Breuer Locomotives

[EddieB]

Having considered this thread http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/118974-breuer-shunting-locomotives/?p=2580050 (incidentally does anyone have information on locomotives captured by the British during WWII as stated in the original post?), I thought it might be worth looking at the production of this company and various imitations.

 

By way of an introduction, there is a good article in the German Wikipedia (on-line translations are available) https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breuer_Lokomotor, which summarises the history of the Breuer locomotive between 1913 and 1957.

 

(Returning to the question of captured locomotives from the Middle East, the Wiki article mentions locos exported to Egypt, but I can find no records to back up that statement).

 

Basically the design was developed from a concept whereby a light, low-powered tractor unit with a low centre of gravity could be used to move unpowered stock of much greater weight by using the weight of that stock to increase the adhesive weight of the tractor unit itself.  Over time, the locomotives evolved into five types, from a simple low-slung form that could fit underneath rolling stock (type I) through various forms of driving position, to the upright cabin versions (types IV and V) that are probably the most familiar.

 

While some builders' records have been reconstructed, there may still be gaps and the total production (and of each type) is unknown.  Breuer built locomotives with both diesel and petrol (benzin) engines, as well as experimental gas-powered locomotives.  Most of the production was for standard gauge (I can find no record of narrower gauges), but some were built for "Russian gauge" (Finland and USSR) and for the Spanish broad gauge.

 

The locomotives were sold to a variety of users, from national railway systems to small industrial concerns.  Those that went to the state railways tended to be used to move larger locomotives around depots - frequently overlooked and infrequently photographed.  The exception appears to be the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), with over seventy locomotives (class Tm), which were often to be found at stations.

 

Models have been produced - the type VL by Brawa for O gauge and (I guess the same type) by Hornby/Rivarossi in HO.

 

 

I will post some further examples of preserved locomotives in due course, but will start at the Finnish.

 

 

In Finland, the locomotives were nicknamed "Kisko-Kalle", which might be translated (slightly irreverently) as "Rail Charlies", designated Lko-KK by the State Railways (VR), later re-classified "Trr" and renumbered into a broader tractor sequence.

 

So let's begin with a picture - perhaps my only picture of a Breuer locomotive before preservation.  Or is it?

 

Here is a crop from a telephoto shot of VR Trr 359 (originally Lko-KK 22) at Turku locomotive depot.  As it's monochrome, you'll have to trust me that the upper half of the cabin is white, the lower half red.  So a good example of one of the later Breuer types in service?

 

Well no.  This is one of 39 locomotives built for VR by Tampella (Tampere 982/1958), under licence from Breuer, and fitted with a Volvo petrol engine.  As for actually being "in service", by the time of this photograph (May 1995) all of the class Trr locomotives were officially withdrawn, but two that remained in working order (nos. 359 and 370) saw occasional use at Turku depot.

 

Here are a couple of other Tampella licence-builds, as preserved and seen at the Haapamäki railway museum in August 2000.  The green and yellow one is Trr 351 (Tampella 974/1958, originally Lko-KK 14) - sandwiched between some freight vans; the red and white one is Trr 375 (Tampella 1001/1959).

 

 

Now for the real thing - a diesel-engined Breuer type V-L (3075/1953), exported to Finland, seen inside the preservation centre of Toijala (August 2000).  It was supplied to the Lännen Tehtaat Oy sugar mill, Kaütta, via the agency of Braunschweiger Maschinenbauanstalt.  The resemblance to a common Finnish outhouse led to it being given a rather crude nickname.

 

[sswcharlie]

Hi

 

 

With these shunting locos, some were captured by Allied Forces and taken back to UK.  Do you know of any in existence now in UK ?

 

Were any of these locos captured by USA Forces and taken back to USA ?

[EddieB]

PM sent.

[carl19]

Danish railways had quite few, DSB (danish state railways) 15 with a semi open cab and 7 with completely closed cab. Also DSB had 5 open cabs, no protection from the elements!

Also were petrol powered machines. All built by Breuer themselves. I also think NSB Norway had a number as well.

 

Rivarossi did produce a very model of Breuer in both DSB and NSB livery.

Edited May 26, 2017 by carl19

[EddieB]

Danish railways had quite few, DSB (danish state railways) 15 with a semi open cab and 7 with completely closed cab. Also DSB had 5 open cabs, no protection from the elements!

Also were petrol powered machines. All built by Breuer themselves. I also think NSB Norway had a number as well.

 

Rivarossi did produce a very model of Breuer in both DSB and NSB livery.

I was going to post something about the Danish ones, but concluded that there was insufficient interest. The DSB ones weren't all Breuer products - Pedershaab built some under licence, but I'm away from my references at the moment.