I recently purchased this highly fascinating
book. Lauscher is a true choo-choo enthusiast and it shows - but he also manages a nice balance between pretty pictures and very fact-packed text. Why, BTW, is it that German authors seem to be so much better at this sort of book than Anglo-Saxon writers...? Anyway, Lauscher's book has a short but extremely comprehensive chapter about the Wehrmacht's diesel locomotives in North Africa.
It appears that we (or at least I) have some backtracking to do - according to Lauscher, no less than ten German diesel locomotives were shipped to Libya in the autumn of 1942. I am inclined to believe him, for he makes ample and frequent reference to BA-MA archive files. According to the book, the locomotives arrived at Tobruk according to this schedule:
Code: Select all
Shipments of German train engines to North Africa
Cargo Port & date of departure load date DoA to Tobruk unload date
WR360C14 Taranto 03.08.1942 n/a 05.08.1942 05.08.1942
WR200B14 " n/a " 07.08.1942
WR200B14 " n/a " 08.08.1942
WR550D14 Brindisi 06.09.1942 01.09.1942 08.09.1942 08.09.1942
WR200B14 " " " 09.09.1942
WR550D14 " " " 10.09.1942
WR200B14 " " " 10/11.09.1942
WR200B14 " " " 10/11.09.1942
WR360C14 Taranto 17.10.1942 16.10.1942 19.10.1942 20/21.10.1942
WR360C14 " " " 20/21.10.1942
All three shipments were with the
Ankara, a ship which was a dedicated train engine freighter as discussed earlier. Shipment 2), above, also included two trucks modified to run on tracks and an Italian workshop wagon. Shipment 3) also carried two track-trucks. Lauscher mentions in passing that the Italians sent 30 of the tiny Badoni shunting tractors across, but does not give a cargo schedule.
Although the three WR-type engines were superficially similar, there were enough mechanical differences between them to make the spare parts situation difficult - sort of a Panzer Division microcosm

The WR200 were rated for trains with 28 axles, or 150 tons; the WR360 were rated for 42/225, and the WR550 were rated to pull a maximum of 56 axles or 300 tons.
No engines were lost in transit - it's mentioned somewhere that the
Ankara practically had its own air escort - but spares did; at some point prior to Oct. 13th a vital cargo with 15 crates of traine engine spare parts was sunk by the British.
The first train bound for the El Alamein front left Tobruk August 8:
Tonnages/month delivered via the captured rail line were as follows:
Code: Select all
Tonnages delivered on the Tobruk - El Alamein line by month
Customer Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov.
Heer 1020 n/a 1646 973
Luftwaffe 267 n/a 598
WH combined: 1287 3385 2244
For Italians 1126 2954 1907
Daily avg. 151 211 134 122
(tons/train)
...according to this schedule:

...note that it took a full 24 hours to cover the distance Tobruk - Mersah Matruh!