The German DRB Class 06 engines were standard steam locomotives (''
Einheitsdampflokomotiven'') with the
Deutsche Reichsbahn
The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'', also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the German national railway system created after the end of World War I from the regio ...
(DRB) designed to haul
express train
An express train is a type of passenger train that makes a small number of stops between its origin and destination stations, usually major destinations, allowing faster service than local trains that stop at most or all of the stations alon ...
services. They were the only German locomotives with a
4-8-4 (Northern) wheel arrangement.
History
The two Class 06 locomotives built by the firm of
Krupp in 1939 were the largest, heaviest and most powerful locomotives in the
Deutsche Reichsbahn
The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'', also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the German national railway system created after the end of World War I from the regio ...
. They were built for heavy express train duties in hilly terrain. The performance requirement was for the transportation of 650 tons at 120 km/h. On ramps of 1:100 it was to still be capable of maintaining 60 km/h.
The Class 06 was given the same
boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central h ...
as the
Class 45 and many of the same components as the
Class 41. The
running gear
In railway terminology the term running gear refers to those components of a railway vehicle that run passively on the rails, unlike those of the driving gear. Traditionally these are the wheels, axles, axle boxes, springs and vehicle frame of ...
, with four
coupled axles, had a
wheelbase
In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels. For road vehicles with more than two axles (e.g. some trucks), the wheelbase is the distance between the steering (front ...
of 6,75 m.
In trials, the vehicles confirmed their remarkable capability and running qualities. However the locomotives tended to derail in tight turnout curves. And, like the Class 45s, the boilers developed cracks, leaky tubes and popped stay bolts, so that the locomotives were unconvincing when hauling measurement vehicles or scheduled trains.
As a result of the war no more were produced. After the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
there was no longer a requirement for a locomotive of this size, so that neither the necessary structural modification of the engines was carried out, nor did any follow-on orders result. Both engines were seen as having a faulty design and were retired by the
Deutsche Bundesbahn
The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB (German Federal Railway) was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) on 7 September 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG). The DB remained ...
in 1951 in
Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
and scrapped, because the DB refused to replace their boilers.
The two locomotives, which had operating numbers 06 001 and 06 002, were equipped with 2'3 T 38 St
tenders.
See also
*
List of DRG locomotives and railbuses
The railway vehicle classes covered by this list of DRG locomotives and railbuses belonged to the ''Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft'' or DRG (1924–37) and its successor, the '' Deutsche Reichsbahn'' or DRB (post 1937).
The DRG (lit. German Im ...
References
*
External links
Photograph of the Class 06
{{DRG locomotives
06
4-8-4 locomotives
06
Krupp locomotives
Railway locomotives introduced in 1939
Streamlined steam locomotives
Standard gauge locomotives of Germany
2′D2′ h3 locomotives
Passenger locomotives