PKP class SM25
Encyclopedia
The SM25 is a Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 series of diesel
Diesel locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine, a reciprocating engine operating on the Diesel cycle as invented by Dr. Rudolf Diesel...

 shunter used by PKP
Polskie Koleje Panstwowe
is the dominant railway operator in Poland.The company was founded when the former state-owned operator was divided into several units based on the requirements laid down by the European Union...

.

History

Plans for a locomotive with Voith
Voith
The Voith GmbH, which is headquartered in Germany, is a family-run corporation in the mechanical engineering sector with worldwide operations....

 hydraulic transmission
Hydraulic transmission
Hydraulic transmission may refer to:* Hydrostatic transmission, see Hydraulic drive system and Hydraulic machinery* Hydrokinetic transmission, see Torque converter...

 (the first of its kind in Poland) were drawn up between the years of 1959 and 1960, alongside the design for the SN80 DMU
Diesel multiple unit
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages powered by one or more on-board diesel engines. They may also be referred to as a railcar or railmotor, depending on country.-Design:...

 — though the latter did not make use of the Voith system. The new locomotives were intended to replace the obsolete SM30 series — ironically, the SM30 was still being built long after production of the SM25 had ceased.

Manufacture of the SM25 began in 1961 and came to an end in 1963. During these years only three units rolled off the Fablok
Fablok
Fablok is a Polish manufacturer of steam locomotives, based in Chrzanów. Until 1947 the official name was The First Factory of Locomotives in Poland Ltd. , Fablok being a widely used syllabic abbreviation of Fabryka Lokomotyw. It is now named "BUMAR - FABLOK S.A. "...

 production line in Chrzanów
Chrzanów
Chrzanów is a town in south Poland with 39,704 inhabitants . It is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship and is the capital of Chrzanów County.- To 1809:...

, due to the severe difficulty in importing the hydraulic transmission units from Voith.

The three that were built were sent to the depot in Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...

 where they remained in service until the late-'70s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...

 when they were sold to industry.

One example — SM25-002 (serial number 5427), built in 1962 — has been preserved as an exhibit at the Warsaw Railway Museum
Warsaw Railway Museum
The Railway Museum in Warsaw is located in the former Warsaw Główna PKP railway terminus and is a mere stone's throw away from the Warszawa Ochota railway station. The museum's exhibits are divided into permanent and temporary collections — the latter being displayed inside the museum's...

.

Technical data

The SM25 is a C locomotive. This means that there are three powered axles
Axle
An axle is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to its surroundings, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, bearings or bushings are provided at the mounting points where the axle...

 under the unit. They are not articulated relative to other parts of the locomotive and are driven via hydraulic transmission. The locomotive is powered by a four-stroke diesel engine
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...

. The SM25 had several improvements over previous classes in the SM series. The most notable being the revised positioning of the cab — which had been soundproofed — and platforms, with the intent of providing optimal conditions for shunting.

See also

  • Polish locomotives designation






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