Photo - Courtesy Eisenbahn Journal Special Issue III/99

Whenever you pick up a German train or model railroad magazine, you can be quite certain that you'll be treated to a photo or two of a BR 50 or BR 52 in one of their many variations. They are unquestionably among the best known of German locomotives. Yet, built concurrently and in some quantity, was an almost identical 1'E (2-10-0) intended for heavy duty service. It was, of course, the BR 42. Too bad, while the BR 42 was not perfect, it certainly was not a failure and it served faithfully not only in Germany but in many other countries.

The BR 42's history is complex and byzantine in both its design development and the political machinations that seem to pay no attention to the immediate times no matter how difficult these may be. I am very fortunate to be fluent in German and when I learned that a special issue of Eisenbahn Journal was devoted entirely to this particular Lok, I knew I had to buy the issue. My fascination with the 1'E freight Loks knows no bounds and I wanted to share my fascination with you. Before arrival of that special issue I had pieced together an article but scrapped it when the far more authoritative issue of Eisenbahn Journal came along. To me it's a fascinating story. So, here goes part 1.

Plans for a heavy freight locomotive go back to 1925. It was to be an standard locomotive based on then existing specifications, a Lok similar to the heavy freight type BR 44 and the lighter BR 50. Development of the BR 42, or 1'E h2 (h2 means superheated steam and two cylinders) was by no means smooth and uneventful.

But there was no action taken and the idea remained dormant. The idea was revived when Austria became part of Germany in 1938. The railroads needed a heavy-duty locomotive that would be able to operate on the grades of the mountainous regions of eastern Austria, the Sudetenland and other eastern regions.

The proven types BR 43 and BR 44, with their axle loading of 20 tons, were too heavy for then existing Austrian rail network. The BR 50, on the other hand, with its 15 ton axle loading, was considered too light. Thus, a new type with an anticipated 18 ton loading, was needed. The locomotive was designed to use the running gear of the BR 50 and the boiler was to be a modified BR 44 unit. Calculations showed that such a design would produce about 1,850 hp, weigh in at 90 tons and meet the required axle loading.

Further, a Knorr preheater was specified, as were the large Wagner smoke deflectors. The tender was to be the standard issue 2'2'T34 tender. The hope was to complete 100 of the new locomotives, now designated BR 42, for the Deutsche Reichsbahn Gesellschaft (DRG) in 1942. The design was the last one started and completed using a peacetime specifications. As the war escalated and potential material shortages loomed on the horizon, a simplification of the basic BR 42 design had to be considered.

Thus, in March 1942 proposals for an austerity heavy freight locomotive were discussed at the Ministry of Armaments and Munitions, but the request for an engine of 20 tons axle loading did not result in any design effort and production of the standard 3-cylinder BR 44 was continued. More time was lost.

The idea was resurrected in 1943; however, this time married to an axle loading of 18 tons. A much simpler locomotive along the lines of the BR 52 was visualized. Missing were the feed dome, feed water heater, piston feed pump. Also there was no second sand dome and no front apron. In place of the standard cab, it was suggested to make use of the so-called Norwegian cab, a cab much suitable to cold regions. The braking system was to be simplified. Not even a large whistle but rather the small Prussian whistle. The latter must have sounded puny on a Lok the size and mass of the BR 42.

The result of all this was that 20 different proposals were submitted which met the DRG's requirements. Keep in mind that there were dozens of locomotive builders in Germany. Much as in the U.S. aerospace industry, there was a prime contractor and in this case it was Henschel & Sohn (Henschel & Son) in Kassel. Now, enter politics.

On April 23, 1942, the proposal for the BR 42 locomotive was rejected categorically by Herr Gerhard Degenkolb, director of the Hauptausschuss Schienenfahrzeuge (Committee for Railroad Motive and Rolling Stock). Herr Degenkolb was known to be a particularly autocratic and headstrong individual. His argument was that initiation of the BR 42 program would conflict with his much more grandiose so-called Führerprogram for 15,000 BR 44 locomotives. In his mind, the BR 42 could get started when the Führerprogramm was finished. On August 17, 1942, he even rejected the building of 10 test BR 42s. Enter the Gedob. That's an acronym for General Direktor Ostbahn and it means General Directorate of Eastern Railroads, headquartered in Cracow, Poland. Ostbahn means eastern railroads and included the railroads in the occupied eastern territories.

