The “Beuth” was the first locomotive that was developed and built by Borsig completely without foreign prototypes and is therefore considered the first completely German locomotive. It was manufactured as a one-off for the Berlin-Anhalt Railway. However, it formed the basic variant for 70 other, almost identical locomotives and was therefore also the first series-built locomotive. It also had some design features that differed from the Stephenson models and were later found on other locomotives.

In contrast to the outside frame and inside cylinders, the “Beuth” had a frame that was inside the wheels and outside cylinders. This design made larger cylinders possible, which in turn made it possible to build more powerful locomotives. The firebox was located below a steam dome, which was also used to extract live steam. Later locomotives got a separate steam dome. 

After the locomotive was presented at the Berlin trade exhibition the year it was completed, it was used on the Anhalter Bahn from Berlin to Köthen. Its service life lasted until 1864, after which it was scrapped. Therefore, a replica was built in 1912, which is now on display in the German Museum of Technology in Berlin.

The subsequent models from Borsig were primarily used in northern Germany, as there were strong competitors further south. However, they also took the “Beuth” as an example and also used some of their technical innovations in their own designs.

The name of the locomotive is an allusion to Christian Peter Wilhelm Beuth, who was once the head of the Prussian trade academy. He had doubted that August Borsig would ever have a successful career. Borsig tried to get back at him by naming this important and pioneering locomotive after him.

As the name suggests, the S 1 was the first express (Schnellzug) locomotive that the Prussian State Railways had procured according to standardized design sheets. A distinction must be made between the first design with a compound engine from 1884 and the later simple production version from 1885.

Hanover variant

Die Lokomotive, August 1910

The first variant mentioned was designated as the Hanover design and was the first express locomotive in Prussia to have a compound engine after the T 0 omnibus locomotive and the G 4.2 freight locomotive. Although it was only built 14 times between 1884 and 1887 due to the starting problems that had not yet been completely solved at the time, it formed the basis of the P 3². A design feature that distinguished the S 1 of the Hanover type from other 2-4-0 locomotives was the position of the cylinders. These were located between the leading and the first coupled axle, while they were usually arranged in front of the leading axle. This eliminated some of the overhanging moving masses, which improved smooth running.

Sectional drawing with dimensions

Die Lokomotive, August 1910

The standard design, which was finally produced in large numbers from 1885 to 1898, again received a conventional engine with simple expansion, since the higher consumption was to be accepted in order to eliminate the starting difficulties. The cylinders were also arranged in front of the leading axle again, since the engines were intended for long, straight stretches. The development was based on the passenger locomotives of the classes P 2 and P 3¹. The use of larger coupled wheels, while not increasing top speed, did improve suitability for driving longer distances at high speed. For example, trains weighing 171 tonnes could be hauled continuously at 80 km/h on the Berlin-Hamburg route.

Both types were still used well into the 20th century, but since the advent of more powerful express trains they were increasingly used only in front of regular passenger trains. Most of the compound engines were decommissioned by 1914, and the last examples lasted until 1922. In the case of the standard design, most of the decommissioning took place towards the end of the First World War. However, four of them made it into the Reichsbahn's renumbering plan, where the numbers 12 7001 to 12 7004 were intended for them. Finally, they were no longer taken over, since the decommissioning took place until 1924.

The type S 2 of the Prussian State Railways designated several express locomotives built between 1890 and 1902. The first two locomotives which later got the designation S 2 were built in 1890 for the Hanover directorate. They had been designed by August von Borries and were two-cylinder compounds. Being the first 4-4-0 locomotives in Prussia, they also had a new type of bogie, here called the Hanover-bogie. Because the starting problem of two-cylinder compounds hadn't been fully solved at this time, no additional locomotives were built and the existing two survived until 1912.

In 1891, in parallel with the trials with the Erfurt type of the P 4.1, an express variant was designed that was later called the Erfurt type of the S 2. Like the S 2 Hanover type, it had drivers of 1,960 mm in contrast to the 1,730 mm of the P 4.1. Two were built as two-cylinder compounds and two as two-cylinder simples.

Also in this case, the simple variant won and 148 more were built until 1893. The production only ended due to the introduction of the more powerful S 3. However, 26 of the simple S 2 were later rebuilt into compounds. One additional locomotive was built with a Lentz stayless boiler that wasn't judged as a success. Only seven of the compound variant made it into the Reichsbahn numbering plan of 1923 as 13 001 to 13 007. Only 13 001 actually got its new number, but was retired in 1926.

