Steam locomotive TKb-b4
Steam locomotives also called fire-free, and colloquially also "parasites" were designed for servicing sidings of industrial plants, in which special care was to be taken with regard to fire protection. This concerned chemical plants, refineries, wood depots, saw mills, textile and paper industry factories, coke plants, gas works, etc. The demand for such steam engines was enormous after the Second World War (due to the fact that there were no diesel locomotives at that time). The TKbB4 locomotive located in Wolsztyn is one of the few surviving machines manufactured before World War II in Borsig in Berlin marked as type FL. The system of two drive axles included it in the Bn2ft construction type. The company manufactured several such steam engines in the number of several hundred since 1906. The exhibit with the serial number 8464 in Wolsztyn had a boiler with the same serial number. Produced in 1912, it was delivered to the plants of Hochofenwerk AG, Herrenwyk / n. in Lubeck on August 27, 1912. After 1945, he went to Huta Szczecin where he worked until the end of the 1970s. Later, he came to the created Steam Trakcja Park in the Szczecin Główny Locomotive Station, then to Skansen in Choszczno, and from there after its liquidation to the engine house in Wolsztyn.
The Borsig-Tegel production boiler was also produced in 1912. He could work under a pressure of 10 kg / cm². Steam locomotives of this type had a simplified steam train system, a throttle and a winder. A dump valve, which was filled with steam from a stationary boiler, was located in the front, lower part of the boiler. In order to minimize heat losses, it was important to properly insulate the boiler, which was a double cover and insulation made of glass or slag wool. At a working speed of 10 km / h, the working time between successive boiler refills ranged from 2 - 6 hours.
Boiler fittings were modest and consisted of a pressure gauge, safety valve and whistle. An interesting fact was the steam heater for heating the driver's cab placed under the seat. He developed speed up to 30 km / h. After World War II, Polish industry, especially ZNTK in Wrocław, started production of indifferent steam locomotives using chassis from end-of-life, mostly old Prussian steam locomotives type Tki3, Tkp1, Tp4, designating these machines as TKi3b, TKh4b, TKp1b. From 1956, the Fablok factory in Chrzanów started to produce machines of the completely Polish construction type 1U. This construction has received the designation TKb-b. In total, in 1953-1967, 135 new steam-powered steam locomotives were built in Poland.