The renovation of the Ty2-540 locomotive, which has stood in front of Legnica railway station for more than two months, has been completed. It is now open to all visitors.
The project to restore the steam locomotive manufactured at F. Schichau GmbH, Maschinen und Lokomotivfabrik Elbing (now Elbląg) was a joint initiative of Koleje Dolnośląskie and PKP Cargo’s Lower Silesian plant. For the past 24 years, railway enthusiasts could view the historic machine only through the windows of trains passing near the Legnica locomotive depot. From now on, things will be completely different.
“Exhibits like this, placed in publicly accessible locations, should bring joy to travellers and all railway enthusiasts. From today, everyone will be able to see up close what machines travelled along the region’s tracks several decades ago,” notes Damian Stawikowski, president of Koleje Dolnośląskie. “Some of our passengers may still remember the distinctive smell of a steam locomotive pulling into the platform. And although they surely feel considerable sentiment towards those journeys, I bet they would not give up the modern trains they travel on today,” the KD president emphasises.
The restored steam locomotive has gained a new colour and its former splendour. The renovation work was carried out by an eight-person team of PKP Cargo employees. As many as 130 litres of paint were used to make the machine pleasing to the eye once again.
The Ty2-540 locomotive is a treat not only for railway enthusiasts. It is what is known as a wartime steam locomotive, designed using a minimum of the strategic materials needed at the time to conduct military operations. The locomotives developed more than 1,600 horsepower and had a design speed of 80 km/h. Thanks to their low axle load, not exceeding 15 tonnes, they were excellent for running on tracks with poor surfaces or tracks that had been provisionally rebuilt after wartime destruction.
“What can be seen today in front of the station in Legnica is an example of excellent cooperation, whose main goal is to promote rail transport and preserve railway traditions, which are very rich in our region,” said Jacek Krawczun, director of PKP Cargo’s Lower Silesian plant, during the locomotive’s unveiling ceremony. “I am convinced that this will not be the last such project we carry out with Koleje Dolnośląskie,” Krawczun noted.
Jacek Krawczun and Damian Stawikowski also revealed that unveiling the locomotive was only the first step; plans are already in place to make two more historic vehicles available to visitors.
The historic Ty2-540 steam locomotive transported passengers and goods across almost all of Poland during more than 50 years of service. After the Second World War, it was sent to Gdańsk, from where it was transferred to Bydgoszcz. It then travelled via Piła and Iłowo to Wałbrzych.
From Lower Silesia, it was sent to Warsaw, only to return to the city on the Pełcznica River in the mid-1960s. The locomotive’s operation ended in 1994 because its boiler had not undergone inspection. PKP Cargo employees, members of the Legnica branch of NSZZ “Solidarność”, restored the steam locomotive in their free time.
After the ceremony, president Damian Stawikowski and director Jacek Krawczun met with them and personally expressed their thanks for the work they had carried out.