Last WW2 German Trains Still in Service
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- Опубліковано 6 вер 2024
- Incredibly, five WW2-built German Kriegslok war locomotives are still in daily operation in 2022 - find out where...
Special thanks to the following channels for access to footage. Please visit each for more fantastic Kriegslok and locomotive action!
- Metrobug: / @trainbugold
- Harrikolan Railways: / @harrikolanrailways9829
- Kaspertog: / @kaspertog
Dr. Mark Felton is a well-known British historian, the author of 22 non-fiction books, including bestsellers 'Zero Night' and 'Castle of the Eagles', both currently being developed into movies in Hollywood. In addition to writing, Mark also appears regularly in television documentaries around the world, including on The History Channel, Netflix, National Geographic, Quest, American Heroes Channel and RMC Decouverte. His books have formed the background to several TV and radio documentaries. More information about Mark can be found at: en.wikipedia.o...
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Disclaimer: All opinions and comments expressed in the 'Comments' section do not reflect the opinions of Mark Felton Productions. All opinions and comments should contribute to the dialogue. Mark Felton Productions does not condone written attacks, insults, racism, sexism, extremism, violence or otherwise questionable comments or material in the 'Comments' section, and reserves the right to delete any comment violating this rule or to block any poster from the channel.
Credits: US National Archives; Library of Congress; Metrobug; Kaspertog; Harrikolan Railways
I live in Tuzla - Bosnia and Herzegovina and know of this perfectly. The reason why they use steam trains is simple. Coal mines in Bosnia are facing a management crisis caused by corrupt political party's that have been robbing coal mines for years. This resulted in coal mines being almost bankrupt and the status of miners really uncertain as well. Few months ago they had protests in capital of Sarajevo, but to little effect. Therefor the only way mines can supply coal to the coal run power plant is by using steam trains because they don't have to pay for a diesel that is too pricey (especially today after Russian sanctions where 1 liters cost almost 2 euros) and on top of that, they are running only 3-4 miles from mining site to the power plant coal accumulation and back. So it isn't that big journey either. However there is a good thing and a bad thing regarding this. Bad thing is that crews of these trains really have to put in effort and it's hard work. Good thing is that they love their trains and mechanics working on servicing these trains are second to none. They create all the spare parts themselves and are keeping them afloat and in good shape. And it has became a tourist attraction as well. Where else can you see Kriegelocks working as intended? If you ask politely, crew will take you for a ride and even let you operate it for a short bit under supervision if you really want to! Bosnian people are kind and honest. We have had really tough times upon us! We welcome everyone who is interested in us, to come and visit us!
Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm half way around the world from you and would love to do this. The odds are not in my favor though... There is something about a people who have "seem things" that makes them so very specially human in a way that the rest of us seem plastic by comparison.
Thank you! That's good information!
And I'm not surprised the crews and mechanics love their steam locomotives, that's one thing they have in common with steam crews all over the world.
There's a saying: The steam locomotive is the closest that God in His wisdom has ever let mankind come to creating life! I think there's something to that.
Thank you! I just might visit Bosnia in a near future.
I'm sure it's a labor of love to keep these old beasts chugging. An Accomplishment to be proud of actually, skill and careful operation is great to see.
wow‼️®™️
Interesting German "throw away engines" designed to last 10 years are still in service. Imagine the quality built into the "not throw away" engines.
The same can be said about the Alliies' "War Engines, the British WD "Austerity" engine and the American S160. Both built for use in Europe after the Second Front was established following a successful D-Day landing.
Robin Riddles, the designer of the British "Austerity" engine and later the CME of British Railways is reported to have said that he didn't care if they were all driven into the sea on the last day of the War, but those that were repatriated to Britain after their war service were quickly bought up by the British railway companies whose own loco stock was suffering from war damage, and minimum maintenance, and passed to British Railways on nationalisation in 1948, where many continued in service , clanking their way around the coalfields and the industrial areas until the end of steam in 1978, while the American S160's were used by many European railways as they restored their services after the chaos of war.
On the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway when I used to work there in the 1980's we had an S160 "Big Jim" from ALCO, which we had obtained when it was finally taken out of service from Katowice in Poland, and a War Department "Austerity " which had ended up in Sweden, "winterised" for use above the Arctic Circle
They might be a bit like Grandfather's Axe. Lots of maintenance in other words!
Wish modern BMW was a testament to that.
@@mrdumbfellow927 ahahaha thats exactly what I was thinking too
If you are interested in further war and elder locos which are in function, BZD = Bulgarian Zelednaja Dorogoj = Bulgarian Railways 64003 ! That is a 4-12-4 locomotive with integrated tender - search for BZD Steam locomotive 46.03, type 1-6-2 (load test) ! It is a very impressive loco and great pictures- I have never such a loco before! It was built in Poland.
Designed to work for 10 years, in service for 80 years - that's a statement of quality.
Great show Mark, thanks a lot.
Yes today items are designed for 5 years, and will last only 2. Because no updates are made available. These are some fine work-horses.
Jugoslavia Bosnia people have modified these machines to last longer ... Just like Mercedes .. the so-called Yugoslav FAP ... ;-) people don't know much about history and details but they can be found even on corrupt youtube :-)
thats because they was scared of Hitler.. they dont wanted to dissapoint him
Most of them got new boilers from a better steel in the 1950s.
@@christiankastorf4836 But not the BR 52 (except the Reko and GR locomotives of the GDR), which still have the original boilers today. The new boilers in the post-war years mainly affected standard locomotives that had boilers made of St44K steel from the factory, for example: BR 03.10, 41,…
I served in the U.S. Army in Germany from 1972-1979. I was in Armor and Cavalry and we frequently loaded all our armored vehicles (Tanks and Armored Personnel Carriers) on to Bundesbahn railcars to travel from our barracks to the training areas in Grafenwohr and Hohenfelds. We were low priority and these trains were always pulled by slow moving World War Two steam engines. We made frequent stops along the way to allow faster priority trains to pass and it always brought great excitement to the kids who lived in the towns where we stopped. They would come running to trade what they had for of all things C-Rations. In exchange they would bring pastries, breads and other foods and even bottles of beer which I am sure they swiped from their dads or grand dads beer stash. They loved those C-Rations and chocolate candy and my platoon always had plenty of extra of both to pass out on the trip. Great fun and at 68 years of age great memories!!!!
In Grafenwoehr the Deutsche Bundesbahn used steam-engines of classes 44 and 50 during the seventies, but not class 52, which this video is about. Class 52 was active in West Germany only until 1963.
It may be a 052,which is an so called EDV -nummer.behind it is a class 50.
@@timonbeyer4399 Possible. 😉
That sounds like fun!
I had a boss who was once in an armored unit in Berlin during several of the Berlin crises of the early 1960s. Going nose to nose with the Warsaw pact armor in Berlin must have been a chilling experience!
No beer and skittles then!