The Gedob had other ideas. In simplest of terms, they wanted a locomotive heavier than the BR50 and the BR 52. Without consulting the demanding Degenkolb, the Gedob issued RFPs (requests for proposals) to all of the German locomotive builders on August 4, 1942. The recipients had until August 27, '42 to submit designs. Gedob made it known that they had in mind something like the Polish Ty 37, also a 1'E configuration. One of the reasons Gedob favored the Polish design is that it was proven and therefore less risky design.

And now a word about the Polish designation system. It's very simple. T = freight locomotive; y = wheel (axle) arrangement and the two digit number (42, 43, etc.) means year.

Initially, the Gedob ordered 20 of the Type Ty 41 but canceled the contract when it became apparent that the BR 42 Einheitslok would see the light of day after all. But, the Ty 41 was not forgotten. See what I mean about convoluted politics?

Briefly jumping ahead to 1945 and the end of the war, the Krenau factory in Poland, which was part of Henschel at the time, built no fewer than 448 Loks of the type Ty 41. By then, its designation had become Ty 45. These engines were nearly identical to the BR 42 except for minor changes. They also used the standard 2'2'T30 tub tender.

A few words about the reasoning behind the tub tender. The semi-circular design represents the largest volume for the least amount of construction material. In addition, it is an inherently strong structure that does not require much in the way of a frame to support it. Initially, the design was developed Westwaggon Köln (West Wagons Cologne) for the BR 52. While on the subject of tenders, it is important to mention that in February/March 1943 the industry issued RFPs for high capacity tenders and water tank cars to accommodate locomotives traveling through arid regions. One proposal was for an eight-sided designated K4T40 and its smaller version the K4T36, which would be for the BR 52. In all, 500 high capacity tenders and an equal number of water tank cars. But, the Lok builders favored the Henschel-developed condensing tender and the former idea was dropped.

When the Association of Greater German Lokomotive Constructors finally got down to business, no fewer than 20 designs were submitted, most of which were very similar. The designs were to be in hand by December 4, 1942. Designs came down to two basic structures.

• Locomotive with a frame built up of welded plate and a Brotan boiler. (The Brotan water-

tube fireboxes used a vertical tube arrangement. The Brotan design differs mainly in the type of firebox. In a normal boiler the walls of the firebox are made of copper or steel plates whereas the walls of the firebox in a Brotan boiler are made of tubes. The water enters these tubes from below leaves through the top. The top end of the tubes end in a single large tube, the so-called Brotan tube.)

• Locomotive with a frame built up from bar stock and using a conventional boiler.

Still, this was not settled and some swapping around took place. The Brotan boiler went with the forgings frame and the conventional boiler would up with the welded plate frame.

More political machinations followed. The 15,000 engine Führerprogramm was split into 7,000 BR 52s and 8,000 BR 42s. The BR 42s were to be completed by January/February 1944 and then production of the BR 42 could commence. Keep in mind that BR 42 production was to have started in August 1942. But, on September 8, 1942, 3,000 BR 42s were cut from the program. Why? Because Degenkolb, wanted to develop a third standard extra-heavy duty freight engine. According to an article in the 1/79 issue of Märklin Magazin, RFPs were indeed issued and designs submitted. Could this have been the fabled (1'C) D Borsig modeled by Märklin?

But even the most ardent believers in the then prevailing political philosophy in Germany must have realized, albeit unspoken, that the sands of time were running out rapidly. Building BR 42 locomotives, an extra heavy duty freight locomotive or any other Loks for that matter would not have one iota of positive influence on the end of the war.

It came down to this. Production of the BR 42 was to include 2,500 with conventional boilers. 1,150 with Brotan boilers and 650 with condensing tenders. The two prototypes

(BR 42 0001 and 42 0002) were built by the Wiener Lokomotiv Fabrik (WLF) in Floridsdorf (near Vienna). WLF was part of the Henschel organization. These Loks had the somewhat controversial Brotan boiler and they were delivered to the ÖstB (Austrian National Railways) section and were further modified to bring the axle load down to 17 tons. In terms of simplified construction and materials, the BR 42 surpassed even the standards laid down for the BR 52.

