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kanyiko — Schaarbeek 021015 TrainWorld Type 36 model
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Published: 2015-10-05 20:26:58 +0000 UTC; Views: 1512; Favourites: 21; Downloads: 3
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Schaarbeek/Schaerbeek station - TrainWorld, October 2nd 2015The most powerful European freight locomotive of its time, the Type 36 was one of the pair of designs which the Belgian railway engineer Jean Baptiste Flamme remains most well-known for. With 136 units being built between 1909 and 1914, the Type 36, which weighed in at 104 tonnes (tender not included), was intended as a heavy freight engine for use on all lines, including the steep Namur-Luxembourg route. However, their career was curtailled by the Second World War: the surviving Type 36s were put aside in 1947 - replaced by the newly-built Type 25 (DRG Class 50) and Type 26 (DRG Class 52), and ultimately stricken from service in 1951.
Engine 4400 is shown in its "Etat Belge/Belgian State" livery of the Interbellum.
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Comments: 19
This is a NMBS/SCNB Type 36 - the "26" was an entirely different beast (they were Belgian-built DRG Class 52 Kriegsloks):
Unfortunately, no Type 36s survive - nor do any original NMBS/SNCB Type 26s. The Type 36 was retired in 1952 (replaced by the Type 26); the Type 26 itself was retired a decade later, in 1963.
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There actually was very little in terms of preservation when the Belgian mainline steam locomotives went out (last steamers built for the Belgian railways: 1948; last steamers retired from Belgian railway service: 1967). By the time of the last retirements, a kind of policy had actually been noted down, but it came down to "preserve one each of important types, but of Belgian-built engines only". The consequences of that was, that some series entirely disappeared, such as every single one of the 90 Type 26s, 200 Type 31s, 576 Type 81s, and numerous other series, not considered worth preserving as "they were foreign designs rather than Belgian", while even of the important Belgian-built ones, such as the Type 1, 7, 8, 10, 12, 41, 44, 51 & 53, only a single one each survived. Some types only survived because they were used after their retirement as 'mobile boilers', such as the single surviving examples of the 41 & 44; or because they just happened to be sold on to third parties for use as industrial shunters, such as the single surviving examples of the Type 51, 88 & 91.
The only type of 'Belgian' mainline steamers of which more than one survives is the Type 29 (of 1945) - which were a series of Canadian/American built locomotives of which 300 served on the Belgian railways between 1945 & 1967, and of which one survives in running condition (but is no longer allowed to run on the mainline network due to its lack of a modern TPS), and a second one survives - barely - in derelict condition.
There also are two "cheats" among Belgian mainline steamers who come in pairs:
- The first one is the Type 26 (of 1944) - which was a series of 100 Belgian-built DRG Class 52s, which went extinct in the early 1960s/late 1970s. Two 'survive' - although they are in Belgian colours, (26.101 & 26.102), they aren't originals, as they are in fact ex-PKP engines brought into Belgium after the fall of the Wall, and restored to Belgian specs (one a static machine, privately owned; and one a runner, currently under restoration)
- The second one is the Type 64 (of 1912) - which was a series of 168 Prussian-built P8s which were ceded by the Germans to Belgium as War Repairs under the terms of the Versailles threaty in 1919. While the one survivor, 64.065, is a true survivor (serving on the Belgian railways between 1919 and 1967, and preserved despite the 'Belgian only' order); the other machine is a "fake": 64.169 is an ex-Romanian P8 which was purchased from the Romanian railways in 2000 by a Belgian preservation society, and restored to Belgian standards. While 64.065 is 'cold', 64.169 is a runner.
Technically there is also a third pair of Belgian "survivors", although they are a special case: the Type 25 of 1943 (DRG Class 50).
One (and a half) engine with a Belgian history survive, although they have an odd history:
During the German occupation of Belgium, both the Class 50 and Class 52 were built in Belgian railway works under order of the German occupation forces. However, when Belgium was liberated in 1944, barely any of these engines had been finished - and the retreating Germans left behind a great number of DRG-owned machines as well. While the engines under construction were finished, the engines left behind were taken in service (to cover for engines lost because of the War, or taken by the retreating German forces) - among those taken on strength by the Belgian Railways were 9 DRG 50s and 1 DRG 44, which became part of the 'Class 25'. However, under an Allied repatriation agreement, engines found in (Western) controlled territory after 1945 were returned to their original owners - as such, 25.014 (ex-DRG 50 133) was returned to the West-German DB in 1950, where she served until 1976 (as 50 622 from 1958 onwards). She is preserved in the DB Museum in Nürnberg in a running condition.
Of the nearly 140 DRG Class 50s built in Belgium, only 13 were put into use by the Belgian Railways as Class 25s; a further 12 were sold to the Danish Railways, of which two were used as spares, and ten served with the DSB as the 'Litra N' between 1952 and 1970. Of the ten, N207 nearly made it into preservation, only to be scrapped in 1977. Instead, all that survives of the ten (Belgian-built) Danish DRG Class 50s, is the tender of N201 which was used as a mobile railway crane counterweight until 1991.
