Polish State Rwys 2-10-0 Locomotives in Poland

Class Ty-23 (Locobase 1691)

Data from A[nthony] E[dward] Durrant, The Steam Locomotives of Eastern Europe (Newton Abbot:David & Charles, 1972); and "Ty37" on Tomasz Galka's Standard-Gauge Locomotives in Poland website at

[] (21 October 2004 2004, later [], last accessed 20 December 2021.)

It seems odd that so many locomotives should have been built to a design with the defects Durrant describes: "cylinder design was poor, with very small valves and crooked port."

But these Belpaire-boilered drag freight engines suited their assignment well enough because they were "robust and reliable", according to Tomasz Galka. He explains that in the early 20s, as in the early 21st century, coal is the major rail export. At the time of Poland's independence, its holding of freight locomotives was varied, but mostly clapped out or underpowered.

Consequently, Schwartzkopff was entrusted with executing a Polish design beginning in 1923. Although that builder delivered the first 15, it was a trio of Belgian manufacturers that captured the lion's share of early orders: Cockerill (25), St. Leonard (20), and Franco-Belge (15). Then Cegielski (Poznan), Chrzanow, and Parowozow (Warsaw) delivered the remainder from 1927 to 1934.

During the run, operational experience showed that the design was heavy on coal and offered only a modest degree of superheat. A substantial revision of the boiler design resulted in 127 small tubes and 40 flues. Although evaporative heating surface declined by 16%, superheating surface went up by 17%. The last 100 Ty 23s were completed to this specification.

Primarily through conquest and reconquest, Ty 23s eventually operated on most Eastern European rail systems. In Germany, they were BR 58 23-BR 27, five Romanians were class 150.9, Czech examples were 537 class, Yugoslavia had 146s (3 only), the DDR operated some as did postwar Austria. Most of these excursions were brief (probably because of the class's age and general condition). The Soviet Union, however, impressed 173, all or most of which were converted to the 5' 6" gauge.

Ultimately the largest stud remained that of the PKP and these soldiered on until replaced by diesels in the 1960s. Some continued in switcher service, especially on the Soviet border, until the late 1970s.

Class Ty-37 (Locobase 1692)

Updates of the Ty-23s, but basically complete makeovers, according to Tomasz Galka of [] (viewed 21 October 2004). The Belpaire firebox found in the Ty 23 was changed to a convention radial-stay box and the leading truck was combined with the lead driving axle in a Krauss-Helmholz truck. Superheating surface area jumped at the expense of firetube area even as the boiler pressure increased. At the same time, the two cylinders shrank in total volume.

Ten of the 37 were built for the German DR in 1940 as DR 58.2919-28. The Ty 45, which followed after the war (see Locobase 1693, is essentially a postwar Ty-37

Class Ty-45 (Locobase 1693)

Essentially repeats of the Ty-37s with German DR 52-class tenders. Cegielski delivered 258 engines, Chrzanow 190. Data from Polish museum website [] and A[nthony] E[dward] Durrant, The Steam Locomotives of Eastern Europe (Newton Abbot:David & Charles, 1966)

Although Durrant wrote this class had no superheater, the website data indicates large flues. All the factors suggest that this class had superheaters, but neither of these sources has a surface area for the elements. Ultimately, [] (visited 15 June 2005) provided the superheater area.

Class Ty-51 (Locobase 1695)

Data from Tomasz Galka, "Ty51" on the Standard-Gauge Locomotives in Poland website at [], last accessed 25 June 2023. See also A[nthony] E[dward] Durrant, The steam locomotives of Eastern Europe (Abbot Newton: David & Charles, 1966).

Slightly modified Ty-246s (Locobase 965), which came from the US in 1947 with a boxed-in reversing link and a single slidebar, smoke deflectors, and a Polish clerestory cab. Going to school on these "Truman" decapods, Cegielski designed and produced prototypes that demonstrated that the "Stokers", so-called because of their popular mechanical stokers, were a promising addition to heavy freight hauling.

Tomasz Galka noted that initial production exposed some issues: "Most shortcomings were in fact due to poor workmanship quality, inferior technology and low-grade materials; fatigue cracks of side sills were perhaps the most serious damages suffered during service." Modifications remedied most of the problems and, wrote Galka, the Ty-51s "earned a good reputation, being not only powerful and impressive, but also economical and reliable."

Production ended in 1958 with 232 engines because the Polish railways expected to convert to electric traction soon after. 29 of the class immediately reported to Silesian "sand railways".

Most ran on Polish railways well into the 1980s and some sand-railway locomotives only left service in 1993. At least 13 Ty-51s were preserved.