Production

Seven major locomotive builders were each assigned blocks of locomotives. The builders were Henschel & Sohn (BR 42 0001 - 0500); Schwarzkopff (42 501 - 1000), Schichau in Elbing (42 1001 - 1500) Maschinenwerk Esslingen in Esslingen (42 1501 - 1800), Borsig in Berlin/Hennigsdorf (42 1801 - 2300), FLW (42 2301 - 2800) and Krauss Maffei in Munich (42 2801 - 3300). This accounts for 3,300 engine, considerably fewer than the plan for 8,000.

It is noteworthy to point out that Henschel only built the two prototypes (42 0001 and 0002) and no production engines with 42 0003 through 42 0500 being canceled.

Serial numbers allocated to the BR 42 are shown in the accompanying table, which is published in the special III/99 issue of Eisenbahn Journal devoted entirely to the BR 42.

The Brotan boiler never made it to production. The boiler barrel was the same diameter as on the BR 44 and the throat plate flanging blocks and the firebox were the same but the length between the tube plates was 39 in. shorter. The tube arrangement and spacing of the BR 44 was repeated but more water space was gained by using 2 in. diameter tubes instead of the 2.12 in. of the BR 44. The flues measured 5.23 in. instead of 5.63 in. As in the BR 52, the importance of easy maintenance was stressed. The larger boiler of the BR 42 had 17 small washout plugs and 17 handholes.

Despite the change to frames made from plate for the lighter BR 52, frames made from 3.55 in. bar stock were used for all BR 42s. Overhang at each end was the same, within a few mm, as those of the BR 52s. Many BR 42 frames were not machined except for bolting and sliding surfaces and the number of attaching bolts between frames and crossmember, buffer beams and the like was 50% fewer than on the BR 50. No attempt was made to weld anything other than thin plates.

Connecting rods were simplified by using a plain bushing big end without adjustment, and this gave a simpler drop stamping which, as before, was butt-welded to a rolled steel unmachined shank. Plain cast iron bushings with whitemetal lining were tried in big and small ends of the early production locomotives, but were quite unsatisfactory and had to be replaced with steel shells lined with the wartime whitemetal alloy. Connecting rods were 10 ft 5 in. long or 9.6 times the crank throw.

Brake rigging was the same as the BR 52 and applied the same long 31.5 in. double shoe to the forward side of each coupled wheel, with pressure from a Knorr air cylinder beneath the cab on each side. Straight or automatic applications could be made.

Heating for the cab floor was installed, along with special steam coils in the lubrication system to keep oil flowing during the severe Eastern winters, and as in the BR 52 the cab was fully enclosed but with a bellows cover over the space between the cab backplate and the tender. The problem with the enclosed cabs was not the winter but the summer. Poor ventilation made them quite intolerable in the summer.

A word about performance. Since there were not always facilities to turn locomotives around at the end of a run, it was imperative that the engine could operate conventionally as well as tender-first at the same speed. The production BR 42 was an 80/80 (50/50) engine; i.e., 80 km/h (50 mph) in either direction. That was not the case for the BR 42 Kon (condensing tender) version. Its maximum speed was 80/50 km/h (50/30 mph). An accompanying table provides additional technical data about the BR 42 and now it compares to the other Kriegslok, the BR 52. And so, the BR 42 moved into production.

Editor's Note: The author is planning Part 2 of this article. It will cover the BR 42’s use by the DRG, the post war years covering the DB and DR and use in other countries.

Specifications for 42 0001

 The BR 42 - The Almost Forgotten Austerity Lok In Service

 In keeping with the promise I made in EXPRESS No. 84 three years ago, here finally is the second installment to my article “The BR 42 – The Almost Forgotten Austerity Lok.” Once again I turn to Eisenbahn Journal Special Issue III/99. The service life of the BR 42 covered the years of World War 2 to the early 1990s. This locomotive served both German railroads as well as in western and eastern Europe.

 Service to the end of the World War Two

From one standpoint, the BR 42 was the right Lok at the wrong time. Its short career during the second World War was not a happy one, a situation no doubt brought on by the fact that the prototypes 42 0001 and 42 0002 were never fully “debugged.” Under more normal circumstances and with careful testing, fine tuning and the necessary modifications, the full potential of the machine would most certainly have been realized.

