Chrzanów 2024-12-04

Locomotive Factory “Fablok” in Chrzanów.

Geographic coordinates: 50.126N 19.388E. Elevation 270 m (885.83 ft). Address: 32-500 Chrzanów, ul. Fabryczna 16.

The establishment of the locomotive factory in Chrzanów was inspired by the authorities of the reborn Republic of Poland, especially Marshal Józef Piłsudski. The government was aware of the need to launch the production of Polish steam locomotives as soon as possible, which could revive the economy of the country ruined by the Great World War. The railway was a key means of passenger and freight transport, as well as a driving force for the development of industry. Reborn Poland inherited 4,762 steam locomotives from the occupiers, most of which were out of order and of outdated construction. 48% of these locomotives were not even suitable for repair. Therefore, launching the production of modern Polish rolling stock was a necessity and a priority in this situation. The location of the factory in Chrzanów, i.e. near the mines, steelworks and boiler plants of the Dąbrowa Basin, was not without significance. A convenient area was found near the railway line, which guaranteed the lowest transport costs. Among the plants cooperating with the future factory in Chrzanów were the W. Fitzner and K. Gamper Joint-Stock Company plants in Sosnowiec and Dąbrowa, which were to supply boilers to the newly established factory.

The initiative to found the factory was led by four entrepreneurs: Piotr Drzewiecki, Władysław Jechalski, Stanisław Karłowski and Leopold Wellisz. On May 22, 1919, the status of the joint-stock company “Fabryka Lokomotyw w Polsce S.A.” founded by them was approved by the Minister of Industry and Trade and the Minister of the Treasury. The foundation was joined by banks; Bank Małopolski in Kraków and Bank Handlowy in Warsaw. In October 1919, the company purchased land near the railway lines from the Chrzanów commune for the construction of the plant. The machinery and equipment for production were purchased in Sweden.

Let us remember that since 1856, the Chrzanów railway station was an important station on the Kraków-Vienna route. Initially, another legal structure was also considered, such that the Fablok factory would be a branch of a plant producing steam boilers. On 6 June 1920, the Polish Government signed a framework agreement with the Fablok factory for the construction of 1,200 steam locomotives over a 10-year period. In 1920, the company’s name was also changed to “Pierwsza Fabryka Lokomotyw w Polsce S.A. – Zakłady w Chrzanowie”, abbreviated as Fablok.

In 1921, the construction of the factory was already well advanced. The factory buildings were built within 3 years and are considered an excellent achievement of Polish industrial architecture. Two halls are worthy of note; the assembly department hall and the mechanical workshop hall. A smaller forge building must also be added to this. All of these buildings featured reinforced concrete pillars and ceilings, as well as large windows that provided plenty of daylight inside. In 1928, the factory already covered an area of ​​800,000 m2 and functioned like a small city. The plant had its own boiler room, electrical station, and water tower. Several locomotives were also used. Water from the plant was also supplied to the workers’ housing estate. There were also railway sidings on the plant premises. The railway tracks were also used for internal transport. In 1936, the Main Office building was opened, which housed the headquarters of the management and the administrative department. In the 1960s, the building was rebuilt.

In the period 1921–1924, two housing estates for the employees and workers of the factory were built in the vicinity of the factory: the Factory Colony and the Rospontov Colony. Both estates were built according to the then popular concept of a garden city. The first one was intended mainly for officials and foremen and consisted of 11 brick houses, situated in two rows along the road leading to the factory. This is currently Fabryczna Street. The plan for the estate was implemented, consisting of seven houses situated along the street in one row and four houses in the second row. 8 houses have survived to the present day (2024). All houses were built on a rectangular plan. The four in the first row, from the city side, had the appearance of manor houses. The shape of the buildings was enriched with projections, broken gables and hipped roofs. Each building had two two-room apartments and two or three one-room apartments in the attic (studios). One of these houses was larger, as it had four two-room apartments and six one-room apartments. Behind them, four single-storey semi-detached houses with high hipped roofs were built. The apartments in the official houses were of a high standard. They were equipped with electricity, running water, toilets and bathtubs. The apartments for workers were smaller and more modest. Workers could use the factory baths free of charge.