@J Hughes Left Germany in 1979. Participated in several Reforger exercises. Always great fun to meet soldiers who had just come from the U.S. Best job I ever had!!
Hats off to all those rail man around the World who have dedicated their working lives in blood, sweat, and tears (coal dust as well) operating these fascinating machines!
More Kudos to the German engineers who have built such solid and reliable machines…
Thank you
@Marek Glowczewsi 😂😂😂😂😂
@Marek Glowczewsi How much paper products do women in your life use (tissue/tp) ? I have seen obscene amounts wasted on a daily basis without a care in the world 🤔
It's a vocation..❤️
I used to run the railway troop in Moenchengladbach (Germany) in the late 1980's. The most reliable locomotive we had was a 1937 built Deutz, which still had the Adler mounted high on the bonnet. When all our modern loco's were out of service for lack of spares or whatever, the Deutz was the 'go to' unit. It never failed to run and was always ready for work. It was also the most popular with the crews - go figure!
Hope your Deutz somehow dodged scrapping and it is still around?
Deutz has always made quality machines
Do you know what happened to it?
I visited Tuzla in 2019 for the sole purpose of seeing these locomotives in action and I was not disappointed!
Was the visit eay to achieve?
@@gedhuffadine5796 Pretty much. I didn't really know where to look, so I chose some spots on google maps that looked promising and just followed the tracks.
I was turned away at the official entrances to both major locations, but a few hundred metres down the line the track is no longer on mine grounds and easily accessable.
My grandfather was a locomotive driver in the Reichsbahn and later in the West German Bundesbahn, from the mid 1930s until the late 1950s. Never drove anything but steam engines and probably a number of Kriegsloks. My father told me he was popular with the stokers as he had an light hand on the throttle, thus saving fuel and making the stokers work a bit easier.
During the war he would drive supply trains for the eastern front. Apparently he never talked about that time except one thing: That he always had an explosive charge with him to blow the engine up if it was about to be captured.
My great-grandfather was a station master of a medium sized town in western Germany during the war and before. Never met him, but i saw the official documents and papers, some with swastika stamps, aswell as a nazi party badge. He never was nazi by heart, it was all a requirement for the job.
My grandpa in Poland was blowing up German trains going through Poland... your grandpa got lucky!
@@KrissowskiM That turned out well
@@KrissowskiM ..but NO CCCP trains in late 1939?
@@dallesamllhals9161 the resistance in 1939 was not organised yet at that moment - but we did have a regiment of regular Polish cavalry fighting all throughout the winter 1939/1940. Germans killed major Hubal - great Polish hero, a commander of that unit in spring 1940. Later resistance started to operate.
On the other hand - one must not forget that trains from Third Reich greatest ally - soviet Russia were being sent with all the resources necessary for the Germans to conquer Western Europe till the day in 1941 when Germany attacked Soviet Union.
I have no information from my grandpa if he fought against red menace and I will never find out - he has been dead since 2001... RIP my hero. He is mentioned in one of the books about resistance sector in southeastern Poland as a platoon leader in actions against German casinos (officers clubs) - throwing grenades inside and blowing up trains with supplies to eastern front... ;) but believe me - he hated the red ones same as the brown socialists!
For the people who are confused about what's happening at 3:30 the train is on full brake, they usually slide a bit from the load, length, and their velocity before coming to a full stop, it's usually around a kilometer and a half.
this is how it is done when you want to park the train precisely .. the locomotive is used as an anchor
Long experience of Bosnian operators :-)
technically in order to stop faster you'd want to keep the wheels spinning but it is a bloody steam locomotive so I imagine the drivers workload is already full
@SeattlePioneer it's hard on the wheels. Steam locos are built with steel "tires" on the driving wheels that can be replaced, but still...
Flat spots....
The haunting sound of that locomotive whistle and the smokestack exhaust is in many of the great WW2 movies.
Was thinking the very same thing when I heard it!
When you go don't expect them to be hauling 2,000T of coal a total train weight of 2,000T is one heck of a pull. From the brief look at the number of waggons and their size I'd guess the load was closer to 500T.
Is that smoke stack exhaust smoke or steam, or a mixture of the two?
@@minuteman4199 MM - sorry I do not know
@@minuteman4199 Mixture of both with quite a bit of smoke. Not a clean maschine
The class 52 was built in almost any locomotive factory in German occupied countries during the war. Many were completed using existing parts shortly after the war and quite some were built entirely new after the war. That's why nobody knows how many were actually built. It is a simplified version of the civilian class 50, that arguably was one of the finest steam loco designs ever made in Germany. Some say it was the single finest. It was sturdy, economical, easy to operate and to service. it was strong and fast enough to haul a wide variaty of different trains and was able to go backwards as fast as it could forward. And it was able to be used virtually everywhere due to only 7.5 metric ton wheel load while most designs of comparable power were limited to main lines due to their 9-11 ton wheel load.
Almost every 52 that was service in post war Germany experienced major redesigns, not only undoing the wartime simplifications but further improving the original design improving their fuel economy and power. Improved 50s and 52s were among the last steam engines being phased out of both the German and East German state railways.
In contrast the Bosnian 52s still are mostly in their original shape, proving how sturdy and long lived the design is even without major improvements.
In an environment where workforce is cheap while modern workshop machines and tools are rare and expensive and where coal and water are cheap and available in virtually unlimited amounts while every drop of diesel fuel has to be imported, steam locos still are more economical than diesel locos. That is especially true for coal mine railways.
What was it about the 42s. My six year old brain tells me that that was the legendary German one besides of this one dry steam experiment.
@@vHindenburg The 42 was more powerful but is was no smooth runner. Even though being rated for 80km/h it was more a 60km/h machine. Its higher wheel load also made it less versatile than the 50 and 52. Most post war users tried to replace them as soon as possible.
@@vHindenburg The 42 was a war version of the heavy freight class 44, however with several new and not well developed changes. And then as usual with the nazis, they also had some more gigantic ideas like the 43 (with 16 drive wheels)…
@@kailahmann1823 Die 53er sollte die Achsanordnung 1C´ D bekommen! Meint Vorlaufachse, Zylindergruppe mit 3 Treib-und Kuppelachsen, als drehbare Einheit und die zweite Zylindergruppe mit 4 Treib- und Kuppelachsen ohne Nachlaufachse. Macht 14 Antriebsräder american 2-6-8. Sie waren geplant für einen 5-achsigen Wannentender, der später auch durch einen 5-achsigen Kondenstender, wie in der 52er ausprobiert, ersetzt werden sollte. Eine schönes H0-Modell gibt es von Märklin!
