LOCOMOTIVES, Steam locomotive series SüdB 29

On 1st October 2012 there will be the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the first train to Zagreb on the newly built railway track Zidani Most - Zagreb – Sisak. This railway track marked the beginning of shaping the traffic knot in Zagreb and enabled the embedding of Zagreb area into the European railway network. On the occasion of this very important anniversary as template for postage stamps from the series Locomotives, the locomotives from two series that were used in railway traffic in Zagreb area have been chosen.  These are the locomotives of the series SüdB 29 / JDŽ 124, which were among the first goods locomotives of the Imperial Royal Privileged Southern Railway Society (Kaiserlich königliche privilegierte Südbahngesellschaft) or shortly the Southern Railway Society for train towing on lowland railway tracks in Croatia and the locomotives of the series MÁV 424 / JDŽ/JŽ 11, which were used for towing fast and passenger trains and which in 1976 marked the end of steam towing in Zagreb area.
 
The inclusion of Zagreb area into the network of railway tracks of the Austrian Empire was envisaged already in the 30-ies of the 19th century in the first documents that announced the building of the railway network in the direction of Austrian hereditary countries, i.e. towards the countries associated with Hungarian crown.  The realisation of these plans began after the opening of the entire state railway track Vienna - Graz – Zidani Most – Ljubljana – Trieste in 1857, at first by building the railway track Zidani Most – Zagreb – Sisak as a separate railway track of the Austrian main route.  The building of railway track in Slovenian part of the territory began in 1853 and in Croatian part in 1860.
 
The task of building the railway track was entrusted to a private consortium, the Southern Railway Society. The railway had only one track of the total length of 127.58 km. It crossed the border between Slovenia and Croatia on the River of Sutla. Along the whole railway there were ten railway stations, five on Slovenian and five on Croatian territory. All buildings were built in a typical way with the characteristic rims of red bricks framing the facade, doors and windows. With reference to the importance, in Zagreb and Sisak larger railway stations were built with heated areas, nearby work rooms for the repair of railway vehicles and with housing buildings for railway employees.
 
The largest reception railway building was built in Zagreb - Southern Railway Station (Agram Südbahnhof) which between 1924 and 1943 bore the name Zagreb Sava, and later the name Zagreb Western Railway Station. That Railway Station was for 30 years - until erection of the today's Zagreb Main Railway Station - the central railway station in Zagreb. It is important to mention that at the railway station from its beginning there existed also a newly founded post office. From the point of railway construction the most complex enterprises were the building of railway bridges across the river Sava near Zagreb and across the River Krapina near Zaprešić.
The Railway was opened for traffic on 1st October 1862. Regular traffic was maintained in the beginning by one passenger train in both directions and by several goods trains. Gradually, the number of trains grew, which is no wonder if we know that the drive between Zidani Most and Sisak or in opposite direction lasted four and half hours and travelling by stage coach lasted 12 hours. The inclusion of Zagreb and the surrounding area into the network of European railway strongly influenced faster economic growth and opening of new machineries and factories – gas plant, parquet factory, tanneries, steam sawmill, steam mill, tobacco factory. Along with these changes Zagreb began to acquire also in urban and architectural development the look and atmosphere of a middle European town which from 18,000 inhabitants in 1862 grew by the end of the century to 40,000 inhabitants.
 
Steam locomotive of the series SüdB 29 / JDŽ 124
 
The locomotives of the series, at that time marked SüdB 29, were among the first goods locomotives of the Southern Railway Society designed to tow trains on lowland railway. They were built between 1860 and1872 in Austrian factories L.f. Sigl in Wiener Neustadt and M.f.d. STEG in Vienna. Since 1862 they were used also on the newly opened railway track Zidani Most – Zagreb – Sisak. Some of these locomotives were in use in Croatia by the 40-ties of the 20th century. A decade later a last locomotive with the mark JDŽ 124-001 was withdrawn from traffic.
The locomotives of the series count among the pioneer locomotives with three coupled axles. Their power was 302 kW (410 KSi), the length of the locomotive with the tender was 14,254 mm, the mass of the locomotive in use 38.30 t and the highest allowed speed 45 km/h. At that time these were the heaviest locomotives in Europe.
 
 
Helena Bunijevac