The housing estate built towards the south-east, called the Rospontowa Colony, differed from the Factory Colony in its lower standard. The estate consisted of 3 single-storey semi-detached houses for officials and 9 multi-family buildings, two-storey and with a developed attic, in which workers lived. On the initiative of the workers, a church was also built there, under the patronage of Our Lady of Ostra Brama, which was built in the period 1935-1939, according to the design of Stanisław Oszacki. The estate designs also assumed the creation of an orphanage, which was put into use in 1924, in the Rospontowa estate. In 1928, a sports stadium was put into use. In the period 1925-1927, representative tenement houses for Fablok officials were also built in Chrzanów. Professor Kazimierz Zembrzuski lived in one of them, at 4 Paderewskiego Street.

With the establishment of workers’ estates, social and cultural life flourished. The sports club “Sports Association Fablok”, established in 1926, which from 1928 operated under the name “Sports and Education Association Fablok”. In 1939, the sports association already had 14 sections. The factory also had a brass band, founded in 1928.

After the Second World War, large apartment blocks were built and the city moved closer to the factory. The infrastructure of the estate was enriched with a vocational school building and the building of Primary School No. 5. Currently, the vocational school is the Fablok Technical School Complex. The three buildings located on Fabryczna Street were single-storey. They were demolished around 1985, and a parking lot for cars and buses was built in their place.

Production at the Fablok factory.

The pace of production at the Fablok plant was very high. On April 7, 1924, the first steam locomotive, the Tr21 (Tr21-19) machine, was put into operation. The first Tr21 (Tr21-37) locomotive produced entirely at the Fablok factory left the plant on February 18, 1925. On January 23, 1926, the first passenger steam locomotive for PKP was produced, which was a locomotive of the Os24 series.

For the needs of production, the Design Office operated in Fablok. In parallel with the Design Office of Standard Gauge Steam Locomotives, the Technical Office of Narrow Gauge Steam Locomotives, managed by engineer Julian Paczoski, operated in Fablok. In the period 1919-1945, many types of standard gauge and narrow gauge steam locomotives were produced in Fablok, for passenger trains (passenger and express) and freight trains; both for the Polish State Railways and industrial plants. Even before the Second World War, the production of diesel and electric traction units, as well as motor wagons, was started. Fablok also created an unrealized project of a light express passenger train of the OLp-118 series, which was to consist of a steam locomotive and four wagons. The whole thing was to be aerodynamic.

On November 5, 1925, Fablok produced its 100th locomotive. On June 9, 1927, the 200th steam locomotive was built, which was the first steam locomotive of the Ty23 series. On this occasion, the President of Poland, Ignacy Mościcki, visited the plant on October 5, 1927. On October 20, 1928, the 300th steam locomotive was built. On December 31, 1928, the first steam locomotive of the Ok22 series was built. On June 18, 1930, the 400th steam locomotive was built. In 1931, Fablok began producing locomotives for export. On June 15, 1931, the first export steam locomotive was built for the Bulgarian State Railways, and on July 11, 1931, the first narrow-gauge steam locomotive was built for the Latvian State Railways. On February 27, 1932, a ceremony was held to mark the completion of the 500th steam locomotive, one of 12 steam locomotives of the 141 CFM type, for the French Railway Company in Morocco. For 30 years, the factory exported its locomotives to Latvia, Bulgaria, CCCP and Morocco. In 1932, production of the express steam locomotive Pt31 began, with a power of 2,000 HP and a maximum speed of 110 km/h, developed entirely independently by a team of designers led by engineer Kazimierz Zembrzuski. On October 3, 1932, the first narrow-gauge, 2-axle, 2DK series underground locomotive was handed over to the Brzeszcze Coal Mine.