The BR53 should get a (german 1 C´ D) means pilot axe, turnable cylinder-group with 3 axes and second, fixed cylinder-group with 4 axes - 7 powered axes get a american type 2-6-8. They wereplanned with a longer tube tender with 5 axes and later with a condensation-tender wih also 5 axes as proved with the BR 52 locos. There are nice models in H0 scale from MÄRKLIN!
it cool but also a little morbid talking about German WW2 trains i cannot stop thinking abut how many people took the last ride of their lives on these things
A few years ago I travelled across Poland by train. Somewhere along the way we passed a truly massive train graveyard full of the biggest black steam engines I've ever seen.
there’s still some in commercial service - the Wolsztyn depot contains a museum and runs daily trains from Leszno to Wolsztyn with a steam engine
@@szymex22Better, less pollution than diesel
Do you know where were you exactly?
Im from Poland and maybe i know where it is
@@anirror Do you know where Sublice is? Have you ever been to that outside market? I'm a American and been there I couldn't believe all the awesome firecracker's and how cheap they were. We can't have firecrackers like that here in the states our cracker's are weak
@@m42037everybody in Poland knows where Słubice is… I used to live nearby but necer knew there was a cemetary of locomotives!
Between sheer age, the allied air blitz against any moving German locomotives during WWII, and the Yugoslavian civil war it’s nothing short of a miracle that any of these old beasts still run, much less do work on a daily basis.
About 4000 BR52 survived, the largest numbers in east and west germany. West germany could phase them out faster between new diesels like V100 and V200 and having a huge number of BR50s
@@mbr5742 Both BRD (Deutsche Bundesbahn) and DDR (Deutsche Reichsbahn) used them together with other types until the 70s. The early Diesels you've mentioned were not powerful enough to haul heavy freight like ore and coal trains. You find very good youtube footage from the 70s of pre-war steam locos hauling freight and passengers on unelectified main lines in both East and West Germany.
@@ottovonbismarck2443 West germany got rid of the last 52 in 1962. What you are refering to are the BR 052. Those (like the 051 and 053) are BR 50 running gear with BR52 boilers and sometimes cabs. Some (around 150) using the characteristic Wannentender as well. They look very similar until you see both side by side. An example of the 053 is at Bochum Dahlhausen train collection. Sadly not a runner.
@@ottovonbismarck2443 The unelectified track through hilliybilly land up to the coast at Emden was a rarity in the 70s. The last major steam haul in germany and using oil fired versions of the 44 and 41. Likely done because they feared the Westphalians would stand on the rails listening to the singing wire if they electrified it...
@@ottovonbismarck2443 Thank you; for what for me is very valuable insight, in the very early 1950s British Rail introduced a diesel powered Loco it was purely experimental and probably had a bus or truck engine?; it wasn't designed to pull carriages and seem to spend a good deal of its time running out of Paddington towards Reading a distance of only about 35 miles, but it was clearly the way things were going. Your point that early diesel locos would not pull heavy loads (2000 tons in this case) is central to the development of diesel locos which carry their own fuel, and later electric locos. I find myself wondering just where do electric locos get the weight needed to achieve traction?
Good build quality even after the situation turned against Germany is impressive. The fact that the Yougoslav and Bosnian mechanics and engineers managed to keep them going for 70+ years with limited spares is astounding. They are very skilled in their craft.
The British also made simplified "war locomotives." IIRC many operated past their design lives - but not to this extent. As has often been noted about much of the machined vehicles and every type of gun, the Germans were *too* good at manufacturing things - achieving quality impaired quantity. (At the end of the war simplified rifles, etc, were finally tried.)
@@donjones4719 And the British locomotives were also Deacpods (2-10-0's).
@@colbeausabre8842 150 of the WD austerity locomotives were 2-10-0's, 935 were 2-8-0's. Apparently they both had the same power output, but the extra wheels allowed the axle loading to be lower thus increasing route availability.
Spares for BR52 are limited by money only. You can order new parts from Meiningen/Germany if you have the money
@@mbr5742 true but corrupt Bosnian politicians, or just Bosnian politicians would shut it down
As an American soldier, I saw these Steam Locomotives running in West Germany in the early 70's in the Railyard in Ulm, Germany. One of my Army Buddies actually was a "Steam Tractor Enthusiast" and went down to see them run and to take photos. The crews even asked him up into the Cab for a closer look. It was quite a thrill for him.
Having had the pleasure (and pain) of working on commercial steam in the UK and being a lifetime devotee of Steam in all forms I cannot emphasize just how good the Fitting Staff at the works really are. Those locos sound spot on (I shut my eyes and listen to the exhaust as I can 'see' it better that way), clean beats, no sound of bad rings, no extraneous blows or leaks. Kudos to the Staff, respect to the original builders and I salute the original Design team. They are truly magnificent beasties. Can I have a go, please, Mister?....'.
I've been told that you can't be sloppy with steam by an elderly friend of mine who started out as an apprentice mechanic in the railways. He told me about a particular articulated locomotive type (Beyer-Garratt) which required a fine touch in maintenance. One of these went out of the shop one day after major overhaul, and a few days later it was back - the crews said it "ran like a dog, and even that's insulting to dogs". The mechanics went over it with a fine-tooth comb and found something (can't remember what, but it was some form of duct/pipe associated with the stack) was out of alignment by 1/4". They re-aligned whatever it was and that fixed the problem. Amazing that the equivalent of about 6mm of misalignment could cause a noticeable degradation in performance.
@@vk2ig the Blast Pipe, I'm guessing here, is critical to the steaming performance of the loco. I transforms the exhaust from the cylinders into a focused jet that, in conjunction with the chimney (stack) petticoat (a bit that goes down from the chimney inside the smokebox), creates the vacuum which draws the hot gasses from the fire through the tubes to create steam. In Steam terms 1/4" is not even in the same locale, it's miles out. The chimney and petticoat pipe together make a Venturi Tube (like a good old carburettor) and the steam exhaust is designed to form a cone that touches the venturi in the right place for perfect running. If it is not right she will never steam properly and give the crews all kinds of problems, running like a dog is just one description.
Definitely better sounding than those decrepit North Korean steamers! 🤣
@@douglasfleetney5031 This is indeed a critical alignment.
In the steam hobby groups it is debated endlessly. I designed mine from scratch and it worked flawlessly from day 1.
Maybe it was just dumb, blind, beginner's luck.
But luck favours the prepared mind.
Indeed I was just thinking that they all sound very much in beat. And relatively steam tight.
My dad was 15 near the end of WW2 and and he and his friend roofed their apartment building with emergency shingles. Despite the fact that they were low quality shingles that were laid by kids (all the men were fighting) they lasted 40 years.
Thats pretty long. So they are high quality instead
often times low quality doesn't mean 'bad', but 'low quality control'.
Sometimes you get lucky, and the cheap hastily made rubbish is actually very reliable
They definitely don't make things the way they used to.
@@edwhatshisname3562 yep. We can be sure about that.
I was a British soldier based at a NATO unit in the 1960‘s the steamers that were still in use then where magnificent monsters of German engineering.
You've done it yet again. Found something that most of us would never have imagined possible.
I'm no steam enthusiast, but I cannot help but admire the strength of these old machines to
keep on moving so many years after their expiry date. They sound pretty terrifying don't they.