15 more locomotives which were later also called S 2 had the wheel arrangement 2-4-2 instead and had been built for the Main-Neckar-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft between 1892 and 1902. They were based on the Belgian type 12 and the first eight had been built by Cockerill in Belgium, while the other seven came from the MBG Karlsruhe. When this railway had been split among the Baden and the Prussian railways, these locomotives came to Prussia and were nicknamed “Krokodil” (crocodile) due to the name of their original builder.

The S 3 was developed from the S 2, which was the first locomotive with a 4-4-0 wheel arrangement in Prussia and was also built for testing with a compound engine from 1891. With 1,027 examples, the S 3 became the most numerous express locomotive in Germany.

The boiler and engine of the variants with compound cylinders were taken over from the P 2. Initially, this technology caused problems when starting with only two cylinders, but these had now been resolved. Benefits could now be drawn from the lower steam consumption. A total of four different models were used as tenders, which had three or four axles. Now that longer turntables were available, the wheelbase could be lengthened, which in turn improved running smoothness. The locomotive had a maximum speed of 100 km/h (62 mph) and could still reach 75 km/h on the flat with a 320-tonne express train consisting of ten cars.

Since the S 5 with four cylinders developed from 1900 could not prove itself, a more powerful version of the S 3 with a larger boiler and larger cylinders was developed. It was designated as S 5² from 1911 and was built 367 times.

Sectional drawing with dimensions

Die Lokomotive, October 1914

Due to the number of over 1,000 units, the S 3 was used in all divisions of the Prussian State Railways. During the First World War, about a tenth of them came to Poland and Lithuania, some of whom returned to Germany in the Second World War. Although the Reichsbahn's 1923 renumbering plan included 451 units a class 13⁰, most of them were decommissioned in the following time, which is why there were only 27 units left when the renumbering was carried out in 1925. After the war, some of these locomotives and those that had returned from abroad were used by the Reichsbahn in the GDR and one by the Federal Railways, where they were retired in 1955 and 1950.

In order to take advantage of superheated steam technology that was just emerging, an example of the S 3 was converted in 1898 to test this technology. It was the world's first express locomotive of this type and the flame tube superheater used was the first variant of the superheater to be used. This consisted of a 445 mm thick tube, which was arranged in the boiler barrel and contained the tube bundle for superheating the steam.

Since this first construction was not yet completely convincing, but showed a very promising approach, two more examples were converted over the next two years. These had the superheater in the smoke box and ultimately led to the production engines of the S 4.

In 1902, production of these engines began, which in reality were completely new designs. Although they weighed the same as the S 3, the power could be increased by about a third. While the predecessor could pull 320 tonnes at 75 km/h on the level, it was now 80 km/h with 420 tonnes. In tests with only three cars, an S 4 was even able to reach 136 km/h. From 1906, a smoke tube superheater was finally used, which later became state-of-the-art.

Prototype with smokebox superheater

Die Lokomotive, June 1910

Nevertheless, production was ended in 1909 after just 104 units, since the underlying design was already outdated and the S 6 was a much more modern locomotive on offer. As with other, older locomotives, the Reichsbahn took over significantly fewer locomotives in 1925 than had been envisaged in the original renumbering plan a few years earlier. The number had already halved about five years after the end of production, so that the Reichsbahn just planned 44 engines as 13 501 to 13 544. In the end, just four locomotives were taken over, which had also disappeared by 1927.

The S 5 were express locomotives with a compound engine that were part of the development line of the Prussian 4-4-0 machines from the S 2 to the S 6 and were actually an enlarged development of the S 3. Saturated steam was still used in order not to use too many new technologies at the same time.

The first machine with the designation S 5¹ was a four-cylinder locomotive of the de Glehn type, which was completed in 1894 and was designed exclusively for the flat country with coupled wheels with a diameter of 2,150 mm or 7 feet and 5/8 inches. 22 production units were built in 1902 and 1903 at Grafenstaden and Henschel with the typical Prussian wheel diameter of 1,980 mm or 6 feet and 6 inches. Based on this, the Reichseisenbahnen Alsace-Lorraine ordered similar machines, which they designated as the S 5.

Hanomag produced another 17 locomotives of this type between 1900 and 1903, but these were of the Borries design. Thus, all four cylinders acted on the first driving axle. Both types of the S 5¹ did not prove particularly successful in Prussia, which is why no further batches were procured and the existing locomotives were used until the early 1920s.

