DRB Class 52

The Deutsche Reichsbahn's Class 52 is a German coal-fired steam locomotive built in large numbers after 1941 to supply the extended Eastern Front. It was the most produced type of the so-called Kriegslokomotiven or Kriegsloks (war locomotives). The Class 52 was a wartime development of the pre-war DRG Class 50, using fewer parts and less expensive materials to speed production. They were designed by Richard Wagner who was Chief Engineer of the Central Design Office at the Locomotive Standards Bureau of the DRG. About a dozen classes of locomotive were referred to as Kriegslokomotiven; however, the three main classes were the Class 52, 50 and 42. They were numbered 52 1-52 7794. A total of 20 are preserved in Germany. Many locomotives passed into Russian ownership after the Second World War. In the USSR, the class were designated TE (TЭ). Other operators of the type included Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Norway and Turkey, among others.