The TCDD (

Turkish Republic Railways The State Railways of the Republic of Turkey ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Devlet Demiryolları), abbreviated as TCDD, is a government-owned national railway company responsible with the ownership and maintenance of railway infrastructure in Turke ...

) 45151 Class is a class of

2-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels. ...

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

s which were acquired from the British War Department to the LMS Stanier Class 8F design. They had a maximum speed of 43 miles per hour (70 km/h), much like their British counterparts.

Background

On the outbreak of the Second World War British locomotive manufacturers could no longer supply an order for

2-10-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-10-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, ten powered and coupled driving wheels on five axles, and no trailing wheels. This arrangement was of ...

s similar to the TCDD 56001 Class, derived from the German BR 42, for TCDD at the original price and conditions. (These locomotives were eventually delivered after the war as the

TCDD 56080 Class TCDD may refer to any of the following: * Turkish State Railways (Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Devlet Demiryolları) - The national railway carrier of Turkey. ** TCDD Taşımacılık - A Turkish transport company responsible for railway operations. * 2,3, ...

). However, Nazi Germany stepped in to offer neutral Turkey

DRG BR 52 The Deutsche Reichsbahn's Class 52Wartime locomotives classes are prefixed DRB (Deutsche Reichsbahn) to distinguish them from those introduced by the DRG (prefixed DRG), which became defunct in 1937, and those introduced later by the East German ...

-type Kriegsloks which became the 56501 Class. Diplomatically embarrassed, the British offered the Turks 25 of the LMS Stanier Class 8F

s, 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 The North British Locomotive Company (NBL, NB Loco or North British) was created in 1903 through the merger of three Glasgow locomotive manufacturing companies; Sharp, Stewart and Company (Atlas Works), Neilson, Reid and Company (Hyde Park Wor ...

of Glasgow. Originally intended for WD service but the

Fall of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second World ...

saw them earmarked for the

LMS LMS may refer to: Science and technology * Labeled magnitude scale, a scaling technique * Learning management system, education software * Least mean squares filter, producing least mean square error * Leiomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer * Lenz ...

before they were diverted to Turkey.

Shipping

The locomotives were shipped as a kit of parts (other 8Fs destined for the Middle East went complete) via the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

and the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...

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:

Service

The remaining 18 locomotives were transhipped at

Port Said Port Said ( ar, بورسعيد, Būrsaʿīd, ; grc, Πηλούσιον, Pēlousion) is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal. With an approximate population of 6 ...

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 Ronald Guy Jarvis was a British locomotive engineer, born 5 November 1911 in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, England. Jarvis apprenticed at Derby Works under George Ivatt. Career Wartime work During World War II Jarvis was sent to Turkey to overs ...

of the LMS. In 1943 they were joined by 2 more classmates, (45169/70) taking the class number to 20, in lieu of the lost engines. These were joined by a gift of 29 of the

Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...

S200 Class

2-8-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and two trailing wheel ...

s which formed the

TCDD 46201 Class The Turkish Republic Railways (TCDD) 46201 Class is a class of ex-USATC Lend-Lease S200 Class 2-8-2 steam locomotives. Overview The USATC S200 Class was an American-designed locomotive which they lent-leased to the British for use in the Midd ...

. 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 Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

. 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 (45166 and 45170) 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 The Royal Portbury Dock is part of the Port of Bristol, in England. It is situated near the village of Portbury on the southern side of the mouth of the River Avon, Bristol, Avon, where the river joins the Severn estuary — the Avonmouth ...

Boxing Day Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to the poor, today Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday. It ...

2010 aboard the MV Grande Scandinavia ( Grimaldi Group). 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.

References

External links

45151 to 45170
''Trains of Turkey'' {{TCDD Locomotives, state=collapsed 45151 LMS Stanier Class 8F 2-8-0 locomotives NBL locomotives Steam locomotives of Turkey Standard gauge locomotives of Turkey Railway locomotives introduced in 1940