Back in Service
The 52 221 is presently the largest operational engine from the VVT's own stock. It was entirely overhauled in the Czech Republic between 2006 and 2007, and only just returned to active service, for the first time in more than 30 years, in autumn of 2007. In quite spectacular fashion and following the completion of initial trial runs in South Bohemia and associated Austrian certification, the 52 221 then also steamed home under its own power, all the way from the Southern Czech Republic to Western Switzerland, traversing almost all of Austria in the process. This journey not only made for some nice pictures, but actually also was symbolically quite appropriate, as the locomotive had been in the holdings of the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) for almost all of its service life. Only after the ÖBB withdrew the engine from active service in 1975 and then later even deleted it from its strategic reserve, did the engine find it's way to Switzerland in 1979. The VVT took over the locomotive in 1992 and eventually in 2006 received a generous grant from the Sandoz Family Foundation to overhaul the engine and bring it back to working order.

A European Engine
The 52 221 is indeed a truly European engine! At the same time, it's also a fascinating piece-puzzle of sorts! The original locomotive numbered 52 221 was built in 1943 by the Berliner Maschinenbau AG (BMAG, formerly Schwartzkopf) in Germany. At the conclusion of World War II, the locomotive was based in Austria though and subsequently got integrated into the holdings of the newly established ÖBB. In it's role as a post-war engine aiding in the reconstruction of the continent, the 52 221, as almost all the other members of the 52 class in all the countries affected by the war, of course filled an operationally very significant role. Over the course of time, the engine received a few characteristic Austrian technical adaptations, like the Giesl ejector and also the cabin tender.
The present boiler on the 52 221 however is neither from BMAG nor from Skoda, it was built by Krauss Maffei of Munich in 1942. Also the cabin tender was replaced, and the 52 221 now features the tender formerly employed by the 52 8095. This rather distinct aspect of "mixed and matched" components gives the engine a truly European dimension, as well as all the countries where those components where either built or where the engine at some point later operated or steamed under its own power. So indeed to this day, the only original aspect of this 52 221, is it's number, and the only souvenir linking it to BMAG is the magnificent Schwartzkopf style builder's plaque on the cylinders.

Original Livery
As already a plethora of operational and preserved 52 class locomotives exist, featuring the typical "black boiler, red wheels" look of standard German practice, for the sake of variety, the VVT chose to have the 52 221 restored to it's factory delivery condition, with the austerity type of all black-grey livery.