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11.09.2022: A locomotive comes to life

You have probably already been excited by the title of this news item. And rightly so, because there are some amazing things to report. But more on that later. First, let's turn to the little progress we've made in the last few days.
First, the cylinder cocks of steam locomotive 50 3570 were removed and cleaned. They consist of round valve seats in which small valve cones are located that can be opened from the driver's cab via a shaft. The engine drivers open them when the engine's drive cylinders are cold after a longer standstill and steam is then fed in. Some of the steam then condenses on the cold liners of the cylinders and condenses on them. In order to release the water in a controlled manner, these valves are opened and the water can run out or is forced out by the steam flowing in and the piston movement.

Master painter Klecks is still painting the driver's cab ceiling of steam locomotive 50 3570 with a radiant light grey.

One of our class V22 diesel locomotives needed new starter batteries because the previous ones were getting on in years and eventually one of them developed a cell shortage. So a bit of investment had to be made. As you can see in the picture below, such a battery looks like one you might know from your car. But it is much bigger and therefore unfortunately much more expensive.

Our diesel locomotive 102 076 was allowed to make a little excursion to the harbour. There it picked up a tanker from the IOI company, which had made it available to the hazardous materials unit of the Prignitz district as a training object. The wagon was placed in the harbour.


The trolley cars also need maintenance from time to time. Here you can see the underside of a hand lever trolley whose gear drive has been checked and lubricated,

Now to our main topic of today's news: On Monday, 29.09.2022, a fire was lit in the boiler of the steam locomotive Karlsruhe for the first time in 57 years. The locomotive was built in 1919 for a gas works in Karlsruhe as a shunting locomotive and was in service there until 1965.

After the small locomotive had been thoroughly overhauled at the Wittenberge site and fitted with new boiler tubes, the so-called warm pressure test was now carried out. The boiler was heated up and brought to maximum pressure to see if there were any leaks that could prevent it from being used. Fortunately, this was not the case and in the presence of the boiler inspector the safety valves could be set to the permissible operating pressure. The following picture shows a view into the driver's cab during the heating process. In the foreground you can see (lying on its side) the calibrated test manometer of the boiler inspector. In the following picture you can see how a safety valve is adjusted. It must open automatically when the maximum permissible operating pressure is exceeded.


After that, a small function test of the locomotive could be done. And indeed, it moved under its own power, which greatly moved the owners and the workshop staff. Below you will find a link to a video showing the first metres of the locomotive. Have fun watching it!

Unfortunately, the little locomotive will be leaving us shortly and probably will not be on display for our anniversary event in early October 2022. Instead, it will be presented at another location in Northern Germany. But don't be sad, the visit to our anniversary will still be worthwhile. Other guests have already registered. More information will be available soon here and on our other information channels like Instagram and YouTube.
vehicles: 50 3570-4, V 22 B

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