Passenger Locomotives, Poland

P could stand for many things, but my brain is like switched off from the creative-box today, so I just couldn't come up with something else than Poland or Portugal... or Papua New Guinea, but then I seem to have no stamps from there. so Poland it is... with one of my all time favourite subjects - trains!

Issued on 21 September, 2002 in a set of 4 stamps, featuring the Polish Steam Locomotives from Wolsztyn.

The Wolsztyn steam locomotive was built in 1907 and today it is the only place where an old steam locomotive can be seen every day.

There are museums and open air museums in the world, but nowhere else are they used for scheduled trains. Wolsztyn steamers run on routes to Poznan, Leszno and Zbaszynka.
There are three machines under the steam. Two for passenger trains and one for freight trains and maneuvers at the station in Wolsztyn.

The passenger car locomotive Ok1-359 - 1,10 PLN (first from the left),  was built at the Schwarzkopf plant in Berlin in 1917. After the war,  Polish service began. First it was stationed in Toruń later in Gniezno, Poznan, Międzyrzecz, and since March 1989 is based in Wolsztyn.

The Ol49-7 steam engine - 1,10 zł (secdon from the left) was constructed in 1949 in the  Fablok - Chrzanów factories and was produced until 1954. Today it is the most used steam engine in the Wolsztyn steam locomotive, used to run passenger trains.

Commodity Steamer TKi3-87 - 2 zł (third from the left) - This is the oldest steam engine from the Wolsztyn steam locomotive series. It was built in Konigsberg in 1908, as ordered by the Prussian Railway. After the war it was sent to Poznań. In 1995, after the renovation in Gniezno, it arrived in Wolsztyn.

Rapid steam locomotive Pm36-2 - 2 PLN (fourth from the left) - A steam locomotive called "Beautiful Helena" (after Ms. Helena Jones, who substantially contributed to its restoration), developing a speed of 130 km/h and constructed by the Chrzanów Railway Construction Bureau in 1936. It was an experimental steam locomotive to run light express trains with the Pm 36 mark. One of them, Pm 36-2, was the only survivor of the war and was exploited until 1965. In 1995, it was repatriated to Wolsztyn.



Sorry if at times the text sounds odd - couldnt find much information in English, so this is some kind of a proofread google-translated version from Polish texts.

For more interesting ideas under the letter P, click on the following link => Sunday Stamps