Ernest H. Robl stock photos:Austrian Federal Railways (Österreichische Bundesbahnen) historic equipment
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Due to a fast-growing post-WW II economy and a shortage of motive power, revenue steam lasted into the mid 1970s in Austria. By the end of the steam era, however, most main line traffic was hauled by modern electrics with steam locomotives either relegated to branch lines or held in reserve in case of equipment failure.
A number of Austrian steam locomotives survive in operable condition today and are still used in excursion service from time to time. These locomotives are either part of the ÖBB's historic equipment collection, owned by museums or historic societies, or privately owned. Ironically, the last steamers used in revenue service and many of the surviving locomotives are from the simplified WW II Kriegslok (war locomotive) designs, as these had proven easier to maintain, while more high-tech steam locomotives were phased out earlier because of their complexity.
Locomotive 52.7612 is a 2-10-0 of the German war locomotive series that remained in Austria at the end of WW II. It is privately owned and still used in excursion service. These locomotives also have good running characteristics when running in reverse, making them usable on routes that have no turning facilities for locomotives.
 791543 Locomotive 52.7612 departs St. Pölten, Austria with an excursion train of older coaches. |
 791595 Locomotive 52.7612 switching at Grein- Bad Kreuzen, Austria. |
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791585 Oiling around is a
time-honored tradition for steam locomotive crews around the world. Here the crew of the 52.7612 adds oil to various mechanical assemblies of the locomotive during a stop at Grein-Bad Kreuzen. |
Locomotives of Austria's class 93 were of the 2-8-2T design, built in the 1920s. Though they had a legal top speed of only 60 km/h (37 mph), these tank locomotives (meaning that they carried water and coal on board, without using an external tender) were reliable machines and had good visibility from the cab when running in reverse. This kept them in use for light freight and branch line passenger service up to the end of revenue steam operations.
 791555 Locomotive 93.1422 at Krems, Austria, running around its consist of excursion coaches. |
 791556 Going-away shot of 93.1422, showing the tall but narrow coal bunker. |
Narrow gauge lines were the last hold-out for steam in Austria. Here, locomotive 399.06 is still in revenue service at Gmünd, Austria, in 1979.
 791388 Locomotive 399.06 awaiting its next assignment at Gmünd, Austria. |
 791394 Locomotive 399.06 leaving Gmünd, Austria, with a mixed train. |
Built in 1938 in Germany and left behind in Austria after WW II, class 1245.5 BoBo boxcab electrics locomotives survived late into the 20th century, but were mostly relegated to local switching and reserve duties near the ends of their lives. This engine still wears its original German dark blue. However, during major overhauls, the locomotives were repainted into the red or orange schemes used by the Austrian Federal Railways (Österreichische Bundesbahnen, or ÖBB) at the time.
Austria's class 1020 CoCo heavy mountain locomotives were units of the German E94 series built from 1939 onward that were left to Austria at the end of WW II. With a severe motive power shortage after the war, several were even built in Austria, mostly using stockpiles of spare parts.
The series 1020 locomotives survived until the end of the 20th century, used mostly in helper (pusher) service on mountain grades near the end of their lives.
For much of the third quarter of the 20th century, the class 1042.5 BoBo electric locomotives were the mainstay of the motive power of the Austrian Federal Railways (Österreichische Bundesbahnen, or ÖBB).
These locomotives, built in the late 1960s, survived into the 21st century. The locomotives initially did not have multiple unit (MU) controls, so, when more than one locomotive was needed on a train, each had to have its own engineer.
Some locomotives received MU capability in the 1990s, when they were substantially updated and redesignated class 1142. The latter class could not only be used in MU on heavier trains but could also be operated from a cab control car on the other end of a push-pull passenger train used in local service.
761111 Class 1042.5 at
Semmering.
4010 train sets were popular with the travelling public. They provided a variety of seating configurations in a fixed consist that initially included a full dining car. They initially operated on a premier trains and even ran into Germany and Switzerland. Alas, by 2004, only a few of these train sets remained, with their days numbered.
Stockpiles of spare parts were essentially exhausted making maintenance and repairs of these older trains exceedingly difficult and expensive. The only way to keep even a few of these sets running was to cannibalize other units that had already been phased out.
 771081 A 4010 train set in its original blue and white paint scheme on one of the viaducts of the Semmering line in Austria, climbing toward the town of Semmering and the Semmering tunnel. These
trains were bi-directional, with a cab |
 751178 The power car of a 4010 train set gets its faces scrubbed at Innsbruck, Austria, before heading up the Arlberg line to Switzerland. |
Keep in mind these images are only samples. Many more images of additional subjects are available.
To go to the main ÖBB page, featuring contemporary equipment, click here.
For general travel photos from Austria, select on my Pictures by category page.
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