The German Reichsbahn's class BR 52, also known as the "Kriegslokomotive" [war locomotive], was built in large numbers from September of 1942 onwards, totalling more than 6,700 units.
Their main task was to cover the German Wehrmacht's enormous supply needs in the occupied eastern territories and, on the other hand, to bring the captured goods back to the Reich.
The Class 52 was an "unrefined" version of the reliable Class BR 50, which had been initially continued to be built at the beginning of the war as a transitional war locomotive ("ÜK").
"Unrefined" meaning that approximately 6,000 parts were changed or eleminated thus saving a large amount of sparse and/or expensive raw material.
For example, most of the locomotives were not equipped with smoke deflectors / windshields, as these panels were part of the savings in production and could only become effective at a speed of 80 km/h, which the BR 52 could not reach.

In order to be able to deliver the required number, the German locomotive factories were brought together to form the Association of Greater German Locomotive Manufacturers ("GGL").
So, the 52 series was built primarily at the following plants :

• Henschel at Kassel – 1,050 pieces,
• Wiener Lokomotibenfabrik WLF at Vienna - 1,053 pieces,
• Berliner Maschinenbau AG (L. Schwartzkopff) at Berlin - 647 pieces,
• F.Schichau at Elbing - 505 pieces,
• DWM at Posen - 314 pieces,
• Krauss-Maffei at Munich - 613 pieces,
• Rheinmetall-Borsig at Berlin - 542 pieces,
• Skoda at Skoda - 153 units.

To demonstrate the unbroken performance of the German locomotive industry, a large parade of war locomotives for press and newsreels was held in the Seddin marshalling yard on July 7, 1943. At a command, 51 locomotives, the highest daily(!) output of all German locomotive works, set in motion at the same time.

In contrast to the overly enthusiastic propaganda, the experiences in later operational use, with its many failures and long list of defects, gave a totally different picture.
A lot proved to be immature, sloppy work, sabotage and repeatedly discovered material defects discredited the war locomotive's reputation in the eyes of the staff.
Finally, many of the labor hours saved in production now had to be spent for repair in the depots and factories.

However, although only a short service life of 5 years was planned for the war locomotive, after the war, the many functioning locomotives in all parts of Europe were indispensable for reconstruction for a long time, so that some of them reached service times of 50 years and beyond.

---

Further Information

• German UFA propaganda film of the BR 52 lifecycle [in German]
• Detailed overview of every (!) BR 52 produced, sorted by number and partially with photo(s)

Two sorts of tank trains :

• S-Trains ("Sonderzüge"), for heavy tanks - avg. 30 to 35 cars, carries from four to eight tanks, 125 soldiers, and other equipment. Tanks are distributed out along the entire length of the train.
• Sp-Trains ("Sonderpanzerzüge") for light and medium tanks - avg. 33 cars, carries approx. 20 medium tanks, as well as personnel and other equipment.

Loading of a tank division requires 70+ trains and will take at least 12+ hours under normal conditions.
The train movement covers from 150 to 200 miles per day for long movements within Germany, and about 60 miles daily in areas near the combat zone.

• - Huge (!) Photo Gallery about every aspect of the "Reichsbahn im Krieg"
• - Reichsbahn on the Eastern Front [4 MB, in English]
• - Reichsbahn on the Eastern Front [4 MB, the Original, in Russian]
• - The Rail War in the East [photo gallery, 11,4 MB, high-res pdf]