The Prussian Class G 7.1 engines of 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 ...

were German eight-coupled, goods train, steam locomotives.

History

They were first built in 1893 by the firm of Stettiner Maschinenbau AG Vulcan, but later by the other larger Prussian locomotive manufacturers as well. The

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, centr ...

was the same as that of the G 5.1. The locomotives were intended for heavy goods duties especially on hilly routes. As a result, most of the engines went to the western German and Silesian railway divisions. By 1909, 1,002 examples had been delivered to the

. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

simple and robust locomotives were required for military use. As a result, in 1916/1917 a further 200 G 7.1s were built. From 1916, the ''k.u.k. Heeresbahn'' in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

had 35 units of the Class G 7.1 which it named the Class 274. They were intended for use on the broad gauge

Russian Railways Russian Railways (russian: link=no, ОАО «Российские железные дороги» (ОАО «РЖД»), OAO Rossiyskie zheleznye dorogi (OAO RZhD)) is a Russian fully state-owned vertically integrated railway company, both manag ...

. The Lübeck-Büchen Railway also bought three G 7.1s, which had been manufactured in 1898 by '' Schwartzkopff''. Another seven engines went to the ''

Gutehoffnungshütte MAN SE (abbreviation of ''Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg'', ) was a manufacturing and engineering company based in Munich, Germany. Its primary output was commercial vehicles and diesel engines through its MAN Truck & Bus and MAN Latin Ame ...

''. Even the

Palatinate Railway The Palatine Railways (german: Pfälzische Eisenbahnen), often abbreviated to Palatinate Railway (''Pfalzbahn'') was the name of the railway division and administration responsible for all private railway companies in the Bavarian Palatinate fro ...

placed 27 of its G 4' in service; the design of these was based on the Prussian G 7.1. In 1923 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 regiona ...

took over no less than 680 from the Prussian state railways into its renumbering plan; in 1925 they listed locomotive numbers 55 001–660. In 1935, 14 more came from the

Saar Saar or SAAR has several meanings: People Given name *Saar Boubacar (born 1951), Senegalese professional football player * Saar Ganor, Israeli archaeologist *Saar Klein (born 1967), American film editor Surname * Ain Saar (born 1968), Est ...

railways Reichsbahn fleet as 55 661 to 55 674; this included one locomotive that the Saar Railways had acquired from Alsace-Lorraine for border services. The three G 7.1s with the Lübeck-Büchen Railway were given numbers 55 681–683 in 1938. In 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 ...

105 G 7.1s were taken over from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

into the Reichsbahn's inventory. They were given the numbers of engines already retired. In addition, G 7.1 engines from Lithuania were added as numbers 55 274 and 55 691-694. After the Second World War, the locomotives that ended up in 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 ...

were mainly used in shunting duties and were retired by 1957. In the

Deutsche Reichsbahn in East Germany The Deutsche Reichsbahn or DR ''(German Reich Railways)'' was the operating name of state owned railways in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), and after German reunification until 1 January 1994. In 1949, occupied Germany's railwa ...

the last G 7.1 was not retired until 1966, including number 55 642.

Preserved locomotives

Locomotive 55 669 was retired in 1964 and has been displayed since in the

Dresden Transport Museum The Dresden Transport Museum (German: Verkehrsmuseum Dresden) displays vehicles of all modes of transport, such as railway, shipping, road and air traffic, under one roof. The museum is housed in the Johanneum at the Neumarkt in Dresden. The Jo ...

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

Photograph of the 55 669
Locomotives 55 196, 393, 400, 493 and 553 were left in Austrian territory after the Second World War. Apart from 55 553, which had been taken over by 1950, the

ÖBB The Austrian Federal Railways (german: Österreichische Bundesbahnen, formally (lit. "Austrian Federal Railways Holding Stock Company") and formerly the or ''BBÖ''), now commonly known as ÖBB, is the national railway company ...

incorporated them into their ÖBB Class 655, retaining their serial numbers. The last one, 655.393, was withdrawn in 1957. Its task had been shunting at Stadlau station. The vehicles were equipped with tenders of classes pr 3 T 12 and pr 3 T 16.5 (built 1916/17).

Notes

References

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History

Preserved locomotives

See also

Notes

References

Further reading