The first new acquisition by the Bundesbahn was a powerful shunting locomotive that should also be able to be used in line service. It was intended to replace the class 87 with the vulnerable Luttermöller drive and ten-coupled Länderbahn tank locomotives. In the new class 82, only the third axle was fixed and two outer axles each were in a Beugniot bogie. This meant that the locomotives could be approved for 70 km/h and were used not only on large marshalling yards but also on steep ramps.

Since the port of Hamburg was significantly lower than the Reichsbahn facilities, Orenstein & Koppel were ordered to build a powerful tank locomotive in 1927. With a maximum axle load of 17.5 tonnes, five coupled axles were required for the required traction, while curves with a radius of 100 meters had to be negotiated. A total of 16 were met into service as class 87.

With the locomotive developed in this way, only the inner three axles were connected with coupling rods. The first and last axles were designed as Luttermöller axles, i.e. they could be moved sideways and were driven by gears. When the Luttermöller drives failed, the locomotives continued to be used with the wheel arrangement 2-8-0T, 0-8-2T or 2-6-2T.

The locomotives could pull 1,510 tonnes at 45 km/h and 2,250 tonnes at 35 km/h on the level. At one percent, it was still 1,120 tonnes at 15 km/h. The area of operation remained in Hamburg over their entire service life. They were replaced from 1951 by the class 82, which also was ten-coupled but was simpler in design. The last example was scrapped in 1961.

Front view with the Wootten firebox clearly visible

F.S. Hartnell, All About Railways

Rebuilt A55R as an eight-coupled tender locomotive

Railway and Locomotive Engineering, July 1907

Schematic drawing of the A55 with dimensions

Railway and Locomotive Magazine, April 1903

Schematic drawing of the A55R with dimensions

Locomotive Magazine, December 1906

In view of the plans for a new electric line, the Great Eastern tried to counter with a particularly powerful passenger tank locomotive. In order to be able to keep up with future electric railcars, the greatest attention was paid to comparable acceleration in order to achieve a reasonable travel time on the network with many closely spaced stations. Thus it was defined that a passenger train with a weight of 315 long tons must be brought to a speed of 30 mph within 30 seconds. To meet these requirements, James Holden developed a machine of which only a single example was built.

The result was the first ten-coupled steam locomotive in Great Britain, which also had a very small coupling wheel diameter for a passenger locomotive. If two cylinders were used for the required tractive effort, the loading gauge would have been exceeded, so the engine was designed with three slightly smaller cylinders. While the outer cylinders acted on the third axle, the middle cylinder drove the second axle. Since the inner cylinder was also level with the axles, the connecting rod was wrapped around the first axle in a special, fork-shaped arrangement patented by Holden.

The boiler was designed as large as the loading gauge allowed. For this reason, the chimney, the steam dome and the safety valves had to be as low as possible. The Wootten firebox based on the American model allowed a large grate area and had to be divided into three areas because the wheels of the last two axles protruded directly into it. To achieve the necessary running characteristics, the first and last axles were installed with half an inch play on both sides and the middle one had no wheel flanges. 

Although the axle load of the “Decapod” was within the permitted values, the five axles lying closely behind each other represented too great a load for the bridges. Since upgrading all the bridges on the routes used was not an option, there was no series production of the A55. The locomotive was converted in 1906 to an eight-coupled tender locomotives known as the class A55R.

It got a significantly lighter boiler with a conventional Belpaire firebox and the middle cylinder was removed. Since the length of the locomotive was still large, the axles were spaced farther apart. In order to still be able to run through all curves without any problems, the first and fourth axles were fitted with radially adjustable bearings. This locomotive was now used to haul coal trains, although it did not display significantly greater efficiency than the three-coupled G58 class locomotives. So it was scrapped in December 1913.

In 1912, the Japanese state railways received four class 4100 tank locomotives from Maffei in Germany. Two years later, Kawasaki had more locomotives made that were more or less copies. Differences lay in a larger grate but smaller firebox heating surface. After 30 locomotives were built, the boiler got an additional flue with an additional superheater element.

In Japan, the locomotives were only used until 1950. Five were taken to Korea in 1939, where they later remained in service as part of the North Korean Railways until 1976. Some locomotives also came to Taiwan, these were scrapped by 1980.