They sound wonderful to me. They have something calming and powerful at the same time. And they remind me of a moment in my life that I will never forget. My dad once asked a train driver if we could get on the locomotive where the oven is when it was standing at the station. At that time they were already quite seldom in Germany. We already had many electric trains or at least some with diesel engines.
Unimaginable today. Many security rules would be violated. And somehow society ticks differently today
I've always loved these trains and find them very exciting.
Für mich klingen sie wunderbar. Sie haben was beruhigendes und kraftvolles zu gleich. Und sie erinnern mich an einen Moment in meinem Leben den ich nie vergessen werde.. Mein Papa, hat mal einen Zugführer gefragt ob wir in die Lok dürfen dort wo der Ofen ist, als diese am Bahnhof stand. Zu dieser Zeit waren sie schon recht selten in Deutschland. Wir hatten ja schon viele elektrische Bahnen oder zumindest welche mit Dieselmotoren.
Unvorstellbar heute. Viele Sicherheitsregeln würden dagegen verstoßen. Und irgendwie tickt die Gesellschaft heute anders
Ich habe diese Züge schon immer geliebt und finde sie voll spannend.
They sound awesome.
Because good maintenance and repair they work for long time.
Yeah, mean...they...kinda *_are_* terrifying but also...
...
...tragic...
..
....that is...if you consider what they were built for.
Just keep dem boilers in shape-and certified.
@ 3:37 note the reversing engine SLIDING to a stop! Nice way to flat spot all 10 pairs of driving wheels!
Mark from Melbourne Australia
I don't think the freight cars are connected to the brake. At 4:39 you can see that the air hoses are not connected.
Mark Fryer - I spotted that as well. As the grandson of av railroad machinist, I had to wince!
You certainly don’t see it filmed that often, and in reverse no less. As odd and counter intuitive as it looks, a good engineer learns to drive a train and spot the car-boys in all weather, knowing the weight, and moisture on the rails, holding short of front slipping or sand, and the temperature of the rail, there’s probably very little wear. (And he knew exactly where the engine would stop)
But it keeps the rails nice and shiny! 😁
Hey if it works...
On the one hand I am amazed that they're still going, on the other hand the role they are used for makes perfect sense. Hauling coal from mines to a coal fueled power plant using coal fueled engines is perfectly reasonable as it eliminates the logistics of supplying other fuel or power, which helps to offset the higher maintenance costs of these veteran machines.
I imagine these babies go chugging right along when the rest of Europe is wondering where their next liter of diesel oil is going to come from.
I have no idea where you get this footage Mark, but you do us all proud. Long may you work and be successful to bring all of this to the world.
Its hard to not be a jerk after reading your reaction, but of ALL the things Felton made, you choose to write it under a clip of WWII things STILL IN SERVICE.
geeh.. i wonder what efforts Felton made. Paid a crazy scientist shady internet money to take him back in time, so could wait with his color camera untill 2022 ?
@@juliusraben3526 I think that's enough internet for you for one day.
At least in this case, these locomotives are “Well known” in the train enthusiast community as Mark pointed out - and that means people take trips to view and film them. There’re similar videos from Chinese and Indian railways also, where steam is still used.
@@TheOnlyTYRE seriously?! How can one NOT react cynical to a message like that?!
Its not like Felton found a video dairy of a tank commander of the battle of Kursk that was collecting dust since its creation. He propably got the footage from enthousiasts instead of actually going there (although he could write the trip off as business expense haha)
Never encountered a lvl99 cynical asshole on the internet before?
Gues ignorance IS a bliss
@@BeautifulGreen252 what i wrote T.Y.R.E also applies to you haha
It's so beautiful to watch them run after all this years. Doesn't matter what, steam powered locomotives are always the most classy and beautiful, even the working-horse kind of one.
Testament to German engineering that they are still operating today.
@@BearFlagRebel There are UK and US locomotives a plenty still surviving, the only reason these are remarkable is because they are working in a country that cannot afford to replace them
@@garrymartin6474 How many US and UK 80 plus-year-old steam locomotives are still in regular service? What makes it remarkable is the engineering. The overhauling continued the life span of the locos. The engineering had to come first.
@@BearFlagRebel No steam locomotives are in regular use in the USA on mainline railroads. The Union Pacific occasionally uses the 4-8-4 and rarely the 4-8-8-4 to haul a freight train when the locomotive is being moved. Others operate pulling excursion passenger trains.
There is couple of 52 series steam trains that are still in service in Poland. We actually used many of them. There are actually 3 that are operational ( 2 Polish build and one German build in which I had a pleasure to ride) and there are 2 being restored. They were known as Ty-2 ( Polish build were known as Ty-42) and they played a huge role in rebuilding the country.
it's a crime they are still in use. Higly polluting and no way nearly as efficient as today's ones. Funny that some cars from the early 2000s are not allowed to enter cities, LOL. Imagine a ww2 steam engine functioning
@@Fedvec01 In Poland they are actually museum locomotives, not used everyday but for excursion trains in summer.
@@Fedvec01 climate cult member?
@@Fedvec01a properly fired steam locomotive pollutes less than the average diesel when ran the same amount, and if you want to do something about pollution, propose a solution to make jet engines or larger boat motors burn clean.
@@Fedvec01 So say the Carbon scammers flying their Leer Jets
I understand their supernaturally long survival is due to the fact that they run on the very product the mine extracts (thus negating the need for an expensive fuel supply) but in 2022 this is absolutely astounding. Worth a trip just to see them working... the only time I had a trip on a train that was in revenue service with a steam loco pulling it, was in 1975 from Padua to Venice (and already a rare curiosity back then) even if some shunting work was still done there by a few old locos, soon retired . Great!
52s are a dozend a dime in Europe. VSM Beekbergen in the Netherlands has three runners including a rare original boilered one and are working on another (a BR 52.80 like the ones shown here). Some are currently "waiting for better times" like BR 52 6106 in Gerolstein (functional but the owner does not get her re-certified before it can earn money) and some are actively restored.
I'm just curious if they use premium coal for these engines or if they burn Coke in them. I am going to try to research it and find out.
@@patrickmichael1057 Given that the boilers of the 52 and 52.80 where designed for use of low quality coal and even lignite bricks - most likely the latter.
They do not operate the trains over long distances and they do a lot shunting work (something the engine is not the best choice for - it is a long range runner) so they will have to rewater quite often and that is also a chance to get rid of ash.
A german 52 operator ones joked that if they fed their engine the same high end coal a BR 01 gets it would stop, turn around and ask the stoker "Who's birthday is it?"
there's a main line in Poland that runs on steam between Wolsztyn and Lezsno. 4 years ago there was even a program that allowed people to operate the train during regular service.
One small addition. As far as I know, the reason the BR50 was chosen over the more powerful BR44 was that the axle load of the BR50 is only 15t rather than 20t of the BR44. This makes them more suitable for less well build or maintained tracks. BR50 is the non-simplified version of the locomotive. P.S.: Great to see the locomotives in action, thanks!
