Luxtorpeda was a common name of a famous Polish train, which ran on some of the most important rail routes of Poland in the 1930s. A Luxtorpeda consisted of a single, first-class only railcar, with its own internal combustion engine.
Name
Luxtorpeda was not the official name of these trains — in the timetable they were called "Pociąg Motorowo-Ekspresowy MtE". The common name was inspired by the unusual look of the railcar and its high operational speed. Luxtorpedas looked like a hybrid between a limousine and a bus.
Background
The design of a Luxtorpeda was based on an Austrian railcar type VT63 with two gasoline engines, which had been produced since early 1930s by the Austro-Daimler company. Such a railcar was leased by the Polish State Railways in 1933. As successful tests were carried out on Polish rail lines, Poland bought a license for the railcar. Engineer Klemens Stefan Sielecki of The First Factory of Locomotives in Poland Ltd. in Chrzanów started becoming highly involved in 1935 with the development of the construction of Luxtorpeda, which was a technical innovation in its time. Also in 1935 he was nominated as deputy head of the technical department. In 1936 Fablok built five Polish Luxtorpedas under his guidance. The Luxtorpedas by Fablok were slightly different from their Austrian counterparts, the biggest difference being the use of more powerful Diesel engines which were able to reach a speed of 115 km/h..
Technical data
PKP luxtorpedas were allocated a classSAx and numbered 90 080 and 90 081 to 90 085. It was decided to equip Polish-built luxtorpedas with diesel type D4086 engines supplied by MAN AG, in contrast to the gasoline engines of the Austrian version. This change was due to a lower fuel cost, as well as the reduced fire and explosion risk. The water-cooled engines were mounted at each end of the railcar, at the front of the driving cabins. Transmission was hydraulic, supplied by Voith. Each engine had its own mechanical reversing gear and transmission, both located underneath the cabin. The speed of both engines could be controlled from one cab, but starting and stopping them, reversing, as well as switching between the two transmission systems, had to be done independently for each engine. Therefore, in most cases two drivers were needed. They communicated with each other using a signalling system that consisted of a set of colour lights and an electric bell. The maximum speed reached during trials was 120 km/h, with 100-105 km/h set as a practical operational maximum. Due to the lack of buffers and couplings it was impossible to join the railcars together, or to attach a Luxtorpeda to ordinary rolling stock. Therefore, Luxtorpedas always travelled as separate units. However, a special connecting rod, 1.4 m long, was carried in each railcar for emergency coupling to standard railroad cars or locomotives.
Routes
The Luxtorpeda's main base was at Kraków, and from there they went to the Tatra Mountains resort of Zakopane. The distance between the two cities, a difficult route with many reverse curves of 190 m radius and grades of up to 2.7%, was covered with an average time of 2 hours and 45 minutes. In 1936 a luxtorpeda beat the record, with 2 hours and 18 minutes. This record has not been superseded, so far. Luxtorpedas also traveled from Kraków to Warsaw, Katowice, other mountain resorts and Krynica via Tarnów. They also ran between Warsaw and Åódź and were scheduled to operate between Warsaw and PoznaÅ„ from autumn 1939. Furthermore, according to the Summer 1939 Schedule, trains marked as MtE traveled from Lwów to Boryslaw, Zaleszczyki and Kolomyja. Also, an MtE train ran in the summer from Warsaw to SuwaÅ‚ki, via BiaÅ‚ystok and Augustów. However, it is difficult to establish whether these trains were luxtorpedas.
Final years
After the Polish September Campaign, only 90 081 and 90 084 stationed in Kraków remained serviceable, the other railcars having been destroyed. They were used as special "Only for Germans" trains, traveling from Kraków to Zakopane and Krynica. After World War II, only 90 081 remained in Poland and was repaired using parts from destroyed cars. 90 084 was located in the Schwerin division of DR at the end of 1945 However, due to the lack of parts and suitable maintenance workshops, 90 081 could not be made to run at anywhere near its design speed and was allocated to operate local services near Trzebinia. It was scrapped around 1954