            The two prototype engines were evaluated at the test and development center Grunewald in Berlin and then stationed at Bw (Bw – Betriebswerk is a general locomotive servicing facility) Nürnberg until the end of the war. The production machines were allocated to Stuttgart, Karlsruhe and Germany’s middle (Danzig) and western regions. Dresden was home to a number of them as was Reichsbahn district Villach, Linz (Austria) and Vienna. The rapidly increasing confusion in Germany in late 1944 and 1945 made it very difficult, if not impossible, to maintain accurate records pertaining to the home locations for these engines.

            Despite its many shortcomings, every effort was made to make best use of this locomotive during these trying times. Crews and maintenance personnel praised and damned the Loks. At speeds of a modest 37 mph (60 km/h) the BR 42 exhibited, what might charitably be called, jerky performance, especially when not under load. Coal consumption was excessive. The single biggest obstacle to reliable and efficient performance was the firebox. Premature failures were common and a trip back to the overhaul facility was a must. The enclosed cabin made life very comfortable in the winter but proved unbearable in the summer, especially with the nearby hot injection pumps. Material scarcities were widespread and by May 1945 had become acute. While the lighter duty BR 50s and 52s covered up to 185 miles (300 km) a day, 62 miles (100 km) was considered good for a BR 42. There were BR 42s which had moved under steam only for their acceptance run and then parked. That production of the BR 42 continued after the war, despite problems too numerous to mention here, was, to say the least, testimony to the basic soundness of the design.

 Service from 1945 to Phase Out

Despite the enormous destruction of Germany, of the 844 BR 42s that were built during that time, only one machine was destroyed and that by a direct bomb hit. The 843 machines were distributed throughout the four occupation zones and Austria with a very small number remaining behind in various formerly occupied European countries.

            With this number of machines to start with, the Reichsbahn added 217 more. These had been in various stages of completion at war’s end. Maschinenfabrik Esslingen built 16, Wiener Lokfabrik Floridsdorf (WLF) built 72, the Chrzanow shops in Poland completed 126 and RAW Stendal finished three.

            As economic conditions improved throughout Europe, the BR 42 also became healthier. It wasn’t the best locomotive to be found anywhere but still a very sound engine that served in a great many roles well into the 1980s. The last ones were phased out by the Polish National Railways (PKP). The accompanying table shows the disposition of these machines after World War Two.

Let’s start in East Germany. There were 73 BR 42s in the Soviet Zone as of early June 1945, of these 68 were positively identified. About July of the same year, as U.S. forces withdrew from Thuringia, they took eight (42 2331 and 42 2333 – 42 2339) locomotives with them. In much the same vain, the Soviets expropriated 19 more, leaving the DR with a grand total of 49 engines. They were based in Berlin, Halle, Erfurt, Dresden and Magdeburg with the bulk of them in Erfurt. The were 42 188, 570, 572, 589, 742 - 745, 1016, 1791- 1794, and 1797 – 1799.

            As life returned to some small semblance of normalcy, the BR 42s saw service with little, and in some cases, no significant maintenance. In fact, some of the engines (Schwartzkopff

42 845 – 859) were, for all practical purposes, brand new. In fact, the BR 42 were in better shape than most of the engines in the DR’s inventories, but all of them were worked very hard and soon the known weaknesses of these machines began to show. Poor coal, bad water, unavailable and second-rate lubricants all contributed to the engines’ troubles. Subsequently by the Fall of 1945 there were only 41 useable BR 42s in DR service. They were used for passenger and heavy freight service, as helper engines and just about use imaginable.

            The Russian occupation forces modified their 42s to include a third headlight as well as a large red star in front. The Russians used these Loks not only to meet their troop transport requirements but also to haul hundreds of freight trains hauling reparations and dismantled factories east to the Soviet Union. The 50 mph (80 km/h) speed of the engine suited the Russians for passenger service but there did come a time when they demanded a little more speed in form of a BR 01 for their so-called “Blue Express.”

            In 1947, the Reichsbahn reviewed where its various locomotives were stationed. Even though the review was never fully completed, some changes were implemented. By January 1, 1950, all BR 42s stationed in Erfurt were gradually withdrawn from that region and these machines were assigned to Dresden, Karl-Marx Stadt (Chemnitz), Schöneweide near Berlin and Greifswald near Stralsund.