There is also the fact that the BR 44 are three-cylinder engines, thus more complicated to build and maintain.
One small addition is that there also was a simplified BR 50ük which was an intermediate sted between the 50 and 52
they did mount the 44 boiler on the 52 chassis for the BR42 after they went over the network and found they had room for some heavier, more powerful locomotives
I was in a military police unit in Germany, in 2004 we did a rail escort mission for 12 train cars of high explosive cargo to Tuzla rail yard for Eagle Base and we saw one these huge steam trains hauling 20 cars brimmed with coal. Our driver to Eagle spoke English and he refered to it as "the iron horse" we were all smiles and my buddy Max filmed it with a crude early digital camcorder. It was a great time, I still have a shirt I traded my black beret for with some Slovenian Police.
I have a (U.S.) locomotive engineer license and am qualified on steam. Steam locomotives, although extremely labor-intensive, have an inherent long life as long as they are maintained and overhauled regularly. Under pressure, water boils at a higher temperature than it normally would, so a catastrophic boiler failure due to poor maintenance or poor operation is usually spectacular. As long as these machines are maintained correctly and operated correctly they can have an almost indefinite life. Thank you for a fine video.
Great info.
Imagine a steam locomotive being shot up by a fighter aircraft during WWII....
@@SeattlePioneer I've seen WW2 footage ,
some erupt in several geyser where the bullets have pieced the shell , some blow in a big steam explosion , I guess it depend on the caliber too
The skills needed to keep those running is just amazing, a true art.
The way oil prices are going, we will need temporary steam engines in many countries
WWII AND Trains!? You sir have my attention!
Honorable mentions to the numerous German Kriegsloks, American S160s, British 8Fs and Black Fives, and scores of other wartime locomotives that have had (and still have) second lives in tourist and museum operations.
Did you watch the restoration and running of the Big Boy 4-8-8-4 ? I would love to be standing trackside and he roars past like an awakening dragon.
Traveling Tom chased 4014 around 2 years ago and has an incredible collection of videos. ua-cam.com/channels/6gO-fL7mzrXEwyiwgjLkqQ.htmlsearch?query=4014
Just don't look up what happened to the Jews lol
WW2 and trains…… if only you can work in Sharks for the trifecta.
@@AndyFromBeaverton I was at the museum in Los Angeles right before they started the big move back in the day!
@@alanaldpal950 I don’t know if I should be interested or concerned.
Mark I think we all agree the History channel needs you. You’re such a bright and incredible storyteller that deserves nothing but the very best! God bless!
He's too good for them! :D
@@bigben5051 Hey, I wanted to say that!
Absolutely guys couldn’t agree more! Remember I never said he needed the history channel 😉
Good idea but HC now woke
Dr Felton does not cover things like UFOs, zombies, and aliens, so the History Channel would have no use for his content.
If the class 52 us still going strong after all this years, this is a sign of a very takented and enthusiastic wirking maintenance crew, which is takinc care! Go on Running!
Back in 1990, just after the wall came down, I went to Poland and East Germany. First thing I noticed when I crossed the border to Poland were all the steam locos. And same in E.Germany. Such a feeling of going backwards in time. It was awesome.
In 1990, East Germany had no steam locos on regular schedule, with the exception of the narrow gauge systems, where they are preserved as museum pieces (all German narrow gauge steam locos are called Class 99, independently of their actual design). The last regular normal gauge steam train in East Germany ran on Oct. 29 1988. But steam locos were kept ready for so called Plandampf (scheduled steam) occasions, where they replaced the regular loco in front of normal trains, if someone footed the bill for the additional cost.
@@SiqueScarface same in Polamd, I can only remember one ride on regular connection with steam loco and it was on really remote place in the 80-ies.
Kriegsloks formed the backbone of most eastern bloc and even non-aligned countries’ freight hauling motive power, mostly from Poland to East Germany and around Europe after the war, as Mark had noted. the austerity of the design can’t go unrecognized, and the same can go for the American and British wartime austerity designs. Definitely an episode I was hoping to see at some point!
Question for you Mike as you seem quite knowledgeable regarding these beauties. Towards the front of the train... are those armor plates meant to protect the steam boiler from air attacks? Or is that a common feature found on all steam locomotives?
👍🏾
@@jerryjeromehawkins1712 The plates towards the front are not armor, but rather smoke deflectors. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_deflectors
@@jerryjeromehawkins1712 They're not armored plates. smoke deflectors/lifters are meant to keep smoke from shifting down towards the cab and obscuring the engineer's view. Germany had armored up a kriegslok once if my memory serves me right, but it definitely wasn't in the form of deflectors!
Back to the lifters though, they're not exactly a standard feature on every steam locomotive, usually they'd be fitted out of necessity or for the sake of experimentation. Germany made very good use of them whenever needed before, during, and after the war, however.
Ah... thanks Frank and Mike.
Very interesting! 👍🏾🇺🇸
Poland had a lot of them as far as I know.. I'm not sure about other Eastern Bloc countries, I know the Hungarian State Railways acquired a hundred from the Soviet Union in 1963, but they weren't as numerous as the 424 series or the 411 series (USATC S160).
my grandma and granpa are living next to one of the coal factory where one of these trains are used.
I always go down to the tracks and watch the train do its work, sometimes i even hop in with the drivers and toot the whistle and maybe drive the train myself.
Hats off to the folks that keep these locomotives running. It's really becoming a lost art.
Not really. Workshops in the UK maintain the many heritage locomotives. The only process not currently undertaken is the building of new boilers which is undertaken in Germany. There are some 3292 heritage locomotives in the UK though that includes diesels. A handful of new steam locomotives are being built most small apart from the Prince Of wales which as a Gresley class P2 is the most powerful locomotive ever built in the UK.
Jugoslavia Bosnia people have modified these machines to last longer ... Just like Mercedes .. the so-called Yugoslav FAP ... ;-) people don't know much about history and details but they can be found even on corrupt youtube :-)
WOW, 80 years on service, of these locomotives could talk about all the times they have seen by. I hope that they continue to be in service for a long time.
Thomas the talking German train
@JK he saying about us they could talk about all the stories they can tell
@@TFSIChristmas Thomas was only following orders...
@@StrikeWyvern Ah.. Thomas, the tank serving the Nazi German em*
There are a number of steam locomotives over 100 years old still in regular use. Even the famous "Flying Scotsman" built in 1923, is now almost 100 years old !
We had them in Norway too . And one possibly two are in a museum still running in the summertime for tourists.
Shows the advantage of steam technology, it is relatively easily maintained compared to internal combuston. Hats off to the mechanics and engineers maintaining these locomotives.
There are quite a few V100 and V200 diesel engines still 7n operational service. Since the steam engines shown here where rebuild in the 1960s kn east germany those are of similar age
Yeah, additionally they run no matter how bad the weather may be.
