TheDeutsche Reichsbahn'sClass 52[note 1] is a Germansteam locomotive built in large numbers during theSecond World War. It was the most produced type of the so-calledKriegslokomotiven orKriegsloks (war locomotives). The Class 52 was a wartime development of the pre-warDRG Class 50, using fewer parts and less expensive materials to speed production. They were designed byRichard 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 asKriegslokomotiven; however, the three main classes were the Class 52,50 and42. They were numbered 52 1-52 7794. A total of 20 are preserved in Germany.
The Class 52 was a simplified version of the prewar 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 manufacture it and to adapt to wartime shortages of strategic materials. Additional design changes gave the locomotives and their crew better protection against the cold.[1] Between 1942 and the end of the war in May 1945, over 6,300 Class 52 locomotives were built. Additional locomotives were built post-war, giving a class total of probably 6719 units, delivered by seventeen manufacturers. TheClass 42 was a larger version of the Class 52, but was produced in smaller numbers.
Wagner had wanted locomotives which were long-lasting and easy to maintain, and unlike British engineers did not consider a highpower-to-weight ratio a priority. The resultingKriegslokomotive had a lowaxleload of 15 tonnes (14.8 long tons; 16.5 short tons) and could haul 40 percent more freight than the old Prussian locomotives they replaced. The Class 52 could haul 1,200 tonnes (1,180 long tons; 1,320 short tons) at 65 km/h (40 mph) without significant strain. On a 3% grade they could haul 800 tons at 5 km/h.
Over 7,794 locomotives of DRB Class 52 type were built across Europe for use on the Eastern Front during the Second World War. Thus it was one of the most numerous steam locomotives in the world. To achieve such numbers, the German locomotive manufacturers were merged into the 'Community of Greater German Locomotive Manufacturers',Gemeinschaft Grossdeutscher Lokomotivhersteller (GGL), which was a subdivision of the 'Rail Vehicles Main Committee',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.
Following theinvasion of Poland in September 1939 Nazi Germany disbanded thePolish State Railways (PKP). Polish rail officials were eitherexecuted in mass shootings orimprisoned, and some 8,000 managerial positions were staffed with German officials.[2] Former Polish companies began producing German engines BR44, BR50 and BR86 as early as 1940, some usingforced labor. By 1944, the factories inPoznań andChrzanów were producing the redesignedKriegslok BR52 locomotives for theEastern Front. These locomotives were made almost entirely of steel; locomotives in that battlespace were not expected to survive for long, so managers eliminated the use of higher-value non-ferrous metals like bronze, chrome, copper, brass, and nickel.[2]
The GGL included the following locomotive manufacturers (including an approximate number of Class 52s produced):
In the early postwar years, Class 52s were used by many European countries. Western European countries replaced them with more modern locomotives as soon as possible, with the exception of Austria where they were used until 1976. The simplicity and effectiveness, plus the large production total, meant that many eastern European countries were slow to withdraw theirKriegslokomotiven. Poland used them into the 1990s; some in Bosnia are still in use as of 2023.
Belgium,SNCBType 26 – 100 locomotives originally ordered by the DRG from Belgian manufacturers during the occupation but not completed until after liberation.[6]
Bosnia – some still in industrial service transportingbrown coal from theKreka mine in Bosnia as of 2023.
Bulgaria,BDŽ class15 – over 150 locomotives numbered 15.01-1650 .
Czechoslovakia,ČSD class555.0 – Some rebuilt as Class555.3 to burnmazut fuel oil, a large surplus of which was generated insynthetic fuel plants in occupied Czechoslovakia from brown coal. The 555.3 differed visibly by having a lid on the smokestack to slow down cooling of the lining of the flue passage, to prevent cracking.
Poland,PKPclassTy2 – 1,200 locomotives after the end of the war, a further 200 acquired from the Soviet Union in 1962–64. Began to be phased out in the 1980s; its last regular use was in 1999.
Romania,CFR class150.1000 – about 100 locomotives.
Soviet Union, ClassTE (Russian:ТЭ, fromTrophy, equivalent to E-class) – over 2,100 locomotives captured or seized.
Turkey,TCDDclass56501 – 10 locomotives purchased from Germany in 1943, a further 43 loaned from Germany in 1943-44, which were permanently seized when Turkey declared war on Germany.
^Wartime locomotives classes are prefixed DRB (Deutsche Reichsbahn) to distinguish them from those introduced by the DRG (prefixed DRG), which became defunct in 1937, and those introduced later by the East German Deutsche Reichsbahn (prefixed DR).
Hütter, Ingo (2012).Die Dampflokomotiven der Baureihen 50 bis 53 der DRG, DRB, DB, und DR (in German). Werl: DGEG Medien. pp. 158–393,395–409.ISBN978-3-937189-63-5.
Peter Slaughter; Alexander Vassiliev; Roland Beier (1996).The German Class 52 Kriegslok (in English and German). Frank Stenvalls Förlag.ISBN91-7266-140-2.
Weisbrod, Manfred; Müller, Hans; Petznik, Wolfgang (1978).Dampflokomotiven deutscher Eisenbahnen, Baureihe 41–59 (EFA 1.2) (in German) (3rd ed.). Düsseldorf: Alba. pp. 63–71.ISBN3-87094-082-4.
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