The T 15 was developed to replace the three-coupled locomotives that had reached their limits on the mountain routes in Thuringia and Silesia. The list of requirements included that a load of 200 tonnes could still be pulled at a speed of at least 15 km/h on inclines of 3.3 percent and curve radii of 200 meters. Significantly more power was required in the tight corners than would have been necessary for the same incline on the straight.

In order to achieve the necessary ability to negotiate curves, an unusual, split chassis with only one common pair of cylinders was used. The front three coupled axles sat firmly in the frame and were driven like a conventional six-coupled. The two rear axles sat in a bogie and were driven by the front coupling rods via a lever system. Although this design involved greater maintenance, the locomotives were able to live up to expectations.

Schematic representation of the mechanics according to the Hagans system

Locomtoive Magazine, July 1903

The design came from the Christian Hagans machine factory in Erfurt and was ready for series production in 1897. Since they usually produced smaller locomotives there and did not have the sufficient capacity for larger numbers of a locomotive of these dimensions, production was handed over to Henschel. Thus, between 1897 and 1905, a total of 92 examples of this type were created. At about the same time, 29 examples of the four-axle T 13 of the Hagans design were also manufactured by Henschel.

With the idea of simplifying the engine, Professor Otto Koechy later developed the design named after him, which reduced the number of components through a design with rocker arms. Despite the practical approach, only one example of this design was made, since the more powerful T 16 with the much simpler chassis according to Gölsdorf was already being produced from 1905.

Due to the superiority of the T 16, the T 15 could not achieve a very long service life. None of them received a Reichsbahn number, as they were all retired by 1923. The one-off continued to be used, but was decommissioned in 1922 at about the same time as its sisters.

Since the T 15 could not convince with its two-piece chassis, the T 16 was developed with a one-piece, ten-coupled chassis. In order to still achieve good cornering ability, the Gölsdorf axle principle, first used in 1897, was used. In contrast to more complicated, radially adjustable constructions, all axles of the T 16 were fixed in the frame, but the first, third and fifth could be moved sideways. This made it possible for the two outermost axles to move to the inside of the curve and the middle one to the outside in curves. Despite the simple design, this led to a reduction in wear and noise in tight curves.

Sectional drawing with meaasurements

Die Lokomotive, October 1915

Thanks to the use of superheated steam technology, the new locomotive was more powerful and more economical than its predecessors, and because the entire weight was on the coupled axles, it was also able to transmit its power well to the tracks. They were often used on steep stretches in the low mountain ranges and on the slopes of large river valleys in Prussia, but they were also used on the level to pull heavier freight trains. With a maximum speed of 40 km/h, it was too slow for main routes even with freight trains.

94 249 as the only surviving locomotive in October 2006

Heiligenstädter Eisenbahnverein e.V.

The Prussian State Railways ordered 343 engines, which Schwartzkopff delivered between 1905 and 1913. In the course of production there were minor changes to the boiler dimensions and weights. The initially installed smoke box superheater was supplemented by a smoke tube superheater from 1907. In addition, the batch from 1909 had the third instead of the fourth axle powered, with the third axle no longer being able to be shifted sideways. The imperial railways in Alsace-Lorraine had twelve units built according to the same design plans by Grafenstaden near Strasbourg.

After the end of the First World War, 65 examples remained abroad, the rest were taken over by the Reichsbahn and later given the numbers 94 201 to 94 467. Between these, however, there were also some T 16¹ which had been wrongly numbered. During the Second World War, 32 pieces from Poland and one from Belgium came back into the stock, which received the numbers 94 468 to 94 490. After the war, most of them went to the Bundesbahn, where they were decommissioned in 1955. The Reichsbahn of the GDR used their last examples until 1968, one of which still exists today and is on static display in Heilbad Heiligenstadt. 39 pieces remained in Poland, where they were used as Tkw1.

After the end of series production of the T 16, the T 16¹ was built, which was an enhanced derivative of this one. In the period between 1913 and 1924, a total of 1,236 engines were manufactured, which was a multiple of the predecessor.

Sectional drawing with dimensions

Die Lokomotive, June 1924

Although the T 16¹ nominally did not have a higher indicated power than the T 16, the development focus was on a more massive construction in order to increase the adhesive weight. So they hardly differed from each other on the outside, except for a slightly longer length, but by using a frame with greater plate thickness, more generously dimensioned braking devices and larger supplies, the operating weight had increased by a few tonnes.