@@anonymusum In some conditions (wet autum) they have more traction problems than modern electrical engines of the same power class. Electrical motors have finer control
Maybe easier to maintain, but more often.
Two major factors that obsoleted steam locomotives: extensive maintenance requirements and the necessity of double, triple headers having a crew on each locomotive. With diesels several locomotives strung together are operated by one locomotive crew.
Diesels are also like big trucks. Sitting cold they are started up and ready to go in five minutes or less. From cold a steamer takes an hour or more to get ready to work, and that's if it's in or at an engine house where a stationary boiler can supply hot water and steam to heat the boiler up quickly.
Then, steam locomotives are filthy. Coal burners send fly ash and cinders over the landscape. Oil fired ones send oil soot out into the air as during the steam locomotive era they burned bunker oil, thick petroleum that has to be heated to flow through the pipes to the spray nozzles in the firebox. Today, museum/excursion steamers burn diesel or heating oil, much less dirty burning, simply because it is readily available.
Steam locomotives are very inefficient. The most highly developed ones built in the 1940s and 1950s might attain a peak efficiency of 6%. Overall they were less than 2% efficient. That is, they wasted 98% of the fuel they consumed. All of that steam blowing out, leaking, unburned coal or oil blowing out of the smokestack, heat radiating off of the firebox, boiler and smokebox takes burning fuel to supply. Diesel locomotives attain 25-35% efficiency. Diesel engines use very little fuel at an idle just to keep running when not working.
That these locos are still working is also a testament to the workers who maintain and repair them, and to the company management who are committed to this work.
Aprently the mine owners are actually very corrupt hence why they haven't been replaced.
The billowing smoke of the engine in the last scene reminded me of going to see a Union Pacific Big Boy 4-8-8-4 as it passed through my home town. I rode my bike down to a pedestrian over pass to get the full effect of the train passing under me. Gack!
I just love the sound of steam locomotives. And to think these are archaic steam technology still functioning in the 21th century, is astonishing. Gotta hand it to quality German engineering.
Keeping history alive and working for a living, a win win situation.
As a (almost pensioned) railwayworker I find this a very interesting video. Also becouse 5 generations before me my family were working for the Dutch railroads. My grandfather and grand-grandfather were drivers on stream locomotives during ww2 and told me a lot of the hard times they had. Thanks.
I'm born in '74,I remember this loco,was so popular in the past,in Polish notional railway. My grandad was a driver on one of.
Than you Mark!
Perfect example of great engineering, great maintenance, and doing with what you have. Great pieces of history. Thank you Dr Felton
Despite what the Germans thought about and did in war, they have produced some of the very best engineers and scientists the world has ever seen, ever
Amazing!
Still in service almost 80 years after they were built.
You certainly dig up some great stories and videos. Thanks.
Sounds like my grandmother- still hauling arse
When I was serving in the Belgian army in the eighties there was a small detachment working out of the barracks at the “Fortress of Kapellen” near Antwerp, they were part of the military railroads. Their duty was to take military wagons loaded with tanks, artillery pieces, etc. Back and forth from the military camp of Brasschaat to the civilian railroad in Kapellen, a traject of about 8 to 12 km through a nature reserve. They did it with an old German diesel locomotive, a spoil of war, and when you looked at the right angle in the sun you could still see the eagle and swastika emblem on the flanks of the loc overpainted in green. No idea if the locomotive and the detachment still exist, but I did a few rides along with the locomotive and it was epic. Thanks for your informative channel!!!
There are a lot of German ww2 trains still left, especially in the narrow gauge, mostly part of the Heersfeldbahn. On the Austrian 760mm network there are quite a few of these. Like the class HF130C and a few steam locomotives. One of these HF130C is actually still in commercial use at the Pinzgauerlokalbahn in Zell am See as a shunter.
We have a Franco-Belge 0-8-0 ex-Wehrmacht loco nearing return to service on the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway, and enough ex-Zillertal & ex-SKGLB coaches to (I hope) see her and our on-hire U-class run a 2-train service
@@iansadler4309 I think the Austrians call that the 699.100 class (at least thats its ÖBB number). But when is my precious U class going back to the ZtB?
@@catpoezenpootje7868 699.01 is a bit of a problem - there are 2 of them, and ours is now an 0-8-0T not 0-8-0TT. Not sure when Zillertal will be going home, but we are taking good care of here in the meantime
*locomotives*
@@MontyCantsin5 🤓 sorry… I had too… although I get what you are saying
Wow, Mr Felton has become my top 3 WW2 documentarian ever. UA-cam has a standard bearer right here, never ever get bored with these and love the differant subjects that not many cover
Who are the other two you recommend?
@@389383 Indy?
Top 3 😂
Have you heard of " The Front" channel. They are also good.
@@garycrasto1310 Thanks I will give it a try.
The fact that these trains still run after being built as throw away units are a testament to the skill and determination and pride of people who can make it thru almost any situation on what seems at times to be just pure will and devotion to each other.
When I was on deployment in Bosnia in 2000 I got to see these locomotives when I was pulling security at a rail head in Tuzla. They also had at least one or two smaller locomotives. The Kriegsloks operated during the night while the smaller ones operated during the day.
I think this is the most iconic sound on earth. I'm so glad I lived in an era where you could experience these monsters for real. The sounds, the smells and that haunting whistle at night 😁
Right.. that whistle alone just echos with a subtle intensity, thats intriguing but also reminding.
I live next to the California pacific freight train tracks :) ... man ... it is a rare therapy money can't buy
6:34 kudos for synching the outro music so-well with the Locomotive's own soundtrack ~_^ .
The sound of the steam whistle of the Kreigslocs are iconic, and chilling at the same time
Proof that just because something is old or considered obsolete, it can still have practical use and value.
3:35
[German Traindriver here]
I love how the Traindriver just gives 0 Fucks that the Locomotiv is in a sliding condition. (Wheels locked up due to braking force)
And he just ... "naaah it's okay"
this is how it is done when you want to park the train precisely .. the locomotive is used as an anchor
Long experience of Bosnian operators :-)
In our village is Station Beekbergen in the Netherlands. here is the Veluwse Stoom Maatschappij and they have several German steam locomotives from the Second World War.
these trains run almost every weekend on their own railway line from Apeldoorn station to Dieren station.
really worth to visit and ride along!
I’ve been wanting to go there myself, I live close to Rotterdam, is there a schedule anywhere to see if they are running a specific weekend?
It's absolutely harrowing to ponder what those trains may have been hauling during World War 2. I've seen one of the box cars trains like this pulled up close in a museum and it is absolutely haunting when you know the history behind it.
@Kabuki Kitsune so its unlikely that these class 52s in bosnia hauled you-know-what trains right?
As a high school student, I worked after school at Inland Steel as a mail boy. I watched the plant cut huge pieces of steel to make one side of a huge locomotive. It took 2 cranes to lift each piece. It was amazing to watch.
