Wieliczka 2022-08-04
Steam locomotive T2D SLA Śląsk, TKp-2316.
Geographic coordinates: 49.983N 20.053E.
The T2D SLA Śląsk steam locomotive is a tender steam locomotive, with four driving axles, without rolling axles, intended for a normal track. The T2D SLA Śląsk steam locomotive was manufactured in Chrzanów at the FABLOK plant. D axis arrangement, otherwise (0-4-0), and the Polish designation is a small letter "p".
A copy of the TKp-2316 steam locomotive was placed in 2010 at the salt mine site in Wieliczka, in a public spa park. Together with the steam locomotive, on the reconstructed railway track there were placed: a two-axle freight wagon, a shaped signal lamp and a water crane.
The location of the TKp-2316 steam engine is not accidental. There is a locomotive shed from 1890 nearby. There was also a stable nearby, because the first carriages were dragged from the vicinity of the mine shafts to the Wieliczka station (now Wieliczka Park) with the help of horse carts.
Locomotive T2D SLA Silesia, factory number 2316.
The TKp-2316 locomotive worked in ZTKiGK Zabrze from 1952 to 1972. Then, until 1984, at the Jaworzno Power Plant. In 1993, the locomotive was transported to Jaworzno-Szczaków, where it was planned to create an open-air museum. Finally, on June 22, 2010, the TKp-2316 was brought to Wieliczka.
Steam locomotive OS.
In 1942, during the German occupation, the locomotive's technical documentation prepared by the locomotive factory "Henschel & Sohn" was delivered to the FABLOK plant in Chrzanów. The locomotive received the designation OS, meaning "Oberschlessien" (Upper Silesia). The SS was a heavy shunting steam locomotive, intended for work on company railways. This steam locomotive had a saturated steam boiler, without a superheater. The boiler was fed with water by means of two injectors. The air for the braking system was supplied by a Knorr three-cylinder compressor, which forced air into two tanks with a capacity of 400 liters. The OS steam locomotive was equipped with a 24 V electrical installation with lighting.
By 1943, 25 SS locomotives had been built in Chrzanów. After the Second World War, most of the locomotives remained in production plants in Upper Silesia. In the 1960s, some of these locomotives received boilers with steam superheaters during major repairs at Zakłady Urządzeń Rollo Kolejowego. Other locomotives have boilers of the Śląsk type, also with a steam superheater.
T2D SLA Silesia steam locomotive.
After the Second World War, Upper Silesia suffered from a lack of heavy shunting locomotives. Therefore, the design office of the FABLOK factory, based on the OS locomotive, developed a new type of shunting steam locomotive for industrial railways. The locomotive was given the factory designation T2D, and on the railway the SLA Śląsk type. The T2D SLA Śląsk steam locomotive has been in production since 1950.
The T2D SLA Śląsk steam locomotive received a larger boiler, with a Schmidt type superheater. The link box is made of steel. The mainstay of the locomotive was identical to the mainstay of the SS locomotive. Only the movement of the wheels of the second and fourth axles was increased, 25 mm each side. The first and third axles remained rigid. As a result, the locomotive easily negotiated bends with a radius of 100 m. The T2D SLA Śląsk steam locomotive was equipped with better engines than the SS steam locomotive. Piasecznica was feeding sand under all wheels by means of a pneumatic system. Standard H11a3 air compressor was used. The T2D SLA Śląsk steam locomotive hauled a train weighing up to 3,200 tons.
The T2D SLA Śląsk steam locomotives were produced from 1950 to 1963 for the Polish industry and for export to China. A total of 390 steam locomotives were produced. Locomotives with self-actuating clutch and other modifications were produced for China. 90 locomotives with the designation SLA59 were exported to China. The T2D SLA Silesia locomotive, factory number 6093, was the last one that was produced in 1963. The locomotives were used in heavy industry, on railway sidings of hard coal mines, steel mills, coking plants, etc. The last of them were withdrawn from service only in the mid-90s. Until now (2022) about 15 steam locomotives have been preserved.
T-T data of the T2D SLA Śląsk locomotive:
Design speed 40 km / h. Service weight of 66,000 kg. Driving wheels diameter 1.10 m. Overall length 10.98 m. Height 4.10 m. Axle arrangement D, otherwise (0-4-0), and the Polish designation is a small letter "p". Boiler with a heating area of 112.4 m2. Superheater area 40 m2. Grate area of 2.19 m2. The pressure in the boiler is 14 atm (at). Water supply 6.5 m3. 3 tons of coal.
Written by Karol Placha Hetman