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.

Replica of the “Adler” in April 2010 in Koblenz-Lützel

Urmelbeauftragter

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 The basic structure of the wheels was originally made of cast iron, which was later replaced with forged iron due to its brittleness.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.

Schematic drawing of the “Pfeil”

Die Lokomotive, October 1933

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.

The one-off “Der Münchner” (“The one from Munich”) was the first locomotive to be built in Bavaria. It was ordered from Maffei for the initially privately operated route between Munich and Augsburg and later became the property of the state railway. A further 24 examples were also built by Kessler and Meyer under the designation A I.

Like the “Adler” they had the wheel arrangement 2-2-2 and a two-axle tender. Not only were parts from England used, the pear-shaped firebox is also a clear sign of the English influence. The power was provided by internal cylinders on the driving axle without wheel flanges, which, like all axles, was mounted inside the outer frame. Initially, wood was used as fuel, until later coal was used.

For the production of the 24 series locomotives, interchangeability of the parts was required, which was a novelty at the time. With the same external dimensions, the new locomotives had a 0.3 bar higher boiler pressure, larger cylinders and were slightly heavier. The unification brought with it a reduction in speed to 40 km/h, but greater traction was more important.

Although the first example was scrapped in 1871, some were sold and others rebuilt. During the conversion, the leading axle was exchanged for a second coupled axle. The last locomotive with the wheel arrangement 0-4-2 was retired in 1878, which was four years after the last locomotive in its original condition was scrapped.

The AA I was a prototype used to test ways of saving coal and water by using a lift axle. It was based on the B XI, which was built from 1892 both as a conventional saturated simple locomotive and with a compound engine. The 4-4-0 wheel arrangement of the predecessor was modified by replacing the second coupled axle with a trailing axle. For this purpose, the lift axle with small wheels was used between the lead bogie and the first coupled axle, which was driven by a second engine with two smaller cylinders.

With this configuration, it was possible under most conditions to drive with only one driving axle, thus saving coal and water. The lift axle was raised using a pressure cylinder because running along with the additional engine being turned would have required more power. If more power or traction was needed, the lift axle was lowered and some of the steam was fed to its cylinders. Although the locomotive with this system was economical and reliable on a day-to-day basis, the complicated engine required more maintenance than with conventional steam locomotives. So it was decided to continue to procure the B XI.

After an accident in 1907, the AA I was converted into a 4-4-0 locomotive, making it look like its predecessor. In contrast to this, it received a superheater. With this powerplant, it was able to last the longest of all Bavarian 4-4-0 engines in service with the Reichsbahn and was therefore not retired until 1933 as road number 16 861.

In 1869 and 1870, some locomotives with the wheel arrangements 2-2-2 and 4-2-0 (Crampton) were converted into four-coupled ones in order to increase the tractive effort for the increased loads in express traffic. Four locomotives with 0-4-2 wheel arrangement were then ordered and assigned to class B IX, but soon sold to the Reichseisenbahnen Alsace-Lorraine. Finally, in 1874, Maffei began to manufacture the new B IX, which had a 2-4-0 wheel arrangement and was thus the first four-coupled express locomotive in Bavaria to be procured in series.

Since at that time engineers had already come to the realization that overhanging masses impair the running properties at high speeds, attempts were made to reduce them as much as possible. With the B VIII, which was built in small numbers, experience had already been gained with a firebox whose center of gravity was directly above the second coupled axle, and this feature was adopted with the B IX. In order to also minimize the front overhangs, the cylinders were moved as close as possible to the leading axle. Like the previous series, the B IX had an outer frame, internal Stephenson valve gear and external cylinders. Due to its smooth running, it could be approved for 90 km/h and, with a train weight of 150 tonnes, reached a speed of 70 km/h on the flat.

A total of 104 engines were made between 1874 and 1887. After the end of the First World War, they were no longer used in high-value express service, but the remaining units with the numbers 34 7421 to 34 7440 were included in the Reichsbahn's provisional renumbering plan. However, the new numbers did not need to be attached, since the last machines were retired in 1925. Today, the locomotive with the number 1000 can be viewed as a cutaway model in the Lokwelt Freilassing, a branch of the Deutsches Museum in Munich.

Shortly after the express locomotives of type X were put into service, it was noticed that the power could not be further increased while maintaining the 2-4-0 wheel arrangement. For this reason, a new locomotive was developed that had a bogie that could be moved sideways at the front and could therefore accommodate a larger boiler without exceeding the axle load. The first series consisted of 39 machines, which were delivered by Maffei in 1892 and 1893. They were powered by a simpe two-cylinder engine and could reach a top speed of 90 km/h with a 1,870 mm driver diameter. 

A second series was produced from 1895, of which a total of 100 machines were manufactured not only by Maffei but also by Krauss. Their biggest difference to the first was that they got a compound engine with two cylinders to achieve better efficiency. In addition, the boiler pressure was increased from 12 to 13 bars. On the flat, the two versions could haul 200 and 270 tonnes, respectively, at 75 km/h. In order to be able to maintain a speed of 50 km/h on gradients of 0.5 percent, the train weight was not allowed to exceed 200 or 260 tonnes.