94 1292 in September 1990 in Greiz

Werner & Hansjörg Brutzer

Since the third axle was now driven instead of the fourth, an axle arrangement was used that deviated from the standard form of the Gölsdorf system. In this case, the axles of the first and fourth wheel sets were designed to be laterally displaceable by 50 mm and the wheel flanges of the driven wheel set were weakened. The top speed ex works remained at the same level as the previous class at 40 km/h, but later the chassis was subsequently standardized on many engines and thus permitted speeds of up to 60 km/h. In principle, it was possible to transport up to 1,800 tonnes at 40 km/h on the flat, but these locomotives, like the T 16, were mainly used on mountain routes and for shunting. Up to 600 tonnes at 25 km/h were possible on a gradient of one percent, or a maximum of 280 tonnes at only 20 km/h with a gradient of 2.5 percent.

Although by far the largest part of the production went directly to Prussia, some examples were also ordered by the Reichseisenbahn Alsace-Lorraine or by smaller railways. The Reichsbahn took over 1,117 units, which were numbered 94 502 to 94 1740. As with other locomotives, it also happened with the T 16¹ that later some engines from the previous foreign countries returned to the Reichsbahn. This happened around 1935 with the locomotives from the Saarland or during the war with other engines from the annexed Poland. The locomotives later came to both German railway administrations, where they were in service until 1974. Due to their large number, several engines are still existing today, but none of them are operational.

The class VI K referred to ten-coupled tank locomotives with a gauge of 750 mm, which were originally developed for the army administration during the First World War. A distinction must be made between the 15 locomotives built during the war and the 47 replica and slightly modified examples from the 1920s.

In order to achieve a good ability to negotiate the narrow curve radii of the narrow-gauge railways despite the five coupled axles, the running gear was designed according to the Gölsdorf system with the first, third and fifth axles being laterally movable. The engine was designed with superheated steam created by a smoke tube superheater, and the newer engines also had a copper firebox. 

From 1925, the Reichsbahn designated the locomotives built in 1918 and 1919 as 99 641 to 99 655. The rest were added between 1923 and 1927 and were given the numbers 99 671 to 99 717. With their new operator, the locomotives were also used outside of Saxony, for example in Württemberg and Austria. Some were even shipped directly to the distant regions from the factory.

After the Second World War they got to both parts of Germany, another one was even used in Czechoslovakia until 1962. The Bundesbahn retired the last VI K in 1967. Since the engines were to be used for a longer period of time on the East German Reichsbahn, either a large-scale overhaul or a complete rebuild took place in the 1960s, depending on the condition of the individual locomotives. While welded boilers, water and coal bunkers were installed in the first of these options, the rebuild almost resembled the building of a new engine. The locomotives were put on new frames and the driver's cabs were renewed.

Three examples still exist today, of which road numbers 99 713 and 99 715 have been preserved in working condition in Saxony and are actually operated. The 99 716 has also been used since 1997 and last drove on the Öchsle in Baden-Württemberg, but is no longer roadworthy today.

The XI HT was developed as a heavy tank locomotive for freight trains on mountain routes to replace the older, weaker machines. It had similarities with the recently appeared Prussian T 16 and weighed about the same, but was faster despite smaller wheels.

By using the wheel arrangement 0-10-0T, the locomotives could be designed to be powerful and the entire weight was available as adhesive weight. A distinction is made between two types, each of which had an axle load of 15 and 16 tonnes and were suitable for different lines. While only ten of the lighter variant were built in 1910, 17 of the heavier variant were built in 1908 and 1909 and 136 other slightly heavier ones between 1915 and 1923. The locomotives benefited from modern technical achievements and were given Schmidt smoke tube superheaters, among other things. Thanks to a well-designed chassis and engine, the heavier variant could travel 60 km/h, while the lighter one reached a speed of 45 km/h, which was sufficient for freight trains and shunting services on branch lines.

Braking was initially done with a steam brake, but the later locomotives received a continuous Westinghouse brake from the factory. In addition, some were equipped with a Riggenbach counter-pressure brake so that they could also be used on steep stretches. In the last year of production, the locomotives received a surface feedwater heater to increase their efficiency. Air brakes and feedwater heaters were often retrofitted on older locomotives as well.

After the First World War, some of the older locomotives were sent to France as reparations, but were replaced as production progressed after the war. The Reichsbahn assigned the lighter engines to class 94¹⁹ and the heavier ones to class 94^20-21. After 1945 there were still more than 110 units, all of which came to the GDR. The first were replaced by diesels from 1966, but the last pairs were not expendable until 1978.