Ty2-5680 – The final act

Ty2-5680 undergoes restoration at the DB Schenker Rail Polska workshops in Rybnik. Photo DB Schenker Rail Polska.

BTWT has already documented the dramatic story how Ty-5680 was transformed from an unwanted piece of scrap metal to a prestigious industrial monument taking pride of place outside the DB Schenker Rail Polska HQ in Zabrze. Now thanks to the assistance of DB Schenker, who kindly supplied these pictures, we can reveal that not only was the appearance of ‘Cinders’ transformed, but she did get to go to the ball!

(Click image to enlarge.)

Pani Malgorzata Manka-Szulik, the Mayor of Zabrze and Hans-Georg Werner, the chairman of DB Schenker Rail Polska sign the cooperation agreement. Photo DB Schenker Rail Polska.

Zabrze already has an industrial heritage tourist trail. Attractions include the largest operational steam winding engine in Poland and two tourist coal mines: Krolowa Luiza and Guido. The City Council is keen to develop the heritage trail further and approached DB Schenker Rail Polska to ask whether new restored Ty2-5680 could be added to the list of trail attractions.

(Click image to enlarge.)

Ty2-5680 after its restoration outside the DB Schenker Rail Polska HQ in Zabrze. Photo DB Schenker Rail Polska.

(Click image to enlarge.)

DB Schenker Rail Polska responded positively and on 17 October Malgorzata Manka-Szulik, the Mayor of Zabrze and Hans-Georg Werner, the chairman of DB Schenker Rail Polska, signed a cooperation agreement. As a result Ty2-5680 has been be added to the list of industrial heritage attractions in Zabrze and, from November, may be visited by members of the public.

Three important lessons can be learnt from this exercise:

1. If railfans work together the resultant ‘lobby’ can work miracles!
2. The importance of industrial heritage is gradually being recognised.
3. Preserving industrial heritage is good for a company’s image.

How Ty2-5680 was saved:

• BTWT – Ty2-5680

Ty2-5680 – All’s well that ends well

Cosmetically restored Ty2-5680 outside the Zabrze HQ of DB Schenker. Photo Marek Ciesielski.

There’s been a dearth of good news on BTWT of late so it gives us great pleasure to report that Deutsche Bahn have kept their word regarding Ty2-5680 and that the cosmetically restored engine is now proudly displayed outside the D B Schenker Rail Polska headquarters in Zabrze. Congratulations to Robert Dylewski and Tomasz Domzalski for a brilliantly executed PR campaign to rescue the engine after it had been sold to a scrapyard! Thanks also to Marek Ciesielski, for sending us a great photograph. (Click on the image for a larger version.)

More about the campaign to save Ty2-5680:

• BTWT – Ty2-5680

DB Schenker statement re Ty2-5680

Tomasz Domzalski, webmaster of Ty2.pl – one of the first websites to carry the news of the imminent scrapping of Ty2-5680 – has received an e-mail from Andrzej Wyszynski, a spokesman for DB Schenker Rail Polska –

Pragnę poinformować, iż umowa sprzedaży parowozu Ty2-5680 z firmą KEM w chwili obecnej zostanie rozwiązana. Parowóz został przetransportowany do jednej z naszych lokomotywowni Szczakowa-Jęzor, gdzie z powodu zacięcia się zestawu kołowego zostanie poddany drobnej renowacji. W chwili obecnej rozważana jest nowa lokalizacja, która pozwoli w sposób odpowiedni podkreślić jego historyczną wartość. Poinformujemy Państwa o nowym miejscu pobytu historycznej lokomotywy.

For those whose Polish is a bit rusty here is a translation –

I would like to inform you that the agreement regarding the sale of steam locomotive Ty2-5680 to KEM has, as of this moment, been cancelled. The locomotive has been transported to one of our locomotive depots, Szczakawa0-Jezor, where, as the result of a damaged bearing, it will undergo a minor repair. We are currently considering a suitable new location which will emphasise the historic value of the locomotive. We will inform you about the new location of this historic locomotive.

