Steam locomotive 52 8082 is originally from the former Deutsche Reichsbahn. The ‘Baureihe 52’ originated from the universal freight locomotives of the class 50. Due to the Second World War, the design of this series has been further simplified and sobered. With more than 7,000 built, it is one of the most built locomotives in the world and was manufactured throughout Europe (with the exception of the Netherlands).
After the war, many hundreds of locomotives were used by the various railway companies. At the Deutsche Reichsbahn in the GDR (East Germany), 200 units were converted into ‘52.8’ in the early 1960s, the so-called ‘Reko-lokomotiven’ (Rekonstruktion). The locomotives received new boilers and many modifications. The earlier ‘austerity measures’ were thus more or less undone. Many examples of this type served well into the eighties of the 20th century. In fact, the latter was not officially decommissioned until 1994.
The STAR now has three identical locomotives, two of which are operational
The 52 8082 is a sister locomotive of the 52 8060 and technically almost identical. The 52 8060 has the ‘normal’ black/red trim that is characteristic of German steam locomotives on the STAR. Furthermore, it has a largely reddish-brown gear. Due to a lack of paint, various locomotives in the GDR were no longer equipped with beautiful red driving gear, but sometimes with red-brown red lead. Just what was available to smear on it. This makes the 52 8082 a bit distinctive compared to the 52 8060.
The ‘Rus’ (TE 5933) is also a sister machine to the 8082 and 8060. This was put into service as 52 5933 and ended up in Russian hands fairly quickly on the Eastern Front in 1944. That locomotive has therefore never received the modifications that the 8082 and 8060 did.