The

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

s of Südbahn Class 23 (old) were

goods train Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers. A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) hauled ...

engines worked by the

Austrian Southern Railway The Austrian Southern Railway (german: link=no, Österreichische Südbahn) is a long double track railway, which linked the capital Vienna with Trieste, former main seaport of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, by railway for the first time. It now ...

(''österreichische Südbahn'').

History

The precursors to the Austrian Southern Railway had a very disparate fleet of goods locomotives. The Southern Railway therefore had a six-coupled freight locomotive developed which was based the French ''Bourbonnais'' prototype. This series was initially given the designation 23, but was reclassified to 29 in 1864. The

Lokomotivfabrik der StEG In 1839 the Lokomotivfabrik der StEG became the first Austrian locomotive works to be founded and it produced many influential locomotive designs. The factory was built in 1839 by the Vienna-Raab Railway between the Vienna Südbahnhof and Vienn ...

engine works delivered 20 units in 1860, which proved themselves so well that a total of 205 were built up to 1872 by this factory along with the

Wiener Neustädter Lokomotivfabrik The ''Wiener Neustädter Lokomotivfabrik'' (Wiener Neustadt locomotive factory) was the largest locomotive and engineering factory in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. During World War II the company produced armaments as part of Rax-Werk Ges.mbH ...

and

Maschinenfabrik Esslingen Maschinenfabrik Esslingen (ME), was a German engineering firm that manufactured locomotives, tramways, railway wagons, roll-blocks, technical equipment for the railways, (turntables and traversers), bridges, steel structures, pumps and boilers. ...

Modifications

In the course of time there were naturally several modifications: in 1861 to the driver's cab, in the 1880s a vacuum brake with sound absorbers, new

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central h ...

s, etc...

Dispersal

After nationalisation in 1924 the Federal Railway of Austria (BBÖ) took over 47 units, that were grouped into BBÖ Class 49. After the

Second World War 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 ...

a few engines, classified by the

Deutsche Reichsbahn The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'', also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the German national railway system created after the end of World War I from the regiona ...

as DRB 53.7111–7116, remained in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. Of these, the

ÖBB The Austrian Federal Railways (german: Österreichische Bundesbahnen, formally (lit. "Austrian Federal Railways Holding Stock Company") and formerly the or ''BBÖ''), now commonly known as ÖBB, is the national railway company ...

only took over number 153.7114 but withdrew her in 1953.

Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

designated the locomotives that it received as JŽ 124.

Hungary

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

they became MÁV 332.

Italy

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

they became FS 193. ;Locomotives in FS Class 193

Preservation

Amazingly, five of them are preserved. During the 1920s the BBÖ sold several engines to the Graz-Köflacher Bahn (GKB). Three of them, built in 1860, were preserved alongside two other Class 23 : * One of them, number GKB 671, is still working today, albeit with some small modifications such as

compressed-air brakes A railway air brake is a railway brake power braking system with compressed air as the operating medium. Modern trains rely upon a fail-safe air brake system that is based upon a design patented by George Westinghouse on April 13, 1869. The We ...

thanks to the work of the ''Steirischen Eisenbahnfreunde'' (

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...

n Railway Society). Built in 1860, the Austrian-made Südbahn Class 23 (old) locomotive on the

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

Köflach Köflach is a small city in the district of Voitsberg in the Austrian state of Styria, at the foot of the Stubalpe mountain. The town has a federal stud in the village of Piber that supplies the Lipizzaner horses to the famous Spanish Riding Schoo ...

railway (GKB), is the longest serving steam engine in the world. It is frequently on duty and is used to haul steam specials. *GKB 674 ex Südbahn 674, has been preserved by the ''Budapest transport museum'' and restored with its early roofless drivers cab. *GKB 680 now belongs to the ''

German Museum of Technology (German Museum of Technology) in Berlin, Germany is a museum of science and technology, and exhibits a large collection of historical technical artifacts. The museum's main emphasis originally was on rail transport, but today it also features e ...

'' in Berlin. * Südbahn 718, used by

Yugoslav railways Yugoslav Railways ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Jugoslavenske željeznice/Jugoslovenske železnice, Југославенске жељезнице/Југословенске железнице; mk, Југословенски железници; sl, Jugoslovans ...

, resides in the

Slovenian Railway Museum The Slovenian Railway Museum, or Railway Museum of Slovenian railways ( sl, Železniški muzej Slovenskih železnic), in Ljubljana, Slovenia, located on Parmova ulica 35, is the national museum for Slovenia's railway history. The museum is tas ...

. Built in 1861, was restored with Südbahn livery and an open-top cab. * Südbahn 852, used by ÖBB until 1958, is awaiting restoration, tenderless, at heizhaus Strasshof. File:GKB 671 20070516 DSCN4196 cut.jpg, GKB 671 in 2017. File:SB 29.jpg, Südbahn 674 in Budapest. File:GKB 680 berlin 2006-03-31.jpg, GKB 680 in Berlin. File:718 Railway Museum of Slovenian railways, 2007.JPG, Südbahn 718 in Ljubljana . File:Im Eisenbahnmuseum (20941355890).jpg, Südbahn 859, behind a Kaiserin Elisabeth Bahn locomotive.

References

Literature

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sudbahn Class 23 (Old) Austrian Southern Railway Company steam locomotives Steam locomotives of Hungary 0-6-0 locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1860 Steam locomotives of Germany Freight locomotives Standard gauge locomotives of Austria Standard gauge locomotives of Yugoslavia Standard gauge locomotives of Hungary Standard gauge locomotives of Italy Standard gauge locomotives of Germany C n2 locomotives Lokomotivfabrik der StEG locomotives Wiener Neustädter locomotives Esslingen locomotives it:Locomotiva SB 23