Despite the early appearance of more powerful and, above all, faster locomotives, a large number of the machines were able to survive until the Reichsbahn era, even if they were rarely used in high-value express train service later on. Eight examples of the first series and 76 of the second series were taken over by the Reichsbahn and given the numbers 36 701 to 708 and 36 751 to 826. The simple locomotives were all retired in 1926 and the compound locomotives by 1931.

The BB I was a single Mallet locomotive with a 0-4-4-0 wheel arrangement, which was primarily used to push freight trains on the steep ramps in Franconia. The locomotive built by Maffei was originally intended for the Swedish-Norwegian railways, but was then taken over by the Bavarian State Railways. The Pfalzbahn also procured two identical locomotives in 1896 and designated them as class G 4^II.

In contrast to the BB II, which was later built in series, it was a tender locomotive, and it was also much heavier with an axle load of 14 tonnes. The rest of the structural design was similar, with vertical connecting pipes from the steam dome to the high-pressure cylinders in the middle and the low-pressure cylinders in the front. Like other four-axle Mallet locomotives, the machine was notable for its rough running and strong tendency to slip, which is why no more were procured. The same observations were also made at the Pfalzbahn with the two identical machines, whereupon these were only used in part to test new braking systems.

Both operators decided to use eight-coupled locomotives again in the future, as these did not have the weaknesses of the Mallets, despite the somewhat poorer curve running properties. The Reichsbahn number 55 7101 was reserved for a single remaining BB I, but this was no longer taken over due to the decommissioning in 1923. The Palatinate machine, which was still in use up to this point, suffered the same fate.

The problem on the Bavarian local railways was that there were very tight curves in some cases, and there were also many inclines and therefore increasingly more powerful locomotives were needed for the ever increasing requirements. For this reason, the BB II was developed, whose coupled axles were not in a common frame for better running characteristics in curves.

As a Mallet-type tank locomotive with only two axles each in the frame and in the bogie, it was ideal for the winding lines. Due to the lack of carrying axles, the running properties at line speed proved to be insufficient. In addition, the locomotive tended to slip and was therefore not always able to fully utilize its power.

Werner & Hansjörg Brutzer

Production consisted of a batch of 29 machines between 1899 and 1903 and a second batch from 1908, in which only two examples were made. The latter were slightly longer and heavier than the previous ones. They were all taken over by the Reichsbahn in 1925 and designated as class 98⁷. However, due to the shortcomings described, most of them were already retired in the 1930s. The remaining ones were sold to various works railways from around 1940, where the smooth running of the machines was not a problem. The former 98 727, which was sold to Südzucker AG in 1943, is now being kept operational by the Darmstadt-Kranichstein Railway Museum. Due to the advertising character of its former operator, it was nicknamed “Zuckersusi” (“Sugar Susi”).

Some six-coupled freight locomotives, built between 1868 and 1879 a total of 305 times, were called C III by the Bavarian State Railways. A distinction can be made between three slightly different types, of which the standard type made up the largest part with 239 locomotives.

The oldest variant included 52 locomotives, which the Bavarian Eastern Railway procured in five series from 1867. It was based on the type C, but had a larger-diameter boiler and more grate and heating area to increase power. They came into the stock of the state railway after the takeover of the Eastern Railway in 1876 and were slightly lighter than their sisters.

The standard type was created from the C II of the state railway and was produced from 1868. In contrast to its predecessor, it was driven on the middle axle instead of on the last one. The valve gear was still inside, but was now of the Allan design. The locomotive frame was on the outside, so the power was transmitted via Hall cranks. From the third batch of 1876, a larger boiler and larger cylinders were installed. The first two batches were later adapted to the later batch.

In the years 1872 to 1874, 14 more were added, which were originally built by Sigl in Vienna for Hungary with larger tenders and were not accepted. The dimensions of the locomotives themselves were almost identical to the rest of the machines, especially after the installation of a new boiler with the same dimensions.

The last locomotives of all variants survived until after the First World War and some were included in the Reichsbahn's provisional renumbering plan as class 53⁷⁸, but were retired by 1925.

After the C I, C II and C III locomotives, which were also six-coupled, the C IV was the first Bavarian freight locomotive that no longer had an outer frame. It was manufactured by Krauss and Maffei from 1884. The locomotives of type C IV had slightly larger wheels than their predecessors and thus not only reached 40 or 45 km/h, but were designed for 50 km/h. In addition, they were built with an air brake, which was not a matter of course for freight trains at that time.

In 1889, two examples with a two-cylinder compound engine were delivered, which proved to be superior to the production model. In addition to the increase in efficiency and performance due to the double steam expansion, the boiler pressure was increased, which was now twelve instead of eleven bars. Thus, from 1892 onwards only engines of composite design were manufactured, while the production of the simple machines came to an end the following year after a total of 87 units. A further 98 units were added to the two test locomotives, so that a total of 100 compound units were built by 1897. The series models had an even higher boiler pressure and a larger cylinder diameter.

Although the locomotives were soon no longer able to cope with the increased loads on main lines and were also too weak for many freight trains on branch lines, the Reichsbahn took over a large number of them as the class 53^80-81. The simple locomotives were retired by 1926, the others survived five years longer.