Bavarian Ludwig Railway “Adler” and “Pfeil”

The “Adler” (eagle) was the first locomotive to be used commercially in Germany. It was built by British railway pioneer Robert Stephenson and was used together with its sister locomotive “Pfeil” (arrow) from 1835 to 1857 on the Ludwigsbahn between Nuremberg and Fürth.

After some consideration of a two-axle locomotive weighing between 6.5 and 8 tonnes, the “Adler” was finally made larger and heavier in order to be able to pull a larger load. The wheel arrangement 2-2-2 was used, which is also known as “Single” or “Jenny Lind”. Thus, the middle axle was driven and had no wheel flanges to be able to drive through tighter curves.

The locomotive and the two-axle tender were each built on an outer frame made of wood, which was fitted with sheet metal. The power was provided by two internal cylinders on the driving axle designed as a crankshaft. The entire train was only braked using the right wheels of the tender, since the locomotive itself, like the wagons, had no brakes.

In addition to the frame, the inside of the spokes of the wheels was also made of wood to better absorb shocks. The basic structure of the wheels was originally made of cast iron, which was later replaced with forged iron due to its brittleness. Wood was also used to coat the boiler, which, like the tender, was painted green. In contrast, the running gear was painted red, as was the case with most later German steam locomotives. Although the “Adler” could reach around 65 km/h without a train, the line speed with a passenger train was between 24 and 28 km/h.

In 1935, for the hundredth anniversary of the railway in Germany, a replica was built, which was partly used for propaganda by the political leadership at the time. It was also used for the 125th anniversary on the original route, which was a tram line at the time and is now partly used by the underground. The replica was again repaired in 1985 and ran at the 150th anniversary.

After that, the locomotive was parked until it was restored in 1999 for the next time. After a fire in the locomotive shed of the Transport Museum in Nuremberg destroyed the replica of the “Adler” along with other historical locomotives, the remaining material was used in 2007 for a fundamental new construction, some of which was even closer to the original than in 1935.

There are also other replicas, such as a non-operational engine from the 1950s. There are also two motorized replicas. On the one hand, this is a half-size locomotive for the Nuremberg zoo and a locomotive for the Görlitz park railway with a gauge of 600 mm.