In the period 1935-1936, five electric locomotives were assembled under the Metropolitan-Vickers license. These were EL100 type electric locomotives for the Warsaw railway junction.

In 1936, five copies of aerodynamic 1Ws motor cars, commonly known as “Luxtorpedy”, were produced in Chrzanów under the direction of engineer Klemens Stefan Sielecki. They were based on the design of Austro-Daimler vehicles, but significantly modified. The “Luxtorpedy” holds the record for the journey with passengers on the Kraków Główny – Zakopane route, with a result of 2 hours 18 minutes.

In the period 1930-1939, 70 steam locomotives, in 6 types, were exported to Bulgaria, Latvia, Morocco and CCCP. In the period 1932-1939, Fablok manufactured 73 standard gauge and narrow gauge diesel locomotives, with power from 40 to 250 HP for railways, industry and mining in Poland.

Steam locomotive Tr21.

The steam locomotive Tr21 was the first steam locomotive produced in Poland, developed by a team of Polish engineers in cooperation with the Design Office of the StEG Locomotive Factory in Vienna (Staats Eisenbahn Gesellschaft) in 1921. The first 36 locomotives were built at StEG. In the period 1922-1925, the Locomotive Factory in Chrzanów (Fablok), manufactured 72 units, and 40 units were built at the Belgian Cockerill plants. A total of 148 locomotives were built. After World War II, 100 units were in operation at PKP. The last locomotives were withdrawn in 1974. The locomotive was capable of pulling a 600-ton train at a speed of 65 km/h, and a 1,200-ton train at a speed of 50 km/h.

T-T data of the Tr21 steam locomotive:

Heavy freight locomotive. Axle arrangement – ​​1-4-0, oOOOO, 1’D. Design speed 65 km/h. Power 492 kW (670 HP). Traction force 180 kN. Diameter of driving wheels 1.35 m. Diameter of rolling wheels 1.00 m. Boiler pressure 13 atm. Grate area 4.12 m2. Heating area of ​​the boiler with superheater 266.7 m2. Superheater area 58.8 m2. Service weight of the steam locomotive 80,000 kg. Length of the steam locomotive 11.79 m. Length of the steam locomotive with tender (22D23 PKP) 18.21 m.

Tender 16C11 PKP: Three-axle tender. Austrian design. Wheel diameter 1.04 m. Water reserve 16.0 m3. Coal reserve 8.5 m3 (6,800 kg). Axle load 13 tons. Tender weight in working condition 39,000 kg. Tender weight in empty condition 17,000 kg.

Tender 22D23 PKP: Four-axle tender. Polish design, developed in 1923. Wheel diameter 1.00 m. Water reserve 21.50 m3. Coal reserve 12.50 m3 (10,000 kg). Axle load 13.5 tons. Tender weight in working condition 54,000 kg. Tender weight in empty condition 22,500 kg.

Steam locomotive Pm36.

A major achievement of the Chrzanów factory was the Pm36 express steam locomotive, which was designed by Professor Kazimierz Zembrzuski, who headed the Fablok design office in the period 1930–1939. Only two units were produced. The first one, equipped with an aerodynamic casing Pm36-1, factory number 662. This casing received a gold medal at the World Exhibition of Art and Technology in Paris in 1937. During the Second World War, the locomotive was taken over by the Germans, and then by the Muscovites, and was lost and never found. Probably in 1952, the locomotive was scrapped on the CCCP premises. The second copy Pm36-2 “Beautiful Helena”, without casing, was used for research purposes. The locomotive fortunately survived the Second World War. After the Wehrmacht’s attack on CCCP in 1941, it was captured by the Germans. In 1944, it was evacuated to Austria, from where it returned to Poland in 1947. The locomotive worked on the route until 1966, as Pm36-1. Then the locomotive was used in the Wolsztyn Locomotive Depot. In 1973, as an inactive exhibit, it was transferred to the Railway Museum in Warsaw. In 1995, the steam locomotive was renovated in the Rolling Stock Repair Plants in Piła and restored to traffic. The inventory number was changed to the former Pm36-2 and named Piękna Helena. In April 2012, the locomotive’s service life ended and it is not used.

