PKP class Ty2

PKP classes Ty2 and Ty42 are freight (T) 2-10-0 (y) steam locomotives used by Polskie Koleje Państwowe (Polish State Railways, PKP) from 1942 (42) onwards. They are Deutsche Reichsbahn class 52 Kriegslokomotiven (war locomotives), either acquired new (Ty42), or secondhand (Ty2), having been built during World War II in factories in many European countries (Germany and occupied countries, including Poland) in 1942-1945.

History

The purpose of this simplified, cheaper to manufacture and reliable locomotive was to operate rail routes in the territories acquired by the Third Reich in the east. Therefore, it locomotives in this series have excellent thermal insulation and an axle load of no more than 15 tonnes (15 long tons; 17 short tons), allowing them to navigate the lines with poor or temporarily repaired lines.

After the defeat of the Third Reich, 1207 locomotives of this series started work on the PKP. In 1962, Poland due to the lack of locomotives, had been forced to buy 220 machines from the Soviet Union. Two hundred of them were incorporated into the class, and 20 purchased from PMP PW Katowice. PKP locomotives renumbered the locomotives Ty2-1208 to Ty-1407, while the PW PMP locomotives kept the last four digits of their German number.