Let’s hope that DB Schenker can be persuaded that a suitable way of ’emphasising the historic value of the locomotive’ would be a joint Polish-German (or even Anglo-Polish-German!) project to restore it to working order. Send your suggestions to –

Oliver Schumacher
Deutsche Bahn AG
Head of Communications
Potsdamer Platz 2
10785 Berlin
GERMANY

Tel.:	+49 30 297-61480
Fax:	+49 30 297-61485
E-mail:	oliver.schumacher@deutschebahn.com

Ty2-5680 scrapping suspended

Some autumn sunshine for Ty2-5680. Note missing connecting rods. Photo Rynek Kolei.

(Click on picture to see more photos of the move of Ty2-5680 on the Rynek Kolejowy website.)

I have just learned from unofficial sources that DB Schenker Rail Polska and KEM Sp. z o.o. have by mutual agreement cancelled the sale of Ty2-5680. The ‘kriegslok’ remains the property of DB Schenker Rail Polska and the remainder of its move to the KEM works has been cancelled. The engine will stay at the company’s locomotive shed at Szczakowa-Jęzor until a long-term decision is made about its future. DB Schenker Rail Polska are expected to issue an official statement soon.

The change of mind by DB Schenker is the result of an emergency lobbying campaign by railway enthusiasts in Poland and abroad. The campaign was coordinated by Robert Dylewski of Fundacja Era Parowozow. If not for Robert’s hard work, the locomotive would by now be facing the oxy-acetylene torch in the scrap siding of KEM Sp. z o.o. I would like to thank all our readers who took part in our letter writing campaign and also our friends in Lok Report who were kind enough to translate our appeal into German and publish it on their website.

Dyspozytor

DB Schenker sells Ty2-5680 for scrap

EMERGENCY
ACTION
APPEAL

Ty2-5680 at the HQ of PCC Rail Szczakowa in June 2006.
Photo ©Steffen Poetzscher.

(Click image to see this photo in its original context on the Die Bahn-Halle, Eisenbahnnews und Reiseberichte website and see the rest of the photographs posted there by Steffen Poetzscher of his trip to Poland during 1 – 4 June 2006.)

News reached BTWT on 21 September that Ty2-5680 has been sold by the Polish division of DB Schenker to a scrap merchant. To loose any one of Poland’s 300 surviving steam locomotives is a tragedy; to loose a Ty2 that is complete and could be quickly restored to running order is completely unacceptable; to loose such a locomotive as the result of a decision by a division of Europe’s largest railway operator – Deutsche Bahn AG – is a scandal; to see it destroyed by the fiat of a German state owned company is a major international incident.

Ty2-5680 was built in 1943 by the F. Schichau GmbH, Maschinen und Lokomotivfabrik in Elbing and was allocated works no.3958. During the war it ran as DRB 52 5680 and then from 1945 onwards as MPS TE 5680. It spent much of its active life in Poland working on the sand railways – lines that were not part of the PKP network, but were operated by the Przedsiebiorstwo Materialpw Podsadzkowych Przemyslu Weglowego (PMPPW). When Ty2-5680 was withdrawn from service, it was preserved outside the PMPPW offices at Jaworzno-Knieje. In 1990 PMPPW was split into 6 separate companies. Ty2-5680 became part of Kopalnia Piasku Szczakowa SA, later PCC Rail Szczakowa SA, then PCC Rail SA. On 30 January 2009, DB Schenker bought PCC Rail SA, acquiring in the process an operating licence to run freight trains on Polish railways, the former PMPPW offices and Ty2-5680.

The shock decision to sell Ty2-5680 appears to have been made by local DB Schenker management without considering the PR and political repercussions. We urge all BTWT campaigners, especially our many German friends, to write immediately a firm but polite letter to Dr Rüdiger Grube, the chairman of Deutsche Bahn AG, asking him to take appropriate action to reverse the sale and save the locomotive.

Please write to:

Dr Rüdiger Grube
CEO and Chairman of the Mangement Board
Deutsche Bahn AG
Potsdamer Platz 2
10785 Berlin
GERMANY

Tel:	+49 30 297-64031
Fax:	+49 69 267-61919
e-mail:	to be advised