Reborn Poland in 1918 looked from every side like a complex but mismatched puzzle. Everything we had was inherited from the partitioning powers. Different currencies were in use, legal codes varied, and railway rolling stock in different areas was also a collection of whatever had survived. Amid all this confusion, the newly established Polskie Koleje Państwowe possessed one super-machine that departed entirely from the prevailing steam-powered standards. It was not steam-powered and had a streamlined shape that made it easier to reach high speeds. It stood out at every turn. It was not a locomotive, but a diesel railcar—something resembling today’s railbuses.
We effectively inherited this railcar from the Austrians. The Poles decided to buy and test another, even newer-generation railcar, manufactured in 1933 by an Austrian company. It was the model called SAx 90080, built at the Austro – Daimler works. Until the 1930s, our railway tested this type of train. It differed fundamentally in that it was not steam-powered. It had an aerodynamic shape and, above all, combined the functions of a locomotive and a carriage. This early railbus could reach a top speed of up to 100 km/h, which was a major achievement in the 1920s and 1930s.
The diesel railcar, commonly called the Luxtorpeda, had 2 petrol engines. It had 56 fixed seats and 18 folding ones, giving a total of 70 seats exclusively in first class, hence the prefix “Lux”. This modern and luxurious torpedo began running to fashionable Zakopane, becoming, to some extent, the equivalent of the German Flying Silesian, which had a different design and achieved much better results.
The Poles quickly became convinced that such rolling stock was more modern and faster. Based on the purchased railcar, the Polish company Fablok produced 5 more super-fast railcars, numbered SAx90081 through SAx90085. Each had 2 MAN diesel engines and reached a top speed of 115 km/h. Compared with the Austrian railcar, the Polish one had 48 or 52 seats and 4 additional folding seats. The new-generation trains operated on the routes Lwów – Nowy Sącz – Krynica – Zakopane, Warszawa – Poznań, Lwów – Borysław, Lwów – Kołomyja, Łódź – Warszawa, Tarnopol – Zaleszczyki, Tarnopol – Lwów.
Do you know how long the journey from Kraków to Zakopane took in 1936? One of the Luxtorpeda railcars covered the route in 2 hours and 18 minutes. Today, the journey from the capital of Małopolska to the heart of the Polish Tatras takes at least 3 hours and 5 minutes.
The Polish super-fast trains operated successfully until 1939. During the war, only 2 of the 6 existing trainsets survived, and after the war they fell into Russian hands. They were returned to PKP, but were severely incomplete, and 1 of them even served as a warehouse.
Were the Polish Luxtorpedas something extraordinary? In a sense, yes. Compared with our western neighbour, where high-speed rail operated perfectly (Latający Ślązak, Latający Hamburczyk), connecting the major German urban centres with Berlin, our Polish railway, with this modern rolling stock produced on the model of Austrian machines, performed very respectably.
On the other hand, one can say that the two trains cannot be compared. Each had a different design, after all. Nevertheless, the Luxtorpeda was a taste of convenience and travel comfort in a Polish version. It was an inheritance from a partitioning power that we used well and wisely. It is worth remembering this.
Paweł Skiersinis
The author is a blogger and history enthusiast, particularly passionate about the history of Lower Silesia and Poland. Why Lower Silesia? As he himself says: “Why not? The most interesting history is the history around us, concerning us and our ancestors.”
He adds: “I try to present history from a different perspective, in an interesting way—not in the typically textbook style, full of dry dates and facts. My articles deal with facts that we will not find in textbooks or well-known publications. The history of Lower Silesia is undoubtedly interesting and fascinating, so it is worth devoting at least a brief moment to it from time to time.”