Südbahn Class 23 (old)

SB 23 (alt), 29 BBÖ 49 / JDŽ 124 / MÁV 332 / FS 193 ÖBB 153
Wheel arrangement:	0-6-0
Axle arrangement:	C n2
Length over buffers:	14,254 mm (46 ft 9.2 in)
Overall wheelbase:	2,950 mm (9 ft 8 in)
Wheelbase incl. tender:	9,894 mm (32 ft 5.5 in)
Service weight:	38.0 t
Adhesive weight:	38.0 t
Top speed:	45 km/h (28 mph)
Driving wheel diameter:	1,245 mm (4 ft 1.0 in)
Cylinder bore:	460 mm (18 in)
Piston stroke:	632 mm (24.9 in)
Boiler Overpressure:	6.75 bar
No. of heating tubes:	183
Grate area:	1.59 m2 (17.1 sq ft)
Radiative heating area:	8.50 m2 (91.5 sq ft)
Evaporative heating area:	113.20 m2 (1,218.5 sq ft)
Tender:	SB 12
Water capacity:	8.4 m3 (1,800 imp gal)
Fuel:	5.4 t coal

The steam locomotives of Südbahn Class 23 (old) were goods train engines worked by the Austrian Southern Railway (österreichische Südbahn).

GKB 671, ex BBÖ 49.03, ex SB 671

The precursors to the Austrian Southern Railway had a very disparate fleet of goods locomotives. The Southern Railway therefore had a six-coupled freight locomotive developed which was based the French Bourbonnais prototype. This series was initially given the designation 23, but was reclassified to 29 in 1864. The Lokomotivfabrik der StEG engine works delivered 20 units in 1860, which proved themselves so well that a total of 205 were built up to 1872 by this factory along with the Wiener Neustädter Lokomotivfabrik and Maschinenfabrik Esslingen.

In the course of time there were naturally several modifications: in 1861 to the driver's cab, in the 1880s a vacuum brake with sound absorbers, new boilers, etc...

After nationalisation in 1924 the Federal Railway of Austria (BBÖ) took over 47 units, that were grouped into BBÖ Class 49. Yugoslavia designated the locomotives that it received as Class JDŽ 124. In the Hungarian MÁV they were Class 332 and in Italy FS 193.

After the Second World War a few engines, classified by the Deutsche Reichsbahn as DRG 53.7111–7116, remained in Austria. Of these, the ÖBB only took over number 153.7114 but withdrew her in 1953.

During the 1920s the BBÖ sold several engines to the GKB. One of them, number GKB 671, is still working today, albeit with some small modifications such as compressed-air brakes thanks to the work of the Steirischen Eisenbahnfreunde (Styrian Railway Society). Built in 1860, the Austrian-made Südbahn Class 23 (old) locomotive on the Graz-Köflach railway (GKB), is the longest serving steam engine in the world. It is frequently on duty and is used to haul steam specials.

Literature

• Herbert Dietrich: Die Südbahn und ihre Vorläufer, Bohmann Verlag, Wien, 1994, ISBN 3-7002-0871-5
• Bernhard Schmeiser: Lokomotiven von Haswell, StEG und Mödling 1840–1929, Nachdruck: Verlag Slezak, Wien, 1992. ISBN 3-85416-159-X
• Heribert Schröpfer: Triebfahrzeuge österreichischer Eisenbahnen - Dampflokomotiven BBÖ und ÖBB, alba, Düsseldorf, 1989, ISBN 3-87094-110-3
• Griebl, Slezak, Sternhart: BBÖ Lokomotiv-Chronik 1923–1938, Verlag Slezak, 1985. ISBN 3-85416-026-7
• Johann Stocklausner: Dampfbetrieb in Alt-Österreich, Verlag Slezak, Wien, 1979, ISBN 3-900134-41-3
• Sepp Tezak: Wiederinbetriebnahme 671, in „Der Fahrtwind“ Nr. 50, S. 3–7, Steirische Eisenbahnfreunde/Club U44, Graz, September 2003 (download as pdf)
• Dieter Zoubek: Erhaltene Dampflokomotiven in und aus Österreich, Eigenverlag, 2004, ISBN 3-200-00174-7

See also

• Deutsche Reichsbahn
• List of DRG locomotives and railbuses

External links

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