Polish State Rwys 2-8-2 Locomotives in Poland

Class Pt-31 / BR 19 1 (Locobase 1681)

Data from the English-language Polish steam locomotive site [], accessed 9 January 2007. See also A[nthony] E[dward] Durrant, The Steam Locomotives of Eastern Europe (Newton Abbot:David & Charles, 1966).

All Polish Mikes had the Krauss-Helmholz truck, which combined the leading pony truck with the front driving axle. According to Tomas Galka's website, the Pt-31 design grew out of need to shrink the Pu-29 after trials showed the latter to be too big and heavy. The designers succeeded in paring weight and length while increasing heating surface areas. The result: "Tests began immediately and results were satisfactory, overall efficiency being comparable to that of the state-of-the-art European machines. Crews praised ease of maintenance and good running qualities."

Intended as a run of 110 locomotives, only 98 had been delivered when Germany and the Soviet Union overran Poland in September 1939. Those that came from Polish service were designated by the DRG as BR 19 101-19 154, while 12 others that had been started in production were completed as BR 39 1001-39 1012.

Galka adds an appreciation by the Pt-31's German operators:"Germans v with their unquestionable achievements in railway engineering v held Pt31s in surprisingly high esteem and considered them especially suitable for heavy drafts in mountainous regions .... In fact, DRG had no comparable locomotive of indigenous design: class 22 with the same axle arrangement was substantially weaker ..." The DRG ran its BR 19 1 and 39 10s in southern Germany and Austria.

Some were returned after the war, but others went to Russia and still others to Austria (class 919), Czechoslovakia (488), and Hungary. Durrant encountered the Austrian engines and comments that "they were a better engine for this line [the Austrian Sudbahn] than either of the native 4-8-0 or 2-8-4 types."

Class Pt-47 (Locobase 1682)

Data from Polish museum website [] and AE A[nthony] E[dward] Durrant, The steam loc.

Built as post-World War II repeats of the Pt-31s (Locobase 1681), 120 of these engines came from Chrzanow, 60 from Cegielski. Differences included a combined sand and steam dome (which dried the sand out for smoother operation), a welded firebox with 3 arch tubes, and a mechanical stoker. A constant was the Krauss-Helmholz truck, which combined the leading pony truck with the front driving axle.

Colin Garratt (Steam Trains of the World, 1987) says they were "the most perfect example of the Polish school of design ...they had all the characteristics of a Pacific in that they [were] extremely fast engines but, as the Mikados, they orient towards moderate speeds with heavier trains and more rapid starts."

Sturdy, simple and durable -- these engines persisted into the 1980s.

Reder (1974) and A[nthony] E[dward] Durrant, The steam loc

Class Tkt-48 (Locobase 1696)

Data from Polish museum website [], [] (visited 1 June 2005), and AE A[nthony] E[dward] Durrant, The steam loc.

Although classed as freight engine and possessing the relatively small drivers, these engines served primarily as local passenger locomotives. Colin Garratt (Steam Trains of the World, 1987) notes that production was shared by Chrzanow (100) and Cegielski (94).

[] says 6 later wound up in Albania. [] (August 2002) confirms the other data and adds a side view with dimensions.