Germanindustry still usingfirelesslocos
FIRELESsSteamlocomotives arestill working in Germany industry.
Sixremainin useand are basedat the FelixSchoeller Groupfactory in OsnabriickLiistringen;Mannheimpower station;chemicalmanufacturer lneosin Herne;andthe Romonta-operatedo, pen-cast lignite mine and bitumen producerin Amsdorf.
All of thesesiteshaveone loco, with the Ciechsodafactory in Stassfurthavingtwo.
Tenyearsago,there were closeto 80 or morefirelesslocos in useacrossGermany.
Thefirelessdesignuses compressedsteam.It is injected into the loco,which hasno meansof heatingwater.
Historicallyt,he locotype has beenusedat industrialsites with largeamountsof excess steam(providingfree power), especiallyat siteshandling explosiveor combustible material,where a sparkfrom a traditional steamlocowould be potentially disastrous.
Oncefilled a loco can haul up to 2,000tonnesovershort distancesw, ith steamrefilling requiredevery6-8 hours.
The majority of the locos remainingin useareactually relativelymodern because the former EastGerman governmentbuilt large numbersfor industrialusein the 1980s.
Between1984and 1988,202 0-6-0firelesslocoswere built at the Meiningenrailwayworks to a designpreviouslyused by LokomotivbauKarlMarxin Babelsberguntil the early-1970s.
The re-unificationof Germany and major changesto industry in the former EastGermany meant manyof the new locos were hardlyused,with many being scrapped.
Severa'lfireless'locos havebeen preservedwith operationallocosatthe BavarianRailwayMuseumin Niirdlingenandthe Saxony RailwayMuseumat ChemnitzHilbersdorf.
Ourthanksto Ad vanStenfor informationin thisreport