The Class PtL 2/2 locomotives of the Royal Bavarian State Railways (''Königlich Bayerische Staatseisenbahn'') were light and very compact superheated

steam locomotives A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

for operation on Bavarian

branch lines A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Industrial spur An industr ...

(known generally as ''Lokalbahnen''). There were three types in total, of which two were transferred to the

Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft 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 regiona ...

as Class 98.3

tank locomotives A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of a more traditional tender. Most tank engines also have bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a tender-tank locomo ...

and even survived to join 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 remaine ...

fleet 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 opposi ...

. Common to all the variants was the B axle arrangement (European or

UIC classification The UIC classification of locomotive axle arrangements, sometimes known as the German classification''The Railway Data File''. Leicester: Silverdale, 2000. p. 52. . or German system,Kalla-Bishop P.M. & Greggio, Luciano, ''Steam Locomotives'', Cre ...

) or 0-4-0 (

Whyte notation Whyte notation is a classification method for steam locomotives, and some internal combustion locomotives and electric locomotives, by wheel arrangement. It was devised by Frederick Methvan Whyte, and came into use in the early twentieth cen ...

), the semi-automatic, gravity-feed firing that enabled one-man operation, and platforms with guard rails, front and rear, that enabled safe access to the coaches. The locomotives had a large driver's cab with 3 windows per side that surrounded the entire

locomotive boiler A fire-tube boiler is a type of boiler in which hot gases pass from a fire through one or more tubes running through a sealed container of water. The heat of the gases is transferred through the walls of the tubes by thermal conduction, heating t ...

as far as the

smokebox A smokebox is one of the major basic parts of a steam locomotive exhaust system. Smoke and hot gases pass from the firebox through tubes where they pass heat to the surrounding water in the boiler. The smoke then enters the smokebox, and is e ...

. This unique feature earned it the nickname ''Glaskasten'' ("glass box") or, in

Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian languages, Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three Regierungsbezirk, administrative ...

, ''Glas-Chaise'' ("glass carriage").

1905 version

In both 1905 and 1906 Krauss supplied three locomotives (numbers 4501–4506) with an inside driving gear arranged inside the

frame A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

and between the axles. The three machines built in 1906 had their

cylinder A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infin ...

diameter increased from 285 to 305 mm. The two axles were driven via a

jackshaft A jackshaft, also called a ''countershaft'', is a common mechanical design component used to transfer or synchronize rotational force in a machine. A jackshaft is often just a short stub with supporting bearings on the ends and two pulleys, gear ...

and external

connecting rods A connecting rod, also called a 'con rod', is the part of a piston engine which connects the piston to the crankshaft. Together with the crank, the connecting rod converts the reciprocating motion of the piston into the rotation of the cranksha ...

. Unlike the better-known later variants the water tank of this 'ancient glass box' (''Ur-Glaskasten'') was arranged over the gangway, but in such a way that crossing over to the coaches in the train was still possible. A rival design for this locomotive was the Bavarian ML 2/2 that was built by Maffei. In the Reichsbahn's provisional renumbering plan of 1923, all six locomotives were included as numbers 98 301 - 98 306; they were however taken out of service in the same year. The reason for that was the difficulty of accessing the inside driving gear for maintenance work.

1908 and 1911 versions

In 1908 and 1909 Krauss supplied 29 locomotives with a conventional outside driving gear, which nevertheless used a jack shaft between the main axles. They were given locomotive numbers 4507 to 4535. This driving gear enabled the water tank to be located below the boiler in the frame, so that there was more space on the gangways. Three further locomotives of this type were procured by the

Prussian state railways The term Prussian state railways (German: ''Preußische Staatseisenbahnen'') encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the State of Prussia. The words "state railways" are not capitalized because Prussia did not have a ...

in 1910 and were designated as the Prussian Class T 2. In 1911 and 1914 two further batches of nine and four locomotives were supplied to the Royal Bavarian State Railways. On these, the jackshaft was left out and the wheelbase reduced from 3,200 mm to 2,700 mm. These engines were also shorter overall and lighter than the versions built up to 1909. The

took over 22 locomotives, numbering them 98 301 - 98 322. Nine of these came from the first series with the jackshaft.

Survivors

Two locomotives were sold to industrial firms in 1942, one was a victim of the

and the engine number 98 304 stayed in Austria after the war. It was designated as Class ÖBB 688.01 by the

Austrian Federal Railways Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

(''Österreichische Bundesbahn''). This engine was taken out of service in 1959. The remaining locomotives entered the

, and were mostly withdrawn during the 1950s. Number 98 307 was deployed until 1963 between

Spalt Spalt ( Northern Bavarian: ''Schbåld'') is a town in the district of Roth, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated 19 km southwest of Schwabach. Spalt is famous for growing hops for brewing beer. Geography Spalt is situated between Nuremberg, ...

and Georgensgmünd and was known as the 'Spalter Goat' (''Spalter Bockel''). It has been preserved and is kept at the

German Steam Locomotive Museum The German Steam Locomotive Museum (''Deutsches Dampflokomotiv-Museum'') or DDM is located at the foot of the famous ''Schiefe Ebene'' ramp on the Ludwig South-North Railway in Neuenmarkt, Upper Franconia. This region is in northern Bavaria, Ge ...

(''Deutsches Dampflokomotiv-Museum'' or ''DDM'') in Neuenmarkt- Wirsberg on loan from the

Nuremberg Transport Museum The Nuremberg Transport Museum (') is based in Nuremberg, Germany, and consists of the Deutsche Bahn's own DB Museum and the Museum of Communications ('). It also has two satellite museums at Koblenz-Lützel (the '' DB Museum Koblenz'') and Halle ...

(''Verkehrsmuseum Nürnberg''), but is no longer working. Bayerische PtL Funktionsquerschnitt

4515

A second engine, numbered "4515", had been cut in cross-section to explain the internal workings of a steam locomotive. It was an unfortunate victim of the great fire at the Nuremberg Shed in October 2005, but after a successful renovation is now displayed in the DB Museum, Koblenz.

98 321

In 1938 locomotive no. 98 321 went via a locomotive dealer and the

Lower Saxon State Railway Office The Lower Saxon State Railway Office (german: Niedersächsische Landeseisenbahnamt) or NLEA was a central authority that managed the operation of many light railways (known as ''Kleinbahnen'') in the North German state of Lower Saxony. These were ...

to the Verden-Walsrode Railway. They had it modified in 1947 at Krupp's: the armatures were moved to the rear of the outer firebox and housed in a normal driver's cab; gravity-fed firing was converted to normal firing with a firebox door. This work was completed in 1950 in Verden, before it went into service as locomotive no. 298. On the running plate, two former air cylinders were mounted as additional water tanks. Its period of duty was short, however. By early 1956 the locomotive was taken out of service and sold to a scrap merchant.

References

External links

A photo of the 1905 version with internal driving gear

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bavarian PtL 2 2 PtL 2 2 B h2t locomotives Standard gauge locomotives of Germany Krauss locomotives 0-4-0T locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1905 Mixed traffic locomotives