Turkish Railways 8Fs & Skyliners at Zonguldak

Turkey - 1984

The line from Irmak to Zonguldak via Cankiri in Turkey was the last stronghold of the class 56301 Skyliner 2-10-0s built by Vulcan Ironworks in the USA. First deliveries arrived in Turkey in 1947 and they proved to be effective motive power noted for their rugged construction. Enthusiasts liked them and with the streamlined casing on top of the boilers they became known as the 'Skyliners'. In complete contrast to these massive machines there were the 45151 class 'Churchill' 2-8-0s which did shunting and pilot work at Cankiri. These were LMS 8Fs (despite been numbered as Black Fives by Turkish Railways!) with minor adaptations for working in Asia and their dimunitive size was very noticeable when seen alongside the US-built Skyliners. Luckily two of the Turkish 8Fs have recently returned to the UK. Much of the traffic on this line was generated by a large steelworks at Karabuk. The main locoshed was at Catalagzi a few miles east along the coast from the terminus at Zonguldak.

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