In 1839 the Lokomotivfabrik der StEG became the first

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

works to be founded and it produced many influential locomotive designs. The factory was built in 1839 by the Vienna-Raab Railway between the Vienna Südbahnhof and Vienna Ostbahnhof and stocked with machinery, much of which was from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The first locomotives and coaches were built in 1840 based on American prototypes. These were also the first railway vehicles to be built in Austria. The manufacture of railway vehicles was difficult because at that time in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

there were still no iron foundries and none of the workers had the training for this type of work. One of the biggest influences on the development of locomotive construction in Austria was the first manager of the factory,

John Haswell John Haswell (20 March 1812 – 8 June 1897) was a Scottish engineer and locomotive designer. He was born on 20 March 1812 in Lancefield, Glasgow, Scotland, studied at ''Anderson's University'' in Glasgow and worked for 22 years in the shipbuil ...

, who led it from 1840 to 1882. In 1855, the factory went into the ownership of the ''

Staats-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft The Imperial Royal Privileged Austrian State Railway Company (German: ''k. k. privilegierte österreichische Staatseisenbahn-Gesellschaft''), from 1 January 1883 the Privileged Austro-Hungarian State Railway Company (''privilegierte österreic ...

'' (State Railway Company) or ''StEG'' (full title: ''k.k. landesbefugte Maschinen-Fabrik in Wien der privilegirten österreichisch-ungarischen Staats-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft''), which had the factory expanded in size. Amongst the trail-blazing locomotives, which this factory produced, was the first six-coupled locomotive on the continent, the ''FAHRAFELD'', the Semmering competition engine, ''VINDOBONA'', and the first eight-coupled locomotive, ''WIEN-RAAB''. The company runs a subsidiary today in Romania's Reşiţa. Until 1918, however only 7 steam engines were built there. Due mainly to the consequences of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, there was only a low demand for locomotives within the reduced Austrian national territory. This was able to be compensated for a time by orders from abroad, nevertheless in 1930 the factory had to shut its gates.

Gallery

image:StEG-Frabrik_Presse.jpg, A press in the StEG factory in 1873 image:StEG-Fabrik_Kesselschmiede.jpg, Boiler smithy image:StEG-Fabrik_Schmiede.jpg, Smithy image:StEG-Fabrik_Werkhalle.jpg, Mechanical workshop for the production of coupling rods image:StEG-Fabrik_Montagekran.jpg, Assembly crane in 1857 image:StEG-Fabrik_Montagehalle.jpg, Assembly hall in 1901

Literature

* ''Lokomotive Typen der k. k. landesbef. Maschinen-Fabrik in Wien der k. k. priv. Österr. Staats-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft.'' Herausgegeben aus Anlaß der Wiener Weltausstellung im Jahre 1873 unter der Redaktion von John Haswell. Wien, J. Weiner, 1873 * Stroh, E., ''Die achtzehn Millionen der Staats-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft'', Wien u. a., Jahoda & Siegel, 1912 {{Authority control Defunct locomotive manufacturers of Austria Buildings and structures in Favoriten Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1839 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1930 1839 establishments in the Austrian Empire 1930 disestablishments in Austria Companies of Austria-Hungary

Gallery

See also

Literature