            The Reichsbahn’s loss of 27 machines to the U.S. and Soviet occupation forces resulted in a 37 percent reduction of serviceable BR 42s. By 1948 the opportunity arose for the DR to once again add a few of this type to its inventory. The Soviets did not express any interest in three partially completed machines at what was left of the Schwatzkopff shops, which had been almost completely dismantled by the Russians and shipped east. Thus, after clearance by SMAD (Soviet Military Administration – Germany), 42 857, 858 and 860 were disassembled and moved to the overhaul facilities in Stendal in the late Fall of 1948. There was a great deal of uncertainty that the boiler numbers matched the frame numbers. Further, for one of the engines several large castings had to be manufactured and machined. As a result, the old running numbers (above) were no longer valid and the DR assigned numbers 42 001, 002 and 003 to these engines.

By 1963 more changes took place. All remaining BR 42s were concentrated in the two Greifswald maintenance facilities of Angermünde and Pasewalk. Angermünde began receiving oil-fired BR 50⁵⁰s to replace the aging BR 42s. The last of the 42s were phased out in 1969. It wasn’t a bad run for a locomotive that had a rocky start in 1943. But, that’s not the end of the BR 42 in East Germany.

In the meantime, the then DR West (eventually to become the DB) had renumbered its 42 0001 and 0002 to 42 001 and 002 and 42 1607 was changed to 42 003. Talk about potential confusion.

By the mid-1950s the DR had repaired most of their BR 42s and returned them to service. The time had come to think seriously about major overhauls and modifications. To start with, the DR started by removing wartime modifications that had been done to simplify the engines and replace those parts with standard parts. The flat smoke box doors were replaced with those of the original design featuring the central closure handwheel. New tires were put on all the BR 42s. The electrical generator was relocated from its overly hot location to a cooler place on top of the boiler. The pop safety valves were replaced with Ackermann safety valves. Better ventilation was provided for the engineer and fireman. All in all, the DR did what it could to make their

BR 42s into more reliable and better performing machines.

 Plans for a new BR 42

As early as 1948/49 the DR made tentative plans to expand its pool of steam locomotives with some entirely new designs but nothing definitive took place until 1952. The Central Construction Bureau submitted designs for no fewer than seven new steam locomotives which included three engines with separate tenders (i.e., not tank engines). One of the designs was a 1’E freight locomotive with 18 ton axle loading which unashamedly drew a great deal from the existing BR 42 but included new design features and construction methods. The welded plate frame and a high efficiency firebox were major design changes.

            The frame was slightly longer to accommodate the longer boiler which resulted in increased spacing between the fourth and fifth axles. Cylinder bore was increased by 0.787 in. (20 mm). The regulator for superheated steam, the feed dome, and the mixing preheater were all new designs. The tub tender was a 2’2’T34 configuration of larger capacity. Speed of the new BR 42 was set at 44 mph (70 km/h) because the welded plate frame really was not proven through extensive service experience.

            To collect test data that might be used in design and development of the new freight locomotive, the DR (East) issued a contract to the test center in Halle to evaluate the BR 42 with a feedwater preheater. Since the DR did not have any BR 42s with this feature, there was no recourse other than to install one. In 1954 engine 42 816 was selected for installation of a Knorr preheater in front of the smokestack on top of the boiler. The necessary feedwater pump was secured on the left side of the boiler. A second feedwater pump, a Friedmann injection unit, was retained from the original engine configuration. Other modifications to 42 816 included a chimney extension and an additional cab window.

            There is every indication that there were long test runs with medium and heavy freight trains over flat and hilly regions in East Germany. These tests confirmed what the DRG had already learned from BR 42 591 (Knorr preheater) and 42 2637 (Heinl preheater), namely coal savings up to 10 percent.

 The End of the Line

By 1954, the DR (East) still had 48 BR 42s in service and these were used extensively from 1955 to 1960. They saw service in unit-freight trains which often exceeded 1,700 tons. With the availability of anthracite coal, these BR 42s really showed what they were capable of, despite their inherent design shortcomings.