Work on the Pm36 steam locomotive began in 1936, commissioned by the Ministry of Communication. The order was submitted by Professor Antoni Xiężopolski, a member of the Ministry’s Technical Council. Axle layout 2’C1′. The locomotive was intended to pull light express trains at speeds of up to 140 km/h. The lagging was developed at the Aerodynamic Institute of the Warsaw University of Technology. Lagging models were tested in a wind tunnel. Both Pm36 locomotives differed slightly in their characteristics; the Pm36-1 was 2,700 kg heavier, but thanks to the lagging it achieved a speed 20 km/h higher, i.e. the planned 140 km/h. No further examples were built, because in reality PKP did not need locomotives for light express trains. The Pm36 locomotive fired with a better type of coal could pull 4-axle passenger cars weighing 665 tons at a speed of 100 km/h or 975 tons at a speed of 90 km/h. On 19 January 2003, the Pm36 locomotive set the current speed record at 128 km/h on the Leszno-Poznań route.

T-T data of the Pm36 locomotive:

Axle arrangement 2’C1’. Own weight 84,300 – 87,000 kg. Service weight 92,700 – 95,400 kg. Length 14.84 m. Total length with tender 23.80 m. Height 4.13 m. Diameter of drive wheels 2.00 m. Diameter of rolling wheels 1.00 – 1.20 m. Boiler pressure 18 atm. Boiler heating surface 198 m2. Superheater surface 71 m2. Grate surface 3.9 m2. Maximum speed 128 – 140 km/h.

Tender 32D36; Number of axles 4. Empty tender weight 31,500 – 32,900 kg. Full tender weight 70,500 – 72,900 kg. Amount of water 32 m3. Amount of coal 9,000 kg.

World War II.

In 1939, the Fablok factory was taken over by Germans. The Fablok plant became part of the Association of Germanic Locomotive Companies (Germanic Deutsche Lokomotivbau-Vereinigung) and incorporated into the Henschel & Sohn concern in Kassel. The Germans gave the plant the name Erste Lokomotivfabrik in Polen A. G. Chrzanow. In 1941, the name was changed to Oberschlesische Lokomotivwerke A. G. Krenau, in short: “OBERLOK”.

The Germans focused on the production of narrow-gauge, two-axle freight steam locomotives, the so-called “Riesa” steam locomotives, intended mainly for work on forest and industrial railways, i.e. the T49 “Ryś” model. After the war, in the period 1946-1950, the production of these machines was continued under the Polish name “Ryś”. One of them, the T49 “Ryś” model, currently stands (2024) in Chrzanów at Tysiąclecia Square.

Freight locomotives were also produced, steam locomotive 52.855, known in Poland under the symbol Ty2/Ty42. The Ty2/Ty42 machine is a typical war locomotive, maximally simplified in design. One copy, which currently stands (2024) on the premises of the Fablok factory, comes from 1946.

During World War II, 526 standard gauge steam locomotives were produced in Chrzanów, mainly German series 52 (Ty2, 349 units) and series 44 (Ty4) and 147 narrow gauge units.

After World War II.

The first steam locomotive, after the end of World War II, series Ty42 for DOKP Kraków, was produced on February 21, 1945.

In 1947, the Fablok factory was nationalized by the communists. In 1948, the plant became part of the Railway Rolling Stock Industry Association “Tasko” in Poznań. In 1950, the communists changed the name of the factory to the Locomotive Factory named after Feliks Dzierżyński – a communist bandit.

Thanks to engineer Klemens Sielecki, who, together with a group of employees, secured the technical documentation and equipment of the factory during the war, production was quickly resumed. In January 1945, the engineer took almost all the technical documentation of steam, industrial diesel and electric locomotives from the factory, because the Germans wanted to destroy it.

