German Reichsbahn Ks 4859 to 4993

After some prototypes of battery-powered light shunters, the Reichsbahn received 35 series-produced locomotives from Windhoff with AEG batteries between 1936 and 1938. Their general layout was similar to the Kö light diesel shunters of power group II and they were designated Ks 4859 to 4993 with gaps, where the “s” stood for “Speicher” (storage). The hood was lower than on the diesel variant and they had a single traction motor that powered both axles via chains.

They were used in plants where exhaust gases were unwanted or where vehicles had to be shunted extremely precisely. After World War II, one came to the ÖBB and the others were taken over by the Bundesbahn. There they were renamed to Ka where the “a” stood for “accumulator”. Most were withdrawn in the sixties and seventies. Today the single X 170.01 is still existing in Austria and five more in Germany.