Finally, a new locomotive was developed with only two cylinders in a compound design. Since this was again closer to the S 3, it was still called the “enlarged S 3” until 1911, but was then renamed S 5². Production was taken over by Vulcan and Schichau, who had already built the design it was based on. In the years 1905 to 1911 367 of these were made. In addition to the Prussian State Railways, the Lübeck-Büchen Railway procured seven machines of this type and the Oldenburg State Railway eleven, which received a Lentz valve gear.

Compared to the S 5¹, a larger number of the S 5² were taken over by the Reichsbahn and given the numbers 13 651 to 13 850. Only one of the LBE locomotives survived until it was taken over in 1938, this became the 13 001. At that time all the other machines had already been retired, but 22 units were returned to Germany in the Second World War which had been given to Poland after the First World War. Most of them came to the GDR and were returned to Poland around 1955.

In 1904, the Locomotive Committee of the Prussian State Railways determined that, in addition to the S 4 and S 5 that had been procured at the time, there was still a need for faster and more powerful express locomotives. Linke-Hoffmann in Breslau presented a design with a 4-4-0 wheel arrangement and a two-cylinder superheated steam engine. By then, many locomotives with saturated compound engines had been built in Prussia. However, Robert Garbe, Head of Development and Procurement, wanted to prove the superiority of superheated steam technology with this design.

As with its predecessors, it still had a total of four axles, so the required power caused problems with the axle load, which was limited to 16 tonnes at the time. The solution was to move the boiler far forward to allow the two leading axles to carry a larger proportion of the overall weight. In addition, lightweight construction was practiced in order to be able to accommodate the largest possible boiler while complying with the required total weight. The diameter of the coupled wheels was initially planned at 2,200 mm in order to be able to keep the speeds low and also to improve running smoothness. With an overall wheelbase that was as long as possible, the overhangs at the front and rear could be almost completely eliminated, which should also improve smooth running at high speeds. A particularly strong coupling between the locomotive and the tender reduced the snaking movements.

Although the coupled wheels finally only got a diameter of 2,100 mm, the locomotive was able to reach speeds of up to 140 km/h or 87 mph during test runs and still ran very smoothly. The maximum operating speed was set at 110 km/h or 68 mph, which was slightly lower than the express locomotives of other railways. Despite the comparatively small mass, the S 6 was also able to pull heavier express trains on flat land at a high average speed. The Berlin-Halle route was given as an example with an average speed of 88 km/h or 55 mph. When the axle load limit fell in 1910, the locomotive was strengthened. With an axle load of over 17 tonnes, the indicated power could be increased from 911 to 1,167 hp. 

S 6 No. 618 from a later year of construction with a conventional cab

Die Lokomotive, May 1915

Just two years later, the S10 pushed them out of fast express service, although production of the S 6 was still going on at the time. A total of 584 pieces were made by three manufacturers, of which 126 had to be handed over to various countries as reparations after the First World War. The Reichsbahn took over 286 units, which were given the numbers 13 1001 to 13 1286 and were retired by 1931.

De Glehn type, 1905 variant with a wide firebox

Die Lokomotive, November 1910

Von Borries type with Lentz valve gear

Die Lokomotive, November 1910

Sectional drawing of the De Glehn type with an elongated firebox

Die Lokomotive, November 1910

Sectional drawing of the De Glehn type with a wide firebox

Die Lokomotive, November 1910

The class S 7 designates slightly different types of express train locomotives of the “Atlantic” type with four-cylinder compound engines. These either had the UIC wheel arrangement 2'B1 with a fixed trailing axle or 2'B1', where the trailing axle was designed as a Bissel axle. 

A variant was developed by Grafenstaden in Alsace and 79 examples were built between 1903 and 1905. Henschel was also involved in the production. What they had in common was the de Glehn design, in which the high and low pressure cylinders each drove an axle and could be controlled separately. These locomotives were in turn divided into two types. On the one hand, the short and wide firebox was completely behind the coupled wheel sets and the leading bogie had an inner frame. On the other, the firebox was long and narrow, allowing it to fit between the wheels. Here the bogie had an outer frame. One thing they had in common was that both versions had a fixed trailing axle. 

