Kriegslok War Locomotives Still Working in Bosnia in 2025

Related post: Slovenian Railway Museum in Ljubljana.

Post updated 15 July 2025. Reason for update: Confirmation that the Kriegslok war locomotives are still working in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2025.

Disclaimer: Images or information on Nazism published in this post are of a historical reference.

Note: The German word Kriegslok is an abbreviation for Kriegslokomotive. In English: War Locomotive.

Table of Contents

About This Post
First Manufacture of Kriegslok War Locomotives Started in 1942
Kriegslok 52 001 Launched in Berlin
The First Kriegslok War Locomotive Completed
Kriegslok War Locomotives – More Information
Kriegslok War Locomotives Production – Nazi Propaganda Film
Kriegslok War Locomotives Following the Defeat of Germany
Some Examples of Post-War Kriegsloks in Europe
List of Countries that Inherited Kriegslok War Locomotives
Three Good YouTube Videos to Watch
This raises the question: Are these Kriegslok War Locomotives Still Working in Bosnia and Herzegovina?
Key Questions and Answers
Related Post
External Links

About This Post

This post is about the last Kriegslok war locomotives in commercial use (as opposed to heritage or museum operation, which is primarily for tourism or preservation). A small number of these locomotives, steam-powered engines built for freight transport during wartime, still haul coal wagons at coal mines in the Tuzla region of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

First Manufacture of Kriegslok War Locomotives Started in 1942

Editorial from the German newspaper Mährisch-Schlesische Landeszeitung, dated 14 October 1942. English: Moravian-Silesian regional newspaper.

Kriegslok 52 001 Launched in Berlin

Kriegslok War Locomotives. — This is the first Kriegslok war locomotive manufactured in 1942

Newspaper editorial translation from German:

The First Kriegslok War Locomotive Completed

The first Class 52 war locomotive was recently presented to representatives of the Berlin press. In the production of this simplified freight locomotive—the only type built in large numbers by all locomotive factories in Greater Germany for the Reichsbahn—a new approach is being taken in accordance with the guidelines of the Reich Minister for Armament and Ammunition. Structural and technical simplification increases performance.

With the war locomotive including tenders, around 26,000 kilograms of material and 6,000 working hours are saved for each locomotive. In terms of its external shape, it differs from the previous Class 50 locomotive of the same power due to the lack of smoke deflectors and the big snow clearer, which is particularly important for the East, as well as the semicircular profile of the tender, which has been simplified and is, therefore, technically more efficient.

Source: Archived at the Silesian Digital Library, Poland. In German. Page 6. Accessed 25 April 2024.

Kriegslok War Locomotives – More Information

Alfred C. Mierzejewski’s book Hitler’s Locomotives: Part 1 contains additional copyrighted material, including photographs, that you can view.

For example, there is a photograph entitled “With a Kriegslok behind him, Albert Speer addresses locomotive builders and Reichsbahn officials at a locomotive factory outside Berlin in July 1943.” Source: JSTOR. Accessed 23 May 2024. Subscription required.

Albert Speer was the former Reich Minister of Armaments and War Production.

Kriegslok War Locomotives Production – Nazi Propaganda Film

The video below, hosted on the Noel Black YouTube channel, features original footage from a Nazi propaganda film about the production of the Class 52 Kriegslok war locomotives. The channel’s creator has provided closed captions for both the German narration and the film credits.

Kriegslok War Locomotives Following the Defeat of Germany

Following Germany’s defeat in World War II, many kriegslok locomotives remained in countries occupied or allied with Germany, while others stayed within the post-war boundaries of the Democratic and Federal Republics of Germany. In the post-war years, kriegsloks were used commercially throughout Europe.

Some Examples of Post-War Kriegsloks in Europe

A Kriegslok Locomotive in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The associated photograph from 2018 is of a Class 52 locomotive hauling coal wagons at the Šikulje Coal Mine in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This locomotive has been renumbered to 33-064.

Attribution: Bastian Königsmann via Flickr. CC BY 2.0 Deed. Accessed 28 April 2024.

This locomotive is featured in the third YouTube video, which can be found further down in this post, and was in service when the YouTuber visited in October 2023.

Kriegslok locomotive No. 33-064 in Bosnia. — Kriegslok locomotive No. 33-064 in Bosnia

A Kriegslok Locomotive in Yugoslavia

The associated photograph from 1952 shows a Class 52 locomotive, numbered 52.3812, somewhere in Yugoslavia.

Attribution: daves_archive _inactive at current time via Flickr.

Kriegslok locomotive in Yugoslavia. — Kriegslok locomotive No. 52.3812 in Yugoslavia

A Kriegslok Locomotive in Poland

The associated photograph is of a Class 52 locomotive in Poland. This locomotive has been renumbered to Ty2-953.

Ty2-953 is now located at the Chabówka Rolling Stock Heritage Park in Chabówka, Poland. Source: Author’s visit in 2025.

This locomotive currently appears weathered and in poor condition.

Kriegslok locomotive Ty2-953 at Chabówka. — Kriegslok locomotive No. Ty2-953 at Chabówka, Poland

A Kriegslok Locomotive in the German Democratic Republic

The associated photograph from 1985 is of a Class 52 locomotive in passenger service. The location is Salzwedel Railway Station in the German Democratic Republic.

Attribution: Michel Huhardeaux from Brussels, Belgium via Wikimedia Commons.

Source: Wikimedia. Accessed 27 April 2024.