About 1960 the BR 42’s star began to dim and by 1963 ten more were taken out of service. The remaining 36 machines were stationed at Reichsbahn District Greifswald and used extensively hauling heavy freight trains to Berlin. They were also used for fast freights hauling perishable foodstuffs. Unlike the BR 44, 50 and 52, the BR 42 rarely, if ever, saw passenger service. By 1966 the ultimate fate of the BR 42 was no longer a question since its duties were taken over more modern motive power, such as the oil-fired Reko BR 50s. Then came heavy diesels and soon the BR 42 soon was history. By 1968, 28 more BR 42s were taken out of service and by 1970 it was over for this heavy freight locomotive.

 Reichsbahn (West) and Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB)

Before formation of the Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB), the railnet in the Western occupation zones (USA, UK and France) was known as the Reichsbahn (West). The BR 42 in the West comprised 701 engines, as follows:

• 654 in the three Western occupation zones.
• 2 in France.
• 8 confiscated by U.S. troops in Thuringia.
• 16 built by Maschinenwerk Esslingen between 1945 and 1947.
• 21 in the Saar region.

Never at any time were all of these locomotives available for service. As early as September 1945, engine 42 1597, together with 19 1001 and 52 2006, were shipped to Ft. Eustis in Virginia for evaluation. On the other hand, the SNCF returned 42 1886 and 42 1900 to the Reichsbahn (West). When the Saar region was returned to Germany in 1952, 21 additional BR 42s became available but, at the same time, other BR 42s were, as well as BR 52s, were taken out of service. In 1950 there were still 649 BR 42s in inventory but only 113 of these were in actual service. It was no secret that the DB was interested in reducing its considerable inventory of BR 52s as well as BR 42s and on October 12, 1951 an event took place that, for all practical purposes, marked the end of the line for the BR 42. On that day 42 1893 was totally destroyed by a massive boiler explosion. Luckily nobody was hurt but absolutely nothing was left of the engine’s boiler or the rest for that matter. By 1952 an additional 80 of the type were taken out of service with only 78 remaining in service. One year later another lot of 142 were sidelined and by December 31, 1953 only 427 remained in the inventory with a mere 16 still in use. Only four of the ones built after the war were spared. All of the BR 42s were taken out of service by October 26, 1954.

Actually, there were some survivors. Six engines were spared with one of them being 42 001, the prototype with the Brotan boiler. Another one was 42 2339 which the Americans had taken with them when they vacated Thuringia. These and the remaining six received a reprieve but by March 27, 1956 these too were gone. The 21 machines that had come from the Saar Railroad remained in service a while longer but these too were finished by October 1962.

As BR 42s were taken out of service, the DB gave many of them to the SNCF in return for BR 44s still in France. The SNCF did not use the engines they received in the exchange and, in effect, scrapped them. This exchange was on order of a French government agency.

The considerable number of BR 42s were widely scattered throughout West Germany and they were distributed among 43 different Betriebswerke (servicing facilities) but in reality no more than dozen of these facilities maintained the BR 42s that were actually in use. Most of the serviceable ones were stationed at Braunschweig, Hameln, Hildesheim, Minden and Kirchweyhe with the ones built after the war being cared for in Stuttgart. The Saar Railroad maintained theirs in Saarbrücken.

In the West, BR 42s were used almost exclusively for freight operations, including express freight trains. The Saar Railroad used them primarily for hauling heavy coal and ore trains. As the end neared, as is so often the case, these once so useful engines were relegated to switcher service.

 The DB Upgrades the BR 42

In the period immediately following World War Two, the Reichsbahn (West) realized that it could not do without the BR 42s and therefore had to take steps to make some very necessary improvements.

For starters, three engines were fitted with new boilers. Then, some 25 Loks were selected to be updated, that is, have some of the wartime simplifications corrected. The most important improvements included spacer bolts with some built in movement and cross tierods replaced the rigid boiler separator or spacer bolts, replacement of the cast iron journal bearing surfaces with similar parts made from steel. Axle and rod bearings were also upgraded to more abrasion-resistant alloys. Other improvements were made to the induced draft system and the auxiliary blower and a chimney extension were also approved. Additional air vents were incorporated into the ash receptacle. New tires with a different profile and installation of De Limon wheel flange lubricators were also part of the overall upgrading of these fundamentally sound locomotives.

Improvements were made to the cab ventilation system, clearer windows, and on some of the engines, the headlights were relocated to the buffer and coupler mounting structure. Frost protection devices were removed. Steps and walkways were fitted with gripping surfaces for increased safety. In reality only a few BR 42s were thus improved because with the continually improving West German economy, Marshall plan aid, and currency reform all pointed the way to replacing these locomotives with much newer motive power including electric and diesel engines.

