The Fablok T3A also known as TKh49 or Ferrum 47 / 724 is a class of

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

steam industrial

tank locomotive A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of a more traditional tender. Most tank engines also have bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a tender-tank locom ...

. It was built by

Fablok Fablok is a Polish manufacturer of locomotives, based in Chrzanów. Until 1947 the official name was ''First Factory of Locomotives in Poland Ltd.'' ( pl, Pierwsza Fabryka Lokomotyw w Polsce Sp. Akc.), Fablok being a widely used syllabic abbreviat ...

in 1948-1961 years.

History

The locomotive is based on a draft from the years 1927-1929; seven locomotives of the factory designation T1A, basing upon Austrian license, were built by Fablok then. Its development with a superheater was Fablok T2A (Ferrum 29 or Tkh29), of which eleven were built before World War II. The name Ferrum came from Ferrum Ironworks, for which it was developed. The technical documentation survived until 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 opposing ...

and ten more T2A were manufactured. Due to big need of industrial locomotives in looted post-war Poland, it was decided to develop it into a simplified class of locomotive, factory name T3A or Ferrum 47, from 1947 year. Among other it lacked a superheater. At least 437 examples were made in the years 1948 - 1961, including 30 to China, 3 to

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

and 3 to

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

. Some factory records indicate 480 locomotives made, but details are not confirmed. Later production locomotives, with more welding adopted, were referred to as ''Ferrum 724''. In China the locomotives were designated as XK 13 and several examples of the class were reported to be working in 1993, with at least three preserved thereafter. These locomotives worked exclusively in industry, like coalmines, ironworks, chemical works, and were usually designated with TKh prefix, meaning 0-6-0T freight locomotives in Polish State Railways designation system, merged with serial numbers. Only in 1996 one locomotive was acquired by the

Polish State Railways (''PKP S.A.''; en, Polish State Railways, Inc.) is the dominant Rail transport operations, railway operator in Poland. The company was founded when the former state-owned enterprise was divided into several units based on the need for separati ...

(PKP) for its museum depot in

Chabówka Chabówka is a village located on the outskirts of the southern Polish town of Rabka, in the Nowy Targ County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship. With population of 1,600 (as for 2006), Chabówka is a popular tourist attraction because of its locatio ...

, and formally designated as PKP class TKh49, namely TKh49-1, thus being the newest PKP steam locomotive.Paweł Terczyński: ''Najmłodszy parowóz PKP'' he youngest PKP steam locomotive "Świat Kolei" Nr. 2/1997, p.6 (in Polish)

Preservation

The locomotive TKh49-1 is preserved at the ''Museum of Vehicles and Railway Technology'' in Chabówka, whilst thirteen more are in other museums or as monuments. Several are in working condition. After industrial service, several locomotives have been exported to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

for use on heritage railways as detailed below.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fablok TKh49 0-6-0 locomotives Fablok locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1948