PKP Pm36
Pm36-2 (Beautiful Helena)
Type and origin Power type Steam Builder Fablok Build date 1937 Total produced 2
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 4-6-2  • UIC 2′C1′ h2 Gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge Leading dia. 950 mm (37.40 in) Driver dia. 2,000 mm (78.74 in) Trailing dia. 1,150 mm (45.28 in) Length 24.843 m (81 ft 6 in) Axle load 17.2 tonnes (16.9 long tons; 19.0 short tons) Adhesive weight 51.6 tonnes (50.8 long tons; 56.9 short tons) Loco weight 94.0 tonnes (92.5 long tons; 103.6 short tons) Tender weight 72.9 tonnes (71.7 long tons; 80.4 short tons) Tender cap. 9.0 tonnes (8.9 long tons; 9.9 short tons) Firebox: ​  • Grate area 3.85 m2 (41.4 sq ft) Boiler pressure 18 kg/cm2 (1.77 MPa; 256 psi) Heating surface: ​  • Firebox 15.00 m2 (161.5 sq ft)  • Total surface 198.0 m2 (2,131 sq ft) Superheater: ​  • Heating area 71.2 m2 (766 sq ft) Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size 530 mm × 700 mm (20.87 in × 27.56 in) Valve gear Heusinger (Walschaerts) Loco brake Westinghouse
Performance figures Maximum speed Pm36-1: 140 km/h (87 mph) Pm36-2: 130 km/h (81 mph) Power output 1,325 kW (1,780 hp) Tractive effort 147.5 kN (33,160 lbf)
Career Operators PKP » DRB » PKP Class PKP: Pm36 DRB: 186 Numbers PKP: Pm36-1 to Pm36-2 DRB: 18 601 to 18 602 Nicknames Piękna Helena Locale Poland Retired 1965 Restored 1995 Current owner PKP

PKP class Pm36 is a class of two express passenger (P) 4-6-2 (m) steam locomotives ordered in 1936 for the Polskie Koleje Państwowe (Polish State Railways).

The design was ready in 1936, and in the following year, the first two prototypes were built. One of them, Pm36-1, had aerodynamic fairing. The construction as well as the shape of it was designed by inz. Kazimierz Zembrzuski, head of the design office in the First Polish Factory of Locomotives and at the same time professor of the Warsaw University of Technology. The other (Pm36-2) had a standard look. The idea was to test both engines in parallel to compare top speed, acceleration, coal and water consumption etc. The Pm36-1 won a gold medal at the 1937 International Exposition of Art and Technology in Paris.

After the German occupation of Poland during World War II, the two locomotives were renumbered into the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DRB) fleet as 18 601 and 18 602 (class 18⁶). The 18 601 had its streamlining removed,^[1] but was later damaged and subsequently scrapped (probably in 1942). The 18 602 survived the war, and was returned to Poland where it regained its PKP class and number. It continued to work for PKP until 1965, when it was given to the Warsaw Railway Museum.

In 1995, the machine went through a major overhaul and is now working in Wolsztyn as a tourist attraction, called Beautiful Helen (pl. Piękna Helena). It is occasionally used in regular service, pulling trains to Poznań^[2] or Leszno.^[3] Currently, Beautiful Helena waits for repair in Wolsztyn.^[4]

• 
  Pm36 with aerodynamic fairing, World Expo 1937
• 
  Pm36 model with aerodynamic fairing, World Expo 1939

• PKP classification system

Wikimedia Commons has media related to PKP class Pm36.

• Durrant, A. E. (1972). The Steam Locomotives of Eastern Europe. Newton Abbot, Devon, UK: David and Charles. ISBN 0-7153-4077-8.
• Pokropiński, Bogdan (1987). Parowozy normalnotorowe produkcji polskiej dla PKP i przemysłu. Warszawa: Wydawnictwa Komunikacji i Łączności.

• Pm36 article at Steam locomotives site URL accessed on 5 August 2006
• Photo of Pm36-1 (left). The engine on the right (Pm36-2) is currently in service at the Wolsztyn depot (Poland). Public domain.
• Scan of a Polish postage stamp depicting Pm36-1. Public domain.
• Public domain. Pm36-1 photo.
• Public domain. Pm36-1 photo.
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