The WLs75 is a small narrow gauge diesel locomotive built in Poland, at the ZNTK 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 ...

. It was used mostly on industrial railways.

History

The locomotive's design was started at the CBKPTK (Central Design Bureau of Railway Stock Industry) in Poznań.Pokropiński (2009), p. 165-167 The design was finally made in 1961 by the ZNTK

(Railway Stock Repair Works). It was powered by 75 hp diesel engine and had a mechanical transmission, driving two axles by cranks and connecting rods. WLs75s were first built in 1965. (WLs stood for ''Wąskotorowa'' - narrow-gauge, ''lokomotywa'' - locomotive, ''spalinowa'' -

internal combustion engine An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal combus ...

). In total, 86 were built with the last shipped in 1975. They were built for and gauge. Two locomotives were made for for a park railway in

Silesian Park Silesian Park ( pl, Park Śląski) is a recreation complex in the center of the Upper-Silesian Metropolis in Chorzów in Upper Silesia, Poland. Silesian Park is managed by WPKiW S.A. The area of the park is 620 hectares, twice as large as the C ...

. The locomotives were only used in Poland. It was hoped thatthey would be acquired by Polish State Railways (PKP), but the railways found them under-powered. As a result, they were manufactured for the industry, mostly sugar works,

smelter Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore, to extract a base metal. It is a form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores, including Silver mining#Ore processing, silver, iron-making, iron, copper extracti ...

s and steelworks. Two were used by the Polish Army. Production was relatively low, because most buyers preferred the cheaper 50 hp 2WLs50 locomotives. File:Wls75 Rudy.jpg, WLs75-38 File:Rudy Raciborskie (1).jpg, WLs75-38

References

* {{PKP locomotives 0-4-0 locomotives Diesel locomotives of Poland 750 mm gauge locomotives 785 mm gauge locomotives 900 mm gauge locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1965