In the period 1945–1963, Fablok produced 3,600 steam locomotives, the recipients of which, apart from Poland, were also: Albania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Romania, Hungary, China, India, the Korean RL-D, Vietnam and CCCP. By 1963, when the factory ended the production of steam locomotives, 1,565 standard gauge and 2,015 narrow gauge steam locomotives had been produced, including 216 and 972 for export, respectively. The products were exported to Albania, Bulgaria, China, Yugoslavia, the Korean RL-D, Romania, Hungary and CCCP. At that time, the following standard gauge locomotives were produced: Ty42, Ty45, Ol49, Pt47, TKt48, WP, TKh49, “Śląsk”, 1U, “Baziel”, as well as narrow gauge locomotives; “Ryś”, “Las”, “Hutnik”, Px48, Px49, Kp4, “Baziel”, Tw47, Tw53, “Saranowo”. The ceremony of making the five thousandth locomotive was celebrated on 23 April 1959, together with the 35th anniversary of locomotive production. Fablok never produced boilers for its steam locomotives, they were supplied before 1945 by Fabryka Budowy Kotłów from Sosnowiec, known as Fitzner i Gamper; later also by other manufacturers.

In the new post-war political and economic reality, the authorities in Warsaw decided to produce mainly diesel locomotives in Chrzanów. Production of diesel locomotives began in 1948. Since the beginning of the 1960s, the range of products has expanded to include components of railway and tram rolling stock. After 1945, the production of steam locomotives was developed, then diesel shunting locomotives (standard gauge and narrow gauge), with power from 40 to 1,200 HP. In total, the factory produced 10,500 steam and diesel locomotives.

After the war, educational and cultural life in the plant and in the city developed again. Already in January 1945, the then director of Fablok, engineer Michał Nosek, established the Industrial School. It was a remedy for the lack of qualified staff. On March 9, 1945, the Private Male Mechanical School of the First Locomotive Factory in Poland S.A. was established in Chrzanów. After numerous transformations, the institution operates to this day (2024) as the Fablok Technical School Complex in Chrzanów. A new building for the school was erected in 1949. In 1950, the Company Culture Center began operating, which continued the pre-war activities of the Fablok Sports and Educational Association. A library was also opened at the culture center. In 1956, the Fablok Cinema was opened, with a panoramic screen. On the facade of the now abandoned building, you can still admire the ceramic mosaic by Ewa Żygulska. On April 23, 1959, a ceremony was held to mark the 35th anniversary of the start of locomotive production, along with the production of the 5,000th locomotive. It was one of 30 express steam locomotives of the WP type, 1,800 hp, for the 1,676 mm gauge track for the Indian State Railways.

In 1963, the production of steam locomotives came to an end. In addition to locomotives, Fablok produced, among other things, tram transmissions (since 1962), Oerlikon and SAB type brake systems and drilling trucks. In the period 1968-1970, a license was purchased and production of DRVA type brake shoe adjusters was launched according to the Swedish SAB system.

The diesel locomotive type 1D (Ls300E), which received the designation SM30 on PKP, was the first successful Polish diesel locomotive with an electric transmission. The design of the locomotive was developed in the Central Design Office of the Rolling Stock Industry in Poznań, in the period 1954-1955. The locomotive in the office had the designation 1D. From 1957, the locomotive was produced in series at the Locomotive Factory in Chrzanów, as the factory type Ls300E.

In 1963, production of Ls-800/6D diesel locomotives with an output of 800 HP with an electric transmission was launched, which were designated SM42/SP42/SU42 on PKP. In 1963, production of Ls-750 locomotives was launched, with a output of 750 HP with a hydraulic transmission, which turned out to be unsuccessful. In 1970, production of Ls-800/101D locomotives with a heating boiler, intended for running light passenger trains, was launched. In 1971, production of Ls-350/401Da diesel locomotives with an electric transmission was launched. In the period 1973-1975, 37 Ls-800/6D-M locomotives were built for Morocco. In 1976, production of diesel locomotives of the own design type 411D, with a power of 1,200 HP intended for PKP for heavy shunting work began.

