The Austrian steam locomotive class, the kkStB Class 112 was an express train

Express train

Express trains are a form of rail service. Express trains make only a small number of stops, instead of stopping at every single station...

 tank engine operated by the Imperial Austrian State Railways

Imperial Austrian State Railways

The Imperial Royal State Railways was the state railway organisation in the Cisleithanian part of Austria-Hungary.-Early history:...

 (kaiserlich-königliche österreichische Staatsbahnen or kkStB).

In order for the kkStB to provide a fast feeder service to express train stations, a requirement arose for small, fast locomotives. Karl Gölsdorf

Karl Gölsdorf

Karl Gölsdorf was an Austrian engineer and locomotive designer.-Early Life:Karl Gölsdorf was born on 8 June 1861 in Vienna, the son of Louis Adolf Gölsdorf. Even as a schoolboy he was introduced to locomotive design by his father, the chief mechanical engineer of the Imperial and Royal Southern...

 designed Class 112 for this purpose. The engines were well built, enabled a top speed of 100 km/h to be attained for short periods of time and could haul 100 tonnes continuously at 80 km/h.
On their deliver in 1907 by Krauss in Linz

Linz

Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about...

 the two engines were fitted with a small smokebox

Smokebox

A smokebox is one of the major basic parts of a Steam locomotive exhaust system. Smoke and hot gases pass from the firebox through tubes where they pass heat to the surrounding water in the boiler. The smoke then enters the smokebox, and is exhausted to the atmosphere through the chimney .To assist...

 superheater

Superheater

A superheater is a device used to convert saturated steam or wet steam into dry steam used for power generation or processes. There are three types of superheaters namely: radiant, convection, and separately fired...

, that was later removed.

The small locomotives were initially used to haul newspaper trains between Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 and Linz

Linz

Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about...

. Later they hauled the shuttle (Pendler) between Hütteldorf

Hütteldorf

Hütteldorf is a part of Vienna's 14th district, Penzing. It is located in the west of Vienna, but roughly in the geographical center of the district, stretching roughly from Deutschordenstraße in the east to Wolf in der Au in the west, where Hütteldorf borders Hadersdorf-Weidlingau.Hütteldorf is...

 and Unterpurkersdorf, a connecting line to the Vienna Stadtbahn, where they travelled in the centre of the train.

Number 112.02 was retired in 1937, whilst 112.01 went into the Deutsche Reichsbahn

Deutsche Reichsbahn

Deutsche Reichsbahn was the name of the following two companies:* Deutsche Reichsbahn, the German Imperial Railways during the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich and the immediate aftermath...

as number 69 011 where it was withdrawn from service in 1942.

Literature

• Heribert Schröpfer, Triebfahrzeuge österreichischer Eisenbahnen - Dampflokomotiven BBÖ und ÖBB, alba, Düsseldorf, 1989 ISBN 3-87094-110-3

External links

• There is a relevant English-language forum at Railways of Germany