Baden VIII c

When a powerful freight locomotive was being searched that could still negotiate curves on the Black Forest Railway, Grafenstaden had the class VIII c designed after the Mallet design. Only two pre-production locomotives were manufactured there, the production of all others was taken over by MBG Karlsruhe and Maschinenfabrik Esslingen.

Although the ability to negotiate curves was good, the rear axles, which were fixed in the frame, could hardly offer sufficient directional stability for the front bogie that could be shifted laterally due to their short wheel base. In addition to the tendency to slip, which was already a problem in Mallet locomotives, the running smoothness was insufficient. Furthermore, due to the special construction of the running gear, the boiler was somewhat smaller than in comparable standard-design locomotives, which meant that the locomotives did not achieve the power of the classes VIII a and VIII b despite their greater weight.

Nevertheless, series production was ordered, and so twelve locomotives were built in Karlsruhe in 1895 and another 18 in Esslingen in 1899/1900. After the war, eight came to France and one to Belgium. The locomotives remaining in Germany were retired by 1925, which is why they were not renumbered to class 55⁶¹.