Outside of Germany

Since Austria was annexed by the Third Reich, it stands to reason that a considerable number of BR 42s wound up in service of the ÖStB (Austrian State Railways). At the end of the war there were 86 BR 42s in Austria. Of these, the newly created ÖBB (Austrian Federal Railways) was able to retain 51, most of which were built by WLF. The Soviet occupation troops did not consider those built by WLF as being German property and thus did not confiscate them as war booty. There were, however, 35 others that were removed to the Soviet Union until 1948. Of the 51 machines, 16 were so heavily damaged that it was impractical to affect repairs. The Allied occupation powers permitted WLF to complete a Reichsbahn contract for 14 engines (42 2702 to 2715).

As early as 1949, the ÖBB’s electrification program had made significant progress, making some of the brand new BR 42s surplus. WLF had to find buyers but it was not until the end of 1952 that the last of these locomotives was sold.

Once things were reasonably back to normal, the ÖBB had at its disposal 51 BR 42s. Unlike the Deutsche Bundesbahn, the Austrians were quite pleased with the KDL 3 (KriegsDampfLokomotive 3 – third war engine or BR 42). The ÖBB dispensed with the cold weather equipment, converted a number of the tenders to Kabinentenders (cabin tenders) and even converted a few engines to oil firing. They did not incorporate any of the modifications favored by the DB.

The Austrians used the BR 42s exactly for what it was intended – heavy freight service. In many instances such freights were double-headed and, as frosting on the cake, used a third one as a pusher. It must have been an impressive sight. By 1955 the electrification program was well underway and the need for the BR 42 declined accordingly. Therefore, the ÖBB turned 25 BR 42s over to the MAV (Hungarian State Railways). By 1963 only a few remained in ÖBB service and just one year later only three were still in use. Three years after that the last BR 42 was taken out of service. The only machine to survive was 42 2708 which is now in the Strasshof Museum.

 Bulgaria

The Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) have a long history of buying German locomotives, in fact this relationship goes back to the days before World War 1. Therefore, it is a little unusual that the BDZ did not acquire any BR 42 until the early 1950s. The BDZ was approached by the Vienna Locomotive Works (WLF) about taking 33 of these machine off their hands. Long, complicated negotiations followed and by March 1952 took delivery of six BR 42s and by October of the same year, the other 27 followed. They were designated as Type 16 and numbered 16.01 to 16.33.

As in the case of the PKP, these locomotives were initially used as delivered but by 1955 the BDZ started to modify them to meet their specific requirements. One minor change was to curved smoke deflectors in place of the bent ones. Spark arrestors were fitted as well as a third headlight in the center of the smokebox door. American-style “cowcatchers” replaced the German-style rail clearers. All in all, the BDZ was very satisfied with these locomotives.

Two depots in northern Bulgaria housed the majority of the Type 16s. All of them were still in service in 1985 but by the early 1990s they too were phased out. The Bavarian Railway Museum in Nördlingen acquired engine 16.16 and houses it in its museum, a fitting resting place for an engine that had worked hard all its life.

Hungary was occupied by the Soviet army in April 1945. The 38 BR 42s left behind by the German army were promptly taken to the Soviet Union. The MAV had received 25 of the type from Austria but of these 20 were immediately scrapped. In 1957/58 five BR 42s were rebuilt, numbered 501.001 to 501.005 but only used for about a year and a half before also being scrapped.

The after World War 2 created Luxemburg State Railways (CFL) started life with one BR 42, specifically 42 1503. How it came to the CFL is uncertain. The CFL designated the BR 42 as the Type 55 and thus 42 1503 became 5501. During the months of December 1949 and January 1950, the CFL bought 20 more from the WLF, becoming sequentially numbered from 5501 to 5520.

Until the early 1960s, the CFL used these machines almost exclusively for hauling heavy coal and ore unit trains covering the Luxembourg, Belgium, France region. In 1964 all of the engines were taken out of service with only 5519 (Ex-42 2718) surviving. The town of Bettembourg bought this engine and put it on static display. By 1989, 5519 was in pretty sorry condition and was removed from its location to be restored to operating condition. The restoration was done at the DB’s Meiningen (in Thuringia) shops. A completely new BR 42 emerged on October 4, 1991, a proud monument to an often maligned heavy freight locomotive. In 2001, during the Lok’s mandatory 10-year inspection, it was found that the boiler needed replacement. Somehow the money was found and so now this fine example of steam power is once again able to haul railfans on fan trips.

