Cab-forward

Germany: Deutsche Reichsbahn

In Germany, Borsig in Berlin built a one-off streamlined cab-forward DRG Class 05 (serial number 05 003) 4-6-4 in 1937, with further development stopped by World War II. Fueled by pulverized coal and with the firebox at the forward end, this loco was built with huge driving wheels, 2,300 mm (91 in) in diameter. The design speed was 175 km/h (109 mph), but its conventional layout sister 05 002 set a new world speed record for steam locomotives on 11 May 1936, after reaching 200.4 km/h (124.5 mph) on the Berlin–Hamburg line hauling a 197 t train, a record it lost two years later to the British LNER Class A44468 Mallard. In 1944, the streamlining was removed, but the 05 003 had by then already lost its cab-forward layout. After the war, it pulled express trains in West Germany until 1958. It was scrapped in 1960.