Revell BR 50

One of the most successful classes of German steam locomotives is/was the BR 50. Designed to haul goods trains, the BR 50 locos were built as standard locomotives (Einheitsdampflokomotive) between 1939 and 1948 by almost all major locomotive factories. A total of 3164 pieces were produced for the Deutsche Reichsbahn and they received IDs between 50 001 and 50 3171. One of the important advantages of the BR 50 design was the low axle load (15.2 t), which even permitted the use on branch lines with light track beds. The Br 50’s wheel configuration is 2-10-0 and total weight is 86.9 t. The locos were originally fitted with Wagner smoke deflectors but some of them later received Witte smoke deflectors. They were coupled to tenders of type 2'2' T 26 or 2'2' T 30.

The BR 50 locos were part of the war preparation effort and the ones that were built later were called provisional war locomotives (Übergangskriegslokomotiven) and classified as 50 ÜK. Also, class 52 (BR 52) was derived from BR 50 by omitting all possible components, making the locomotives as cheap to produce as possible. Some BR 50 tenders were fitted with a front shield, to protect the crew and some were also equipped with a driver’s cab, thus reducing the volume of carried coal.

After the war a large number of BR 50 locomotives were taken over by the Deutsche Reichsbahn (2159) and together with class 44 they took care of most of the goods hauling operations. About 1000 of them had boilers made of ST 47 K steel, which was not very resistant to ageing, so many of these locomotives were given the boilers of scrapped BR 52s. Most BR 50 locomotives were retired up to 1977. A few remained in service until 1989. Towards the end of their service they were used for pulling both goods and passenger trains.

Facts:

ID: BR 50 519

Wheel arrangement: 2-10-0

Built: 1939-1948

Builder: Henschel & Sohn/Hohenzollern/Krupp/BMAG/etc.

Top speed: 80 km/h (both directions)

Power: 1195 kW

Gauge: Standard (1435 mm)

Length: 22.94 m

Weight: 86.9 t

Axle load: 15.2 t

Couped wheel diamater: 1400 mm

Driving wheel diamater: 1400 mm

Leading wheel diameter: 850 mm

A few days ago I assembled Revell's BR 50 static steam locomotive, which contains a beautiful H0 scale model of the famous original locomotive. The kit was produced in 2002 and has item number 02165. It wasn't hard to assemble, the 41-step instructions were pretty clear and contained enough detail, but it required a lot of work, especially the painting of the parts. It took me about 10 days and a total of over 30 hours of work to complete the locomotive. Most of the time was spent on painting and repainting the parts (some of them require two layers of paint to look really nice and the paints need to dry for 4 to 6 hours before a second layer can be applied). Some spots require a steady and precise hand, to paint adjacent areas of the same part with different colors. In contrast with Revell's Big Boy steam locomotive that I assembled over a year ago, this kit contained some water slide decals that were surprisingly easy to apply. They adhered to the plastic with ease and did not dry off at all.

Used colors (in order of importance):

- 302 - black, silky-matt (used extensively)

- 330 - fiery red, silky-matt (used extensively)

- 91 - iron, metalic (used moderately)

- 301 - white, silky-matt (used only for a few surfaces)

- 93 - brass, metalic (used only for the bell in the cab)

- 87 - eart brown, matt (used only on the tracks)

- 83 - rust, matt (used only on the tracks)

Links:

Revell's official website

BR 50 @ Wikipedia

Revell #02164 - BR 01150 steam locomotive

Revell #02160 - BR 41242 steam locomotive

Revell #02170 - BR 43001 steam locomotive

Revell #02165 - UP X4006 "Big Boy" steam locomotive

CFR 150.1123 at Dej Triaj Depot

After the end of World War II, Romania received from the Soviet Union 30 German locomotives as war prey. They were engines of the DR 42, DR 44, DR 50 and DR 52 classes. As others, most of them arrived to Romania from Austria between 1948 and 1958 to be repaired and transformed to fit the broad gauge of the Russian railway lines at the railway workshops in Bucuresti and Iasi. However, these 30 engines were given by the Soviet Union to CFR, because they had severe damages or simply because the Russians were not interested in running steam locomotives with such technical characteristics on their lines. 23 of these locomotives belonged to class DR 50 and DR 52. CFR enlisted them in its inventory with ID numbers ranging from 150.1101 to 150.1123. Four engines of class DR 50 received the IDs CFR 150.1113 - CFR 150.1116. The rest of 19 locomotives originally belonged to class BR 52, which was derived from the class DR 50 by the Deutsche Reichsbahn during the war by the means of simplification, making the locomotive as cheap as possible (they've built over 7000 pieces in 4 years!). This also meant that the life expectation of these locomotives was not high, still some of them have functioned on the lines of CFR for over 40 years. All except one of the locos that came from the DR 52 series, were equiped with tenders of type 2'2'T32 (wannentender). During the reparation in the CFR workshops, the locomotives have been prived of their smoke deflectors, the only one that kept them until today is CFR 150.1105 in the Sibiu steam locomotive museum.

The last one of these steamers was retired by CFR in 1989, after 10 years from its last technical inspection, after which it has rolled uninspected for 522.837 kilometers. It is no other than CFR 150.1123, the last from its series, which has done service in Hungary, belonged to the Soviet Union and finally ran on the Romanian lines. After its retirement it has arrived in 1996 to Dej, where it has been left to rust for several years. Here are a few pictures in which you can see in what a sad state it got by 2009:

CFR 150.1123 rusting at Dej in 2009 - image 1

CFR 150.1123 rusting at Dej in 2009 - image 2

Luckily, unlike so many CFR steam locomotives, 150.1123 has escaped the scrapyard and by the summer of 2010 it has been salvaged and restored by a handful of railway enthusiasts, led by Mr. Florin Nan. He and his team have saved several Romanian steam locomotives, they have nicely restored them and they are now all on display in the Dej Triaj train depot. For this they deserve great respect, for they are the few who dedicate their time and effort to saving such precious pieces of Romanian railway history, standing against the general tendency of destroying old steam locomotives.

Facts:

ID: CFR 150.1123 (ex DR 150.1127)

Wheel arrangement: 2-10-0

Built: 1944

Builder: Skoda (Pilsen)

Top speed: 80 km/h

Gauge: Standard (1435 mm)

Location: Dej Triaj (train depot)

Links:

CFR 150.1123 at www.steamlocomotive.info

CFR 150.1105 at Sibiu steam locomotive museum

Credits:

Much of the information in this article has been taken from the book "Istoricul tractiunii feroviare din Romania" by Serban Lacriteanu and Ilie Popescu. Thank you!