In 1977, the factory’s production profile was expanded to include construction equipment and the name was changed to the BUMAR-FABLOK Construction Machinery and Locomotive Factory. The factory was taken over by the BUMAR Construction Machinery Industry Union in Warsaw. Production included excavators with a bucket capacity of 1.2 m3, cranes with a lifting capacity of 25-28 tons, self-propelled road cranes and hydraulic telescopic booms.

In the period 1947-1993, Fablok produced 5,402 diesel locomotives, of which 37 were exported to Morocco. Locomotives with power from 40 to 1200 hp were produced: Ls40, Ls75, Ls150, WLs-150, Ls300, Ls-750H, SM42, SP42, SU42, SM31.

After 1989.

The socio-economic changes that began in 1989 had a negative impact on the condition of the plant, as well as thousands of other factories in Poland. Without the support of the central authorities, the privatization process was long and very difficult. In December 1991, Fablok was transformed into a sole-shareholder company of the State Treasury. In the 1990s, the production of welded steel structures for the German market began. The production of subsequent crane models was also continued, many of which were sold abroad.

In 1995, the company became part of the VII NFI (7th National Investment Fund), from which it bought 60% of the shares in March 2003, the Employee Joint-Stock Company – “Bumar-Fablok”, established two years earlier. The Employees’ Joint Stock Company “Fablok” was established and registered in 2001. After the first acquisition of 60% of the controlling shares of Bumar-Fablok SA by “FABLOK” – Employees’ Joint Stock Company from the 7th State Investment Fund (as part of privatization reforms) in 2003, the ownership of the Joint Stock Company “Bumar-Fablok” was transferred to the Employees’ Joint Stock Company Fablok. In 1999, the company received the ISO 9001 certificate. In 2003, cooperation began in the field of construction of frames for tanks. Also in 2003, an agreement was signed for the modernization of two ST44 locomotives for PKP LHS. On March 18, 2005, the company; Linia Hutnicza Szerokotorowa in Zamość, two modernized ST-44 diesel locomotives with a power of 3,000 HP, were transferred. At that time, these locomotives were the most modern and powerful diesel locomotives for line transport on Polish tracks.

In June 2006, the production of wheel sets for freight wagons with monobloc wheels was launched.

In August 2007, an exhibition presenting the history of Bumar-Fablok S.A. was opened in the “Dom Urbańczyka” Museum in Chrzanów. The exhibition presents the activities of “Fablok” from its foundation to the present day. Rich iconographic material: historical outline, photographs from the visit of President Ignacy Mościcki, information boards from steam locomotives, shares of the first joint-stock company designed by Józef Mehoffer, photographs of steam locomotives, medals, decorations, certificates, publications.

In March 2009, Pol-Miedź Trans received the first of four modernized ST44 series 3000 locomotives ordered from Fablok.

On March 5, 2009, the companies Fabryka Maszyn Budowlanych i Lokomotyw “Bumar-Fablok” SA and “Fablok” Pracownicza SA merged. As a result of the merger, a new company was established with the company Pierwsza Fabryka Lokomotyw w Polsce “Fablok” Spółka Akcyjna. The merger of commercial law companies ended the long-term privatization process of the Chrzanów manufacturer.

On April 3, 2009, the former name of the plant was restored – “Pierwsza Fabryka Lokomotyw w Polsce Fablok S.A.” On May 21, 2013, the Court in Kraków declared the company bankrupt. The assets of Fablok were purchased by the company Martech Plus based in Łaziska Górne. P.P.H.U. “MARTECH-PLUS” Marcin Mistarz Spółka Jawna announced that on March 18, 2019, as a result of a tender announced by the bankruptcy trustee, it acquired ownership rights to the First Locomotive Factory in Poland. In 2019, the land and equipment of the famous Chrzanów factory were purchased by Martech Plus, a company producing locomotives and equipment for the railway industry.

Written by Karol Placha Hetman