TCDD 45151 Class


The TCDD 45151 Class is a class of 2-8-0 steam locomotives which were acquired from the British War Department to the LMS Stanier Class 8F design.

Background

On the outbreak of the Second World War British locomotive manufacturers could no longer supply an order for 2-10-0s similar to the TCDD 56001 Class, derived from the German BR 42, for TCDD at the original price and conditions. . However, Nazi Germany stepped in to offer neutral Turkey DRG BR 52-type Kriegsloks which became the 56501 Class. Diplomatically embarrassed, the British offered the Turks 25 of the LMS Stanier Class 8F 2-8-0s, which had been adopted by the War Department as their standard heavy freight locomotive.
The engines selected were built by the North British Locomotive Company of Glasgow. Originally intended for WD service but the Fall of France saw them earmarked for the LMS before they were diverted to Turkey.

Shipping

The locomotives were shipped as a kit of parts via the Cape of Good Hope and the Suez Canal since the Mediterranean was too dangerous for Allied shipping. Seven failed to complete the journey. The vessel transporting them, the SS Jessmore, was involved in a collision in the Atlantic with another ship in the convoy on 19 February 1941. The Jessmore sank with the loss of its cargo a few days later. Three more received the same watery fate when the MV Berhala was torpedoed by U-38 on 23 May 1941 off Freetown, Sierra Leone. The lost engines were:
WD No.NBL Works No.BuiltShip
343246431940SS Jessmore
344246441940SS Jessmore
345246451940SS Jessmore
338246381940MV Berhala
354246541940MV Berhala
355246551941MV Berhala
356246561941MV Berhala

Service

The remaining 18 locomotives were transhipped at Port Said in Egypt and went overland to Turkey where they were renumbered 45151-68. Re-erection was in Sivas under the direction of R.G. Jarvis of the LMS. In 1943 they were joined by 2 more classmates, taking the class number to 20, in lieu of the lost engines. These were joined by a gift of 29 of the Lend-Lease S200 Class 2-8-2s which formed the TCDD 46201 Class.
WD No.TCCD No.NBL Works No.BuiltTo TurkeyNotes
524451512467219411941
523451522467119411941
357451532465719411941
358451542465719411941
359451552465719411941Preserved
346451562464619401941
351451572465119401941
350451582465019401941
349451592464919401941
348451602464819401941Preserved
522451612467019411941Preserved
347451622464719401941
339451632463919401941
342451642464219401941
353451652465319401941
341451662464119401941Preserved
352451672465219401941
340451682464019401941Preserved
552451692474919421943
554451702475519421943Preserved

Designed for British conditions, the 8Fs were not suited to Turkish circumstances. Though large for British engines, they were underpowered by Turkish standards and so could not ascend the steep grades unassisted. Their lack of drop grates also prevented them from long-distance working. They were thus relegated to shunting and local trip freights. The Turkish railwaymen referred to them as "Churchills" after British prime minister Winston Churchill.
The locomotives lasted into the 1980s where they became of special interest of British railway enthusiasts venturing abroad after the demise of steam in Britain.

Preservation

Three of the Turkish 8Fs have been preserved. No. 45161 is a static exhibit at the Çamlık Railway Museum. 45168 is preserved and was seen on display at Izmit Station in September 2010. No. 45160 was repatriated to Great Britain in 1989 by the Churchill 8F Locomotive Company Limited where it is Operational on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway.
In October 2010, two of the six remaining derelict examples in Turkey were acquired by the 3 members of the Churchill 8F Locomotive Company Limited. The two locomotives travelled by rail from Sivas depot to Izmir where they were loaded onto a ship for transport back to the UK.
They arrived at Royal Portbury Dock on Boxing Day 2010 aboard the MV Grande Scandinavia. The transportation of the locomotives across Turkey was the subject of an episode of the documentary television series Monster Moves in 2011.
45170 is currently stored in the Museum of Scottish Railways at the Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway awaiting restoration by the Scottish Railway Preservation Society. 45166, meanwhile, was sold to the municipality of Beersheba in Israel in December 2012, and has now been cosmetically restored and put on display at the Be'er Sheva Turkish Railway Station.