EP02 (also manufactured as Pafawag 1E) is a name for a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

electric locomotive An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or gas ...

. It was made for passenger transport purposes.

Technical features

Few improvements were brought in with this locomotive type. The front and back of the box had dragging and bumping devices installed. The whole body was given a more aerodynamic shape compared to previous models. This machine is of Bo′Bo′ type, meaning that each axle is powered separately. The axles are installed in pairs on two bogies. The bogies had lighter, welded construction which gave the whole vehicle better contact with the rails. The engines used in EP02 were not modern ones, and had a large weight compared with power and small rotation. The engine contained two engineer's compartments on each end, with all the devices necessary for running the locomotive inside. The engine and high voltage compartments were situated in the middle part of the body.

History

After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

almost no

electric locomotives An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or gas t ...

survived in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, and local industry was not yet able to start the production of such vehicles. The solution for this problem was sought mainly abroad and resulted in a decision to buy some components from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The design for EP02 by ''Central Rail Industry Construction Office'' in

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

was ready in 1951.

Introduction

In 1951 the design was sent to Pafawag, but the construction met with a few obstacles, mainly lack of material and parts. The first locos were directed into

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

-Ochota railway district in 1953. Soon many construction faults appeared, like wheel spinning after reaching speed, inconstant drive and vertical shakes. The faults were systematically corrected, and the experience was used during designing the

ET21 ET21 (also manufactured as Pafawag 3E) is a name for a Polish electric freight locomotive produced between years 1957 to 1971 in Pafawag. It was the first post-war Polish electric locomotive, designed in 1955. Besides being delivered for PKP, ET21 ...

and EU06.

Production

Operation

All the EP02s initially operated in

, but soon were moved to

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...

. Once there were enough EU07s, all EP02s were moved to

Dębica Dębica (; yi, דעמביץ ''Dembitz'') is a town in southeastern Poland with 44,692 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is the capital of Dębica County. Since 1999 it has been situated in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship; it had previously been in ...

. In 1971 the last three machines were retired and reassigned to work as heating power supplies (used solely to supply electric power from overhead to heat cars during longer stops at stations, it involved parking them at selected stations and removal of most of the electric, brake and control equipment, retaining only the pantographs and switches associated with the HEP supply). This prolonged EP02s’ life by 24 years—EP02-07 was working as a heating power supply in

Zakopane Zakopane ( Podhale Goral: ''Zokopane'') is a town in the extreme south of Poland, in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of Nowy Sącz Voivodeship; since 1999, it has been par ...

until 1992 and EP02-08 in

Przemyśl Przemyśl (; yi, פשעמישל, Pshemishl; uk, Перемишль, Peremyshl; german: Premissel) is a city in southeastern Poland with 58,721 inhabitants, as of December 2021. In 1999, it became part of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship; it was pr ...

until 1996. During the operation, the locomotives were modified by the addition of automatic brakes and heating systems.

Locomotive assignment

External links

Modern Locos GalleryRail ServiceMikolejeChabówka Rail Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pkp class Ep02 Railway locomotives introduced in 1953 Bo′Bo′ locomotives 3000 V DC locomotives EP02 Pafawag locomotives Standard gauge locomotives of Poland