Steam locomotive "Roland"

„The hearts of many dads beat faster here. Juveniles are often surprised when seeing the locomotive how much effort and expenditure was needed to make travelling possible in the past.”

The old fireless steam locomotive was still used as workhorse of the Eberswalde chemical plant in the 60s.

The fireless steam principle
The fireless steam principle uses the ability of water to store large amounts of energy under high pressure. A cylindrical vessel which serves as steam storage is filled with water up to approx. 2/3 of its volume and is charged via a filling station with steam from a stationary vessel installation.

Re-evaporation takes place continuously due to the heat content of the water during operation due to the pressure loss during steam extraction. Charging of steam storage is either made by wet steam or hot steam (maximum of 400 C°). The necessary charging steam volume from 0 MPa to 2.0 MPa at a water temperature of 20 C° amounts to approx. 4,700 kg with wet steam and approx. 3,800 kg with hot steam. 

Approx. 2,400 kg wet steam or approx. 2,000 kg hot steam must be used for a recharge from 0.2 MPa to 2.0 MPa. Charging takes approx. 20 to 30 minutes depending to the local conditions. To limit heat loss, heat storage and cylinders are equipped with an effective insulation.

Main dimensions
Overall content of the boiler: 21 m³
Water content of the boiler: 17.8 m³
Steam content of the boiler: 3.2 m³
Maximum steam pressure of the boiler: 2.0 MPa
Operating weight: 50 t
Empty weight: 34 t
Track gauge: 1435 mm
Maximum width: 3,150 mm
Wheel diameter: 1,050 mm
Minimum sheet movement radius: 80 m
Maximum traction force from the adhesive weight: 94,176 N
Maximum speed: 30 km/h