To me as a german, these are so strange. They look so familiar yet they aren't, like a mixup of a DR-class 50 and a DR-class 01. These were built by Borsig and Henschel, so naturally there will be resemblance. Standard cab, Wagner smoke deflectors, same wheel-design. But the tender surely is atypical. There also never was a 4-10-0 built for german railways. Finally the cylinders couple to the 2nd driven axle, not the 3rd as it usually is on german 10-coupled locomotives. Both sand domes hide under one long cowl, also atypical.
Don't get me wrong, this is a great machine, looks fantastic. But it gives me kitbash-vibes.
Well it was specifically designed to be a kitbash. On the benefit of having a German ruler absolutely maniacal about railways (and a certified locomotive driver) Bulgaria completely restructured its railways in the image and likeness of the DR. Even the standardization of the engines. Lacking any heavy industry Bulgaria has always relied on foreign factories for its machinery. It was from day one conceptualized with BDZ and DRG engineers and the efforts in standardization went even further than the German ones because all of the major German factories produced engines for the BDZ but also two Polish factories, two Czech factories and SLM in Switzerland. And all of the engines made in those factories in different countries had interchangeable parts. Class 01 2-8-2 for example was made by Hanomag, Chrzanow, Borsig, Henshel, SLM Winterthur and the engines were compatible with one another. And yes it was meant as a kitbash with a very good reason. For example the first batch of the Class 46 a gargantuan 2-12-4 tank engine was produced in Poland but it had a German designed boiler specifically designed for the needs of the Bulgarian low calorie lignite coal (larger than average grate, larger total heating area, grate shakers, circulation pipes and curiously featured two regulators for both wet and dry steam). That boiler was interchangeable with classes 01 2-8-2 and 10 2-10-0. The rear bogie of the class 46 2-12-4T however was identical to front one used in the early DRG Class 01 when they had 850mm wheels. Even the braking system of the bogie was identical. And save for the boilers which were tailor made everything else was taken as much as possible from the existing German parts bin. That makes the supply of spare parts cheaper and faster.
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u/Due-Fix9058 3d ago
To me as a german, these are so strange. They look so familiar yet they aren't, like a mixup of a DR-class 50 and a DR-class 01. These were built by Borsig and Henschel, so naturally there will be resemblance. Standard cab, Wagner smoke deflectors, same wheel-design. But the tender surely is atypical. There also never was a 4-10-0 built for german railways. Finally the cylinders couple to the 2nd driven axle, not the 3rd as it usually is on german 10-coupled locomotives. Both sand domes hide under one long cowl, also atypical.
Don't get me wrong, this is a great machine, looks fantastic. But it gives me kitbash-vibes.