Württemberg K
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Württemberg Class K steam locomotives of the
Royal Württemberg State Railways The Royal Württemberg State Railways (''Königlich Württembergische Staats-Eisenbahnen'' or ''K.W.St.E.'') were the state railways of the Kingdom of Württemberg (from 1918 the ''People's State of Württemberg'') between 1843 and 1920. Early ...
(''Königlich Württembergische Staats-Eisenbahnen'') were the only twelve-coupled locomotives built for a German railway company.


History

The 44 engines of this class built by the
Maschinenfabrik Esslingen Maschinenfabrik Esslingen (ME) was a German engineering firm that manufactured locomotives, tramways, railway wagons, roll-blocks, technical equipment for the railways, (turntable (rail), turntables and traverser (railway), traversers), bridges, s ...
between 1917 and 1924 were intended for work on the Geislingen ramp ('' Geislinger Steige'') and the Baden Black Forest line. As a result of good experiences in
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
and the fact that there was a maximum
axle load The axle load of a wheeled vehicle is the total weight bearing on the roadway for all wheels connected to a given axle. Axle load is an important design consideration in the engineering of roadways and railways, as both are designed to tolerate a m ...
of only 16 tonnes on those routes, it was decided to produce a twelve-coupled locomotive. The first and last
coupled axles On a steam locomotive, a driving wheel is a powered wheel which is driven by the locomotive's pistons (or turbine, in the case of a steam turbine locomotive). On a conventional, non-articulated locomotive, the driving wheels are all coupled tog ...
were given side-play ( Gölsdorf system), the wheel flanges of the two centre axles were reduced by about 15 mm. The locomotives proved to be a successful design that was very reliable and powerful. In operations on the hilly routes it was very thrifty, however it was not so economical on the flat. 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 Weimar Republic, German national Rail transport, railway system created after th ...
, that had taken over all the locomotives as DRG Class 59, raised the permissible axle load on the important main lines, so that the performance of the Class K could finally be augmented by ten-coupled engines. As a result, no further batches were ordered.


Move to Austria

After the routes of the ''Geislinger Steige'' had been electrified, the engines were no longer required and were given away to
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
, where they were used on the Semmering railway. From there several units went to
Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...
and
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
during the course of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. The vehicles that remained with, or were returned to, the
Deutsche Bundesbahn Deutsche Bundesbahn (, ) or DB () was formed as the state railway of the newly established West Germany (FRG) on 7 September 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG). The DB remained the state railway of West Germany u ...
continued in service until 1953. Of the 30 examples that stayed in Austria after the Second World War, the majority were sold, two units went to the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, six to the Hungarian Railways (MAV). The remaining four engines retained their serial numbers but were grouped into ÖBB Class 659, namely the 659.06, 23, 29 and 41. All locomotives of this class were retired by 1957.


Tenders

The vehicles were coupled with Württemberg and Prussian tenders of classes wü 2′2′ T 20, pr 2′2′ T 21.5 and pr 2′2′ T 31.5.


See also

*
List of Württemberg locomotives and railbuses This list covers the locomotives and railbuses operated by the Royal Württemberg State Railways (''Königlich Württembergische Staats-Eisenbahnen''), the national railway company of Württemberg, a state in southwest Germany that was part of t ...


References

* * * * *


External links


Locomotive data for the BR 59




''Marklinfan Club'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Wurttemberg K Railway locomotives introduced in 1917 2-12-0 locomotives K Esslingen locomotives Standard-gauge locomotives of Germany 1′F h4v locomotives Freight locomotives