.

The TKt48-02 at former Tirana railway station

The Albanian railway Hekurudha Shqiptare had acquired six new locomotives in the late 1950s. The "avullore" were in use until 1986 with a last special run in 1991. At first they pulled passenger and freight trains on the Durrës – Peqin line, Albania's first railway line. They were later used in the port of Durrës and at the Shkozet depot for shunting freight wagons. [1]

The following locomotives have been preserved:

  1. ^ International Steam.co.uk
  2. ^ a b Molter, Romano (2020). Die vergessene Eisenbahn: Eine Reise in die Geschichte der albanischen Eisenbahnen 1916-2020 (in German). Railway-Media-Group. ISBN 9783902894878.
  3. ^ "Neues zur TKt48 160 | Museumseisenbahn Hanau E. V."