Even Germany's disposable wartime technology has better longevity than most!
Not too many 1940s vintage horses left around
Just don’t pay any attention to their armored vehicle’s transmissions…
@@Arbiter099 Yeah- the replacement cycle on those things is horrendous. Thank goodness they are at least partly self-replicating.
Although in 70 years, almost any part may have been replaced at least once or twice eversince.
@@harroldthered7050 That statement is completely overused though and only fits for late war vehicles. Some people even got as far as claiming that the reliable Panzer III chassis had a bad transmission. It's pretty much on the same level as France surrender jokes by now.
3:29 "er, sir why aren't we stopping?" "I'm giving her all she's got!"
How about give her some sand.
might be just a moment but if these were handled like this all the time, it amazing that they still are operating and not have been scrapped due to the amount of wheels and repairs theese must go through...
Even as not a rail channel Mark knows what we want and cranks the volume up for those steam sounds! Awesome video, there's a brilliant model kit of this locomotive by Trumpter that I'm putting on my model bucket list.
Mark, this is fantastic! Who would have guessed that these old iron horses would still be working. Great subject for a video!
i've seen the plumes of steam they produce in footage from train being strafed by fighter pilots from WW2, but to see the sheer amount of thick steam that machine produces is insane. Really cool to be able to see one operating with quality footage.
Germany went to steam trains to conserve petroleum during the war.
It is only through good management and exceptional maintenance
that these trains are still running today.
Jugoslavia Bosnia people have modified these machines to last longer ... Just like Mercedes .. the so-called Yugoslav FAP ... ;-) people don't know much about history and details but they can be found even on corrupt youtube :-)
Actually about the 10 year thing: the Class 52 steamers art the number 1 most preserved german steam locomotives, since they were well kept by the gdr-Reichsbahn, that sold a lot of them in the 90s, this is allso because of the great simplification and ease of maintinance compared to other german steam locomotives.
And there are a lot still stored out of service in the former RDA, right?
The sight and sound of those trains helps us imagine what it would have been like during the war, loading the trains at the factory, or being wounded and waiting on the platform to be evacuated, or being sent to the front, or, worst of all, to a death camp. Thank you for this video.
Thank you for the comment to the death camps these locos were unfortunately used to bring the victims.
I'm horrified to imagine that for millions. This train and its noises where some of the last sounds they heard before having their humanity stripped from them forever.
"death" camp
I work at a museum operating 2 kriegsloks with one in parts. Part of the maintainance team
My grandpa would LOVE this! He was a WW2 veteran AND a train engineer!
I've never seen them in person, but Bosnia cares for our WW2 stuff. We have tons of WW2 and earlier locomotives still in tact (original) at various places.
Thanks to this video we were able to go to Tuzla and were fortunate enough to ride in and even operate these trains. There's a video on my channel if anyone is interested. Thank you again, Dr. Felton!
My Step Father was driving one of those Kriegslocks The 52 Series for a Decade when he came home from the Gulag in 1955. He would get wet in his Eyes seeing that Video, if he would still live. Kudos to these Bosnians for keeping them running!
Smashed on this video the instant I got the notification.... because I was almost certain I knew what it was going to be about..... and I was right!
I worked in Bosnia in the early 2000s and travelled to Tuzla several times. I used to see these trains when I was in the area and often marveled at the idea of old steam locos still in use.
Funny thing was, I had no idea they were ex-German WW2 stock. But of course, that's what Mark Felton is for..... to dazzle and delight us with fascinating tidbits of history that no one else can.
Bravo Dr. Felton; another gem!
5:40 the technology contrast is impressive
The stack talk these engines make is fantastic! They sound very healthy and are probably kept up better than a good chunk of museum engines here in the states
To be fair these engines are only going 3-4 miles and are getting looked at far more often than the museum trains in the states which travels hundreds if not thousands of miles before getting looked at again.
Plus since these trains are pretty much tourist attractions it probably helps them with buying new parts cause Germany still makes the parts when the need arises.
I wish more people would appreciate trains. Such beautiful vehicles
Thanks I enjoyed the video and history lessen. Keep the trains running. I enjoy the sound.
Kriegslok locomotives were used in Romania when the country was part of the Axis powers but then changed sides towards the end of WW2 and remained in the country. Romania started building a copy which was the 150 class 2-10-0. These continued in service well into the 1970s and at least half a dozen are preserved as static exhibits in museums and even on the platforms of a couple of major stations.
I wonder how many were used at Polesti in the oilfields during WW2.I have no doubt they would have been converted to oilburners due to the massive amount of oil available in the region.
Yet another gem from Mr Felton. I've been a student of WWII for 5 decades and I didn't know these engines still existed. Thank you sir!
Same here! I only knew German steam engines from the gun camera footage of allied fighters strafing them. Always pitied the crews and even the machines a bit, but it was a necessary evil back then. Love the old steam whistles!
Sorry will try that again. Fantastic. Bloody lovely. I am a fireman at the Isle of Wight Steam Railway, a party went from our railway to work the lines for a week. Something I wish I had done. Credit to the engineers and engineering, great video Mark
Fascinating story - very rare to see steam locomotives still doing "real" work these days. I'd be interested to see the cost-benefit analysis that has gone into keeping these rather than buying diesels. Typically they're regarded as too expensive to operate, mostly in manpower and maintenance, and these days secondhand diesels could surely be had quite cheap. But if skilled labor is cheap, coal even cheaper for those who run the mine, and diesel fuel expensive, then I guess it could come out ahead. Plus I get the sense it would be easier to fabricate replacement parts in-house for a steam locomotive than would be for a diesel. With enough time and patience a skilled machinist could make any part ever needed for a steamer, while a diesel if some parts aren't available - not made in decades and spares run out - you're more likely out of luck. Steam locomotives would certainly be more "apocalypse proof."
That's most likely the case. Another thing to consider is familiarity with the machinery. If they've been using these locomotives for decades, then they most likely have a very good idea of what they can do with them. Places like the Balkan's labor costs are much lower, and it's more expensive to ship in fuel from outside of the country, especially nowadays. Having reliable transportation that runs off of fuel that can be locally sourced is a major advantage in a world that is quickly ripping itself apart. I would not be surprised if these locomotives keep running just due to the fact that they are cheaper to keep running than anything else.
The accepted western cost benefit analysis takes no account of the socio political and economic structure of Bosnia. Such analysis is also based on assumption that there is a preexisting pool of available capitol as there would be in western business.
@@mrwrightoser8293 Plus self sufficincy is back in the map, if you mine your own fuel you are more resistant to market panick.
"coal even cheaper for those who run the mine, and diesel fuel expensive"
I worked in a Burlington Railroad car shop that had a coal fired electricity generator, with the coal coming from Wyoming mines owned by the Burlington, and over their own lines. Economics maters..