 Poland

Poland made extensive use of the BR 42 after 1945 when the re-birth of the PKP (Polish State Railways) took place. The PKP recovered three BR 42s (42 1426, 1427 and 1504) and redesignated them Ty3-1 to 3-3. Until 1946, the locomotive factory at Chrzanow delivered an additional 126 BR 42s of which 124 went directly to the PKP. These engines resulted from a Reichsbahn contract awarded shortly before the end of the war and these engines were designated Ty 43.

The Ty 43 was the same as the BR 42s of the Reichsbahn but by the 1950s the PKP began to make modifications to meet its specific requirements. One of the first modifications was to exchange the German signal lanterns were replaced with the much larger Polish ones. Smokestacks were extended. The smokebox doors were replaced with flat design favored by the PKP. The Friedmann injection pump was replaced with a non-suctioning unit. Snowplows replaced the much simpler DR rail clearing devices. The floors of the tub tenders were strengthened and a few of the engines were even converted to oil-firing.

  Until 1951 the PKP owned 127 of the Ty 43 and between 1952 and 1954 two more joined the fleet having come from industrial service. Ten depots serviced these locomotives, including two formerly German sites. As late as 1970, Ty 43s served on the important Poznan (Posen) to Warsaw freight line but the increasing electrification of this line and other important ones decreased the PKP’s dependence on the Ty 43. Came 1984/85, a time when most steam had already disappeared in much of Europe, the PKP sidelined a number of Ty 43 at the Bialogard depot. As the 1980s became the early 1990s, more and more of these machine were taken out of service. Unlike most railroads that operated the BR 42 almost exclusively in freight service, the PKP routinely used its Ty 43s for passenger service. In 1990 Ty 43-126 (ex-DR 42 1427) was restored and given back its original road number Ty 3-2. Two more Ty 43 were sold to Germany, including Ty 43-127 (Ex-Ty 3-3, ex-42 1504.

 Romania

The Romanian State Railways (CFR) took over two BR 42s (42 2395 and 2508) after the end of the war. It is uncertain how the CFR acquired these but in all probability they might have been provided by the Soviets. Until 1948, both used the DR’s numbers but then they were re-numbered 150.1201 and 1202. Both were converted to oil firing and used in heavy freight service. They served until about 1965 when they were phased out.

Between 1945 and 1948, Soviet troops confiscated 19 BR 42s from the DR in Germany and 35 from the ÖStB in Austria. The Russians designated these engines as Type TL but they retained the engines’ running numbers. They also carried out various modifications, the principal one being re-gauging to 1,524 mm but they also changed the smoke box door to the typical flat Russian design, removed the spark arrestor, installed Russian turbo-generators and safety valves. The screw couplers were replaced with Russian buffer couplers. The last of the BR 42s were taken out of service by the end of the 1950s.

In light of the many satisfied customers for the BR 42, the authors, Hans Wiegard and Manfred Weisbrod, of the Eisenbahn Journal Special Issue make a point out the DR and DB’s lack of enthusiasm for this engine might have been based on preconceived notions, but that’s another story.

BDZ – Bulgarian National Railways

CFL – Luxemburg National Railways

CFR – Rumanian State Railways

ÖBB – Austria Federal Railways

PKP – Polish State Railways

SNCF – France National Railways

SZD – Soviet State Railways

Sources:

“Die BR 42 – Eine Kriegslokomotive,” Eisenbahn Journal Sonderausgabe, III/99.

“Dampflokomotive 5519 wieder daheim in Luxemburg,” Märklin Magazin, 04/2002, p. 62 – 65.

Note – This locomotive can be seen at www.dampflokomotive5519.de

Loco Profile 18, German Austerity 2-10-0, by Brian Reed, Profile Publications, October 1971.

"Borsig Entwurf einer Mallet Schlepptenderlok", Märklin Magazin, 1/79, p. 33.

"8000 Geplante Lokomotiven der BR 42 Serie"; M&F Journal, 4/1976, p. 4.