Brawa HO Tank Locomotive Class 178 & BR 92.2
REYNAULDS.COM presents a product review on the Brawa Austrian tank locomotive class 178. The new Brawa model is excellent, it is all metal and has extensive detail. Brawa offers many versions on this locomotive in various era's and railroads. Their are several Austrian, German, Czech. Polish and Italian versions to choose from. Brawa produces these models in 2-Rail DC and 3-Rail AC with and without sound.
MODEL FEATURES:
Safety valve in line
Short water tank left and right side
Water hatch rear
Metal boiler, water tanks, chassis and wheels
Extra mounted metal handrails
Finest paintwork and printing
Smoke generator and sound decoder, either built in or as a retrofit option
True-to epoch lighting, mult-ipart lamp housing
Filigree reversing gear
PROTOTYPE HISTORY: The Austrian class 178 was very successful tank locomotive. After the First World War, the stock of locomotives of the 178 class had been seriously depleted. There were only 66 machines that could be taken over by the BBÖ. Through rebuilding and the acquisition of locomotives built for private railways, they increased the stock slightly to 85 units. In 1938, DRB classified 84 of them as 92 2211 -- 92 2294. Several of them were sent on loan to Leuna-Werke in 1941, and some of them remained in central Germany even after the war ended. 92 2218 was decommissioned by the DR in 1960 in the Cottbus depot. The ÖBB had 50 locomotives in 1945. They were deployed for shunt service and for the operation of ports. Most of them were discharged and disassembled between 1958 and 1968. 4 of these little machines still remain in Austria today. 92.2220 is used as a memorial in Puchberg am Schneeberg, 92.2231 is in the Schwechat Eisenbahnmuseum, 92.2271 is still operational and draws the museum trains on the Schwarzenau - Zwettl - Martinsberg local railway, and 92.2234 is in the Strasshof Eisenbahnmuseum in a dilapidated condition. On 18th March 1938, the Federal Austrian Railways (BBÖ) were handed over to the Deutsche Reichsbahn by act of law, and the Federal Railway Directorates were converted to Reichsbahn Directorates. The Reichsbahn Central Office in Berlin issued a renumbering plan for all locomotives of the BBÖ as of 25th November 1938. This plan provided for the renumbering of the 178 series into 92.22 series was numbered through with the fleet numbers 92 2211 to 92 2294.
