Back in action
Częstochowa lies in Southern Poland and is a very important city in regrds to Polish history, thanks to Jasna Góra, a monastery located in the city. During the Swedish invasion of Poland in the mid-17th century, the crew, consisting of 160 people, managed to defend the monastery against a horde of some 4000 Swedes. This event lead to a huge uprising among the Polish people and is now recognised as the start of the Polish national identity. To this day, the monastery is visited by milions of pilgrims each year.
The Polish railfan community also has its own reason to visit the city - thanks to its steelworks and an extensive network of sidings. A little curiosity here are the locomotives of the 6De class, which are in reality modernised SM42 locomotives, which have had their V8 engine replaced with two smaller V12 engines from the 401Da class. Apart from the 6De, it's also possible to stumble upon the first three prototypes of the 6Dg class, which has since then overtaken Poland and been produced in numbers above 200.
6De-2637 is one of the two still working 6De locomotives and it was photographed by me on the 18th of February, as it was returning from the pickup point "PZ" back to the steelworks (located to the left of the frame - the buildings in the middle are glassworks). Not even a month has passed since the reopening of the steelworks, as this picture was being taken. The electric arch furnace has been off from 2022 up until 20.02.2025, when the steelworks' new owner - Węglokoks - resumed production. You can read more about the very complicated histtory of the steelworks in this post flic.kr/p/2qhQbv3
Photo by Piotrek/Toprus
Back in action
Częstochowa lies in Southern Poland and is a very important city in regrds to Polish history, thanks to Jasna Góra, a monastery located in the city. During the Swedish invasion of Poland in the mid-17th century, the crew, consisting of 160 people, managed to defend the monastery against a horde of some 4000 Swedes. This event lead to a huge uprising among the Polish people and is now recognised as the start of the Polish national identity. To this day, the monastery is visited by milions of pilgrims each year.
The Polish railfan community also has its own reason to visit the city - thanks to its steelworks and an extensive network of sidings. A little curiosity here are the locomotives of the 6De class, which are in reality modernised SM42 locomotives, which have had their V8 engine replaced with two smaller V12 engines from the 401Da class. Apart from the 6De, it's also possible to stumble upon the first three prototypes of the 6Dg class, which has since then overtaken Poland and been produced in numbers above 200.
6De-2637 is one of the two still working 6De locomotives and it was photographed by me on the 18th of February, as it was returning from the pickup point "PZ" back to the steelworks (located to the left of the frame - the buildings in the middle are glassworks). Not even a month has passed since the reopening of the steelworks, as this picture was being taken. The electric arch furnace has been off from 2022 up until 20.02.2025, when the steelworks' new owner - Węglokoks - resumed production. You can read more about the very complicated histtory of the steelworks in this post flic.kr/p/2qhQbv3
Photo by Piotrek/Toprus