@@Dutch_Uncle Vertical Integration in an Economy of Scale is nothing new: Henry Ford owned iron ore mines, coal mines, ore and coal boats, steel mills, timber companies, and sawmills, Kingsford charcoal, and just about every input source of raw materials with the exception of oil and rubber companies to control and profit from both supply and waste disposal of making automobiles.
Before goin out in the late 1990's C.F. (Consolidated Freightways) at one time owned every input source into their company except oil and rubber. Pines trailer, Freightliner, etc. were all owned by C.F..
A daily sight when i was young in the GDR
I've seen Tiger II engines, that have been converted into farm generators and they work just fine
I have one word: Wow. What an amazing effort by the team maintaining and crewing these trains.
As an Englishman you have to admire German engineering. Temporary fix only lasts 70 years……. and counting
BMW could learn from this !
In the U.S. the emergency wartime wooden barracks and other service buildings were designed to last from 5 to 10 years and many are still standing and being used on military installations around the country. That's a testament to the abilities of the architects and workers during the Depression and WW2 eras when just about everything was overengineered and overbuilt.
"Somehow with limited spare parts and little money" This is because, when you remove all the fearful regulatory nonsense surrounding them in the western world, and destruction of the infrastructure they need, steam locomotives are by far the simplest, cheapest and easiest kind of locomotive to maintain and operate. They take little more than a basic shop, strong work ethic, strong arms and half an imagination.
Steam locomotives are very maintenance intensive.
I wouldn't exactly agree.
You have a lot of moving parts (wear and vibrations), low fuel efficiency, a 100+ton dead weight tender, a clusterfuck of levers and valves, long warm up times, mostly mechanical or pneumatic controls without computers assistance and in this case only 2 out of 5 engines are operational at anytime.
They are neither simple nor cheap in construction and at this point outdated compared to Diesel-Electric engines.
Steam locomotives are kind of a grey area, large enough for steam to be affordable (compared to cars), but too small for it to be truly efficient. (compared to maritime engines)
The advantage? these are simplified wartime locomotives, so many complicities are either simplified to rule of thumb, not added or crude enough to be fixed in a regular workshop
@@insovietrussiavodka That's what I wrote: "VERY maintenance intensive". Meaning they require a lot of maintenance compared to a Diesel-electric locomotive.
@@BasementEngineer Yes I know, I work on them all the time. They are not maintenance intensive if you do your preventative maintenance. Maintenance intensive is also a relative term as now most people expect their locomotives to be fixed by technicians. And the kind of maintenance they require is easily done in-house.
@@insovietrussiavodka You have just as many moving parts in any diesel locomotive, they are just hidden inside the prime mover and people think they are not there because they are simple minded. Most of them do not in any way have more valves than your average diesel, either, they are just more visible. If you take a modern diesel and look at every moving part in the engine, the automatic spit valves, the copious amounts of relays still required even with solid state augmentation, the brake rigging, slack adjusters, automatic spit valves in the air system etcetera, you won't find this argument holds up. Steam locomotives are simpler than any diesel or modern electric on the market. Building and maintaining a steam locomotive requires a shop of baseline machine tools and nothing like the clean rooms required to service and bench test solid state electronics. The lack of computer control is an advantage, not a disadvantage.
Steam-era electric locomotives were simpler than steam locomotives. Contemporary electric locomotives are far more complicated.
Wartime locomotives have no operational differences to any other simplex 2HP locomotive. Kriegslok has the entire normal range of fittings and operational components as any other comparable steam locomotive excluding compounds or 3HP's.
the certification document for 52 7409 when she was released for mainline service reads (paraphrased here for translation): "authorized for mainline service until the cessation of hostilities on the eastern front." there are also still several engines in semi-regular service on DB rails in eastern Germany in regular freight service, not just in eastern europe. the DR maintained a fairly sizeable fleet of steam motive power right up to re-unification and many of those engines are still running today.
only a handful are "neubauloks" meaning they are all new construction after WWII. but most are either wartime production or the interwar period
edit: the DB still has a large maintenance shop in Meiningen where steam engines from all over the world are sent to be overhauled
It warms my heart to see old machines still putting in work.
This Doctor Felton dude produces some of the most interesting information and well produced videos. And here is, combining two of my favorite subjects. Yeah yeah I'm a dork _and_ a nerd - get stuffed!
While stationed in Germany in the 70's we used the trains quite a lot in traveling, and often, they would be headed by the 10 wheel Steam loco. always fun watching them running on the yard, hooking up etc. The rhythm of the Steam Locos was very evident as they drew their consists to the next destination. Great fun every time. don't know as they were also the Wartime Locos, but they did resemble them.
West germany in the 70s - assuming those where 50s series than they where either BR 50 or BR 051/052/053 - the combination of a BR50 runninh gear and a BR52 boiler/cab. More likely 40s series heavies since west germany ended steam traction in 1976 and the lighter 50s series engines went out of servicr earlier.
Also rare to see a 40,or 50 series in passenger service since they are dedicated cargo haulers. BR38, BR 78 and BR23 where more common where steam was still used and they are different layouts
I saw one of these when I was in southern Germany in 2014. Working and hauling passengers on a tour around the country side. Love the old iron.
This machines lasted in service up to early 90's in Poland. Upgraded by the time. Also produced after war from german documentation and parts left in polish factory that produced it. By decades of use for the benefit of nations once invaded by Germans, they are not kriegslok anymore but depandable work horse. Serving for war was only short episode for these.
The Kriegsloks are a true marvel, one of the few true mechanical success stories of the Third Reich. Simple but powerful, able to handle most anything asked of them from mile long freight work to top link express services, built in their hundreds, and continued to be built into the 1960's under Soviet regimes. These are truly some of the unsung heroes of World War II and the postwar era, keeping Eastern Europe on track up to the turn of the millennium, with many more still in preservation service and still available to lend a wheel when the more modern diesels and electric locos break down.
The 52 is not useable for express service. Express runs at 100-110kph with a BR38 or BR78 not the 80kph 52. Not to mention that the original 52s where jerking a lot so they are somewhat unpleasant to use. They where used in low grade passenger service when nothing else was available but that is all. Even post war upgrade 52s run less smooth than their BR50 half sisters
@@mbr5742 Fair enough, they were far from "ideal" for express duties, but I've heard enough storied of a 52 being drafted on in an emergency, usually when the regular engine had failed. I'll admit the overstatement that suggested they did so regularly, but I maintain that it was not unheard of.
@@sirrliv In the first years after the war "operational" was definitly more important than "dedicated passenger engine"
The germans did use BR 41 (a faster, more powerful 1D1 cargo hauler) in front of passenger trains in regular service sometimes
Magnificent engines. The heritage steam railway business is booming in the West, and these engines are sure to be a huge tourist attraction if marketed properly. I hope they are cherished and find an extra lease of life through tourism. Well done to the mechanics for looking after them so well.
3:40 - Yikes, dragging the locomotive around like that can't be good for the wheels.
Yes, I thought that was my imagination!
It fill my heart to see these ladies still being used in an economically driven way.