Turkish State Railway 56301 to 56388

The locomotives with the numbers 56301 to 56388 were the first locomotives that the Turkish State Railways ordered in the USA. Since they still owned a few USATC class S 160 and S 200 locomotives after World War II and the European factories were busy at the time, these locomotives were built for heavy freight service at the Vulcan Iron Works in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

According to their origin, the fireboxes were the largest of all Turkish locomotives and were mechanically fed with a stoker. The boilers were also the largest and most powerful in Turkey. In accordance with US practice, the frames and cylinders were cast in one piece. In a total of five batches, 88 were delivered, which were known as “Skyliners” in Turkey. Until the mid-1980s they were mainly used in northern Turkey to pull heavy coal and ore trains and were then used as shunting locomotives for a number of years. Three are still preserved today, one of which is operational.