The other variant was developed by Hanomag and built 159 times between 1902 and 1907 by this company and by Linke-Hofmann-Busch. In contrast to the Grafenstaden locomotives, these were designed according to the Von Borries design. This means that all four cylinders were fitted on the same length and only worked on the first coupled axle. In addition, the trailing axle was movably mounted on these.

Although these locomotives were only certified for speeds of 100 or 110 km/h, speed records of up to 143 km/h were achieved. It was even possible to exceed the speed of the streamlined S 9 test locomotive with which it was compared. A disadvantage in operation soon became apparent that the adhesive weight of 30 tonnes was no longer sufficient for the increasing loads in express traffic. For this reason, the area of operation of the S 7 shifted towards normal passenger trains after the First World War. In the early 1920s, all locomotives were taken out of service, so that the Reichsbahn no longer included them in their renumbering plan.

When new rules in the railway operating regulations allowed higher axle loads and thus made more powerful locomotives possible, the S 9 was developed in Prussia. As with the S 7, the design was carried out as an Atlantic locomotive (wheel arrangement 4-4-2), but being 14.5 tonnes heavier. Although superheated steam technology had been used across the board in most new locomotives in other German states since about 1905, no experiments were initially wanted with the S 9 and it was developed as a saturated locomotive. A four-cylinder compound engine was used for this in order to enable better utilization of the live steam.

The firebox was extraordinarily generously dimensioned and had a grate area of four square meters, which was even a third larger than that of the later S 10. The power was ultimately limited by the cylinders, since these could only convert a certain amount of steam depending on the speed.

Two almost identical locomotives were designated as S 8. In reality, these were S 9s that had been fitted with superheaters in 1913 and 1914. Their number remained at two, since it was not assumed that there would be a clear advantage in converting all the remaining engines.

Schematic drawing with dimensions

Locomotive Magazine, February 1911

It was mainly used on the line between Berlin and Hanover. As with all four-coupled passenger and express locomotives, it was already evident before the outbreak of the First World War that these were no longer up to the demands of the rapidly growing traffic. Since some units had to be handed in as reparations after the war and some were decommissioned in the period that followed, only three machines came to the Reichsbahn. These were the two S 8 with the numbers 14 001 and 14 002 and a single S 9, which became 14 031.

In search of a very fast steam locomotive for lighter trains, railway inspector Gustav Wittfeld developed the S 9 with the 4-4-4 wheel arrangement, which should not be confused with the S 9 that was mass-produced a few years later. The tender from the Association of German Engineers called for a machine that should be able to pull a 120-tonne train at at least 120 and if possible 150 km/h. The special thing about the two test locomotives was that they had an additional front driver's cab, which was intended for better observation of the route. The engine driver talked to the second driver via voice connection, who was in the rear cab in the usual position together with the fireman. Since the symmetrical wheel arrangement also allowed high reverse speeds, there was also a driver's cab at the end of the tender.

The first vehicle was provided with casing that was wedge-shaped at the front and from which it was hoped that a power saving of 250 to 300 hp would be achieved. There were a few windows in the side walls on both sides of the boiler so that this room could be used as a connecting passage. The tender also had an aisle and allowed to walk into the train. The second locomotive did not have the casing, but also had a wedge-shaped front on the front cab. The saturated engine was one of the few in Germany with three cylinders and compound steam expansion. The center cylinder took on the live steam and the two outer ones served as low-pressure cylinders. While the high-pressure cylinders of locomotives with two and four cylinders have a significantly smaller diameter, all three had the same dimensions here.

During the tests with the first locomotive, one quickly came to the realization that the expectations could not be met. The locomotive had about 1,400 hp, with which the 109-tonne train with three cars could be accelerated to 128 to 137 km/h on different runs. With a train that was twice as long and weighing 224 tonnes, it took more than ten minutes to reach the 110 km/h mark and the maximum speed was 118 km/h.

Later state after the rebuilding

Locomotive Magazine, August 1934

Since these achievements were not in proportion to the very complex construction, there was no series production. As a result, not only was the casing of the first engine removed, but the front cabs were also removed and the locomotives used like conventional steam locomotives. In addition, an adjustment of the offset between the cylinders was necessary, since at certain speeds there had been very strong shaking movements. A very similar construction, designed at the same time by Henschel, was a tank locomotive with the designation T 16. It had the wheel arrangement 4-6-4T and was intended for uphill stretches in Thuringia. Since it had an axle load of 20 tonnes, it could not be used on most routes and was returned to the manufacturer after a short time. The two S 9 were only used until 1918 and then scrapped.