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... Sorry about that. I'm a Belgian, we do waffle a lot sometimes. >.>
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Wow, that's an impressive model! Nicely shot through the glass Kanyiko!
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I never knew Belgium had its own Decapods! The boiler and firebox look a bit big; was that Flamme's design?
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It was indeed!
The 36s were predominantly used for hauling heavy goods trains, although a number of photographs exist that show 36s hauling heavy passenger trains instead. One description of the 36s in service is so spectacular that it is a true shame I haven't found a picture of it yet: 36s hauling the heavy ore trains from Poux-Saint-Hubert to Libramont (Line 162), with a double-header set hauling on the front, and a third 36s pushing on the back...
In the end, it was another Decapod which replaced the Type 36, one which will look quite familiar to you, I guess:
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Thanks for sharing that! I remember seeing a couple of Kriegsloks in Russia. I also heard some British War Department "Austerity" engines ended up in Belgium during and after WWII.
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The Austerity class and USATC S100 and S160 classes did end up serving in Belgium during World War II, but respectively for the WD and USATC - neither ended up being purchased by the Belgian Railways. Instead, the NMBS/SNCB ended up taking over an order of DRG Class 50 and 52 locomotives built by Belgian manufacturers for the Wehrmacht (NMBS/SNCB Types 25 & 26), as well as a newly-built class of US/Canadian-built locomotives (NMBS/SNCB Type 29).
The NMBS/SNCB Type 25 is even more complicated than that: she consisted of 23 locomotives of very mixed origins: 14 Belgian-built DRG Class 50s (1 by Anglo-Franco-Belge; 1 by Couillet; 2 by Cockerill; and the remaining 10 by La Meuse); 8 former DRG engines abandoned by the Wehrmacht in Belgium during the Liberation of September 1944; and 1 DRG Class 44 (25.021) built by Cail of France. The French-built Class 44 and the 8 ex-German Class 50s were returned to their respective owners in 1950, but the other engines were retained by the Belgian Railways and used until 1959.
The NMBS/SNCB Type 26 (DRG Class 52) consisted of 100 engines: 25 built by Tubize; 25 by Cockerill; 25 by Haine-Saint-Pièrre; and 25 by Anglo-Franco-Belge. Of these, 10 engines were diverted to the CFL of Luxembourg, but the remaining 90 engines were retained by the NMBS/SNCB, with the last being retired in 1963.
There also was another class of ex-Kriegslok engines: the Type 27 (DRG Class 52 with Kondenztender), of which three had been left behind in Belgium by the Wehrmacht. However, they were only short-lived in service: of the three, only two were used, and only for a very short time - by 1946 they had been parked, and in 1950 all were returned to the DB.
The Types 25, 26 and 27 were not the only German WWII locomotives to serve in Belgium after the War: there also were the Type 82 (Prussian G8.2), of which 2 were recovered; Type 83 (Prussian G12), of which also a pair served in Belgium; the Type 67 (Prussian P10), of which a single one served in Belgium; and the Type 59 (Bayrische R3/3), also a single machine. Other recovered ex-Wehrmacht locomotives of types already in use in Belgium (such as the P8 and G8.1) were incorporated into the already existing series, but just like the others returned to the DB in 1950.
The delivery of the "German" Type 25s (14 units) and 26s (90 units); and US/Canadian Type 29 (300 units) brought an end to the prospects of any other type entering service with the Belgian Railways - prior to their delivery, the NMBS/SNCB was mulling over the purchase of 8 classes of newly-built Belgian classes of locomotives (Types 102-103 & 105-110, with the pre-War Types 1 & 12 becoming the Type 101 and 104 respectively), as well as that of a UK-built Type 280 (of 2-8-0 configuration); US-built Type 281 (also a 2-8-0); and US-built Type 601 (a 0-6-0T shunter).
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That's quite a mix of locomotives! Once I can visit Belgium I'll keep an eye out for them.
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Unfortunately there's not really much to keep an eye out for. The full series of SNCB Type 25 & Type 26 locomotives were scrapped after withdrawal - as well as the engines that made their way to the CFL, DSB and NSB. The three Type 27s were returned to the DB, and I'm not sure any of them survived either. Two Type 26s remain in Belgium, but both are former PKP engines repainted as SNCB ones. Currently only one of them is in display condition, as the second is fully disassembled due to its being re-boilered (boiler's currently being overhauled in England).
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Will the second Type 26 be run on heritage trains?
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As soon as it's restored (eventually) it should, but most likely only on the heritage lines (these being the Mariembourg - Treignes, Ciney - Yvoir, Puurs - Dendermonde and Maldegem - Eeklo lines). As the current laws stand, heritage trains are currently BANNED from any of the Belgian mainlines. T_T
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