List of Württemberg locomotives and railbuses explained

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 the German Empire. In 1920 the Royal Württemberg State Railways, along with the other German state railways (Länderbahnen), were merged into the Deutsche Reichsbahn.

Locomotive classification

The Württemberg state railway first divided its locomotives into classes in 1845. This first categorisation into classes I to VII was based on the order in which individual vehicles were procured.

The scheme proved to be unworkable in practice, so in 1858 a new system was introduced as follows:

In several cases the previous classes were simply redesignated. In other cases new locomotives and rebuilds were grouped together into one class despite being of different designs. Over the course of time, the shortcomings of the system became apparent. In particular, the division of locomotives into 'light' and 'heavy' groups was unfortunate. The classification scheme was also no longer sufficient for new locomotives. As a result, it was changed slightly in 1892. On retirement, classes that became 'free' were used again.

Individual classes were differentiated by means of lower case letters in order to be able to indicate certain characteristics, as well as by Arabic numerals to distinguish the individual designs.

Furthermore, several special abbreviations were introduced, such as KL for small locomotives, DW for steam railbuses, BW for petrol railbuses and AW for accumulator cars.

Württemberg locomotives were given names up to 1896. Subjects for locomotive names were generally geographical features (towns and rivers). Very often, locomotives were given names from their area of operations. On being transferred elsewhere, their names were usually changed.

In addition to names, locomotives were also given numbers. Up to 1890, they were sequentially numbered from 1 - 377. From that time onwards, newly procured locomotives in each class were given a special group of numbers, generally one hundred, beginning at 401.

On rebuilding, locomotives were organised into new classes, but the individual locos each retained their old operating numbers.

Steam locomotives

Early locomotives for all traffic types

The majority of these locomotives were rebuilt between 1867 and 1893. None were given operating numbers by the Deutsche Reichsbahn.

Class
(to 1858)
Class
(from 1858)
Railway number(s)QuantityYear(s) of manufactureTypeRemarks
1–3 3 1845 2′B n2 Built by Norris (USA), Retired by 1861
4–6 3 1845 1′B n2
C (old)
D (old)
7–29, 31, 33–34,
38–52
41 1846–1853 2′B n2 In 1858 some classified as C, some as D
E (Alb) 30, 32, 35–37 5 1849–1851 C n2 So-called "Alb" locomotives; first axle uncoupled in 1856 (1B n2) and replaced by a bogie in 1859 (2′B n2); no. 32 Ulm rebuilt in 1869 into a tank locomotive (2′B n2t)
D (old) 53–57 5 1854 2′B n2
A (old) 58–63, 74–77,
96–97
12 1854–1860 2′B n2
D (old) 1"–6", 9", 10",
64–73, 90–95,
98–111, 120–124,
144–151
51 1856–1861 2′B n2
78–89, 112–119,
125–129
25 1859–1863 2′B n2
140–143, 178–179 6 1865–1868 2′B n2 Bogie of no. 140 Wien experimentally replaced in 1890 by radially-swinging leading wheels (1′B n2)

Passenger and express train locomotives

ClassRailway number(s)DRG number(s)QuantityYear(s) of manufactureTypeRemarks
B/B2
to 1869: D
180–183,
208–251,
270–295,
306–317
86 1868–1878 1B n2 Nos. 180–183 classified on delivery as D, regrouped into class B in 1869, reclassified in 1892 as B2
A
from 1892: Aa
69", 121",
318–327,
334–336
15 1878–1888 1B n2 Older variety of the Class A 2-4-0 (1B) locomotives; in 1896–1905 13 units were converted to the new design and classified as A again
337–341,
363–367
34 8102 10 1888–1891 1B n2
342–362,
368–377
34 8201–8209 31 1889–1897 1B n2v
401–410 10 1892 1′B1′ n3v
421–434 14 1898–1905 2′C n4v
451–500,
1501–1538
13 1601–1624 88 1899–1907 2′B n2v
1541–1557 13 1701–1714 171907–1909 2′B h2 Superheated version of Class AD; nos. 1541–1542 delivered as 1538–1539
2001–2041 18 101–137 41 1909–1921 2′C1′ h4v

Goods train locomotives

ClassRailway number(s)DRG number(s)QuantityYear(s) of manufactureTypeRemarks

from 1892: Fa
8"...127",
130–139,
152–171,
184–207,
252–269,
296–305,
328–333
98 1864–1880 C n2 96 units rebuilt in 1890–1910 into classes Fa (rebuild) and F2 (rebuild)
F 2601–606 6 1889 C n2
611–735 53 801–865 125 1890–1909 C n2v
801–805 5 1892 E n3v So-called "Elephants", with Klose steering
501–506 6 1893 C n2v With Klose steering
F 1511–538 28 1894–1896 C n2 With Klose steering and inside cylinders
811–818 57 301–304 8 1905–1909 E n2v
821–846 57 401–417 26 1909–1920 E h2 Superheated version of Class H
1801–1815 59 001–015 15 1917–1919 1′F h4v
(1816–1844) 59 016–044 29 1923–1924 Follow-on order, wholly or partly with DRG numbers delivered
1901–1935 58 501–535 35 1919–1920 1′E h3 Same as Prussian G 12
Cassel 5761–5768 58 536–543 8 1922 Follow-on order, delivered with Prussian railway numbers

Tank locomotives

ClassRailway number(s)DRG number(s)QuantityYear(s) of manufactureTypeRemarks
172–177 6 1867–1868 B n2t Krauss type
885–994 89 301–410 110 1891–1913 C n2t Nos. 993–994 delivered as B1 n2t 998–999,rebuilt into C n2t in 1894 and renumbered as 995–996, renumbered again in 1896 to 993–994
996–999 89 411 4 1894–1896 C n2t With Klose steering, also classified as T3L; no. 996 ordered as 1000, but delivered as 996
1001–1010 88 7401 10 1896–1904 B n2t No. 1001 ordered as 1000, but delivered as 1001
1101–1110 91 2001–2010 10 1906–1907 1′C n2t Same as Prussian T 93
851–858 92 101–108 8 1906–1909 D n2t
1201–1296 75 001–093 96 1910–1917 1′C1′ h2t
1401–1412 92 001–011 12 1916–1918 D h2t
1121–1140 78 146–165 20 1919 2′C2′ h2t
1441–1460,
1461–1479
93 795–814,
93 832–850
39 1921–1922 1′D1′ h2t
1001–1030 94 101–130 30 1921–1922 E h2t
1–2 2 1876 B1 n2t Taken over in 1899 with der Kirchheir Railway (UnterboihingenKirchheim unter Teck)
1–2 2 1873 B n2t Taken over in 1904 with der Ermsthal Railway (Metzingen–Urach)
1–2 2 1908 B h2t Small locomotives with Kittel boiler, Taken over in 1910 from an order by the WeEG

Rack railway locomotives

Württemberg rack railway locomotives were built for the Honau–Lichtenstein rack railway and FreudenstadtKlosterreichenbach routes.

ClassRailway number(s)DRG number(s)QuantityYear(s) of manufactureTypeRemarks
591–599 97 301–307 9 1893–1904 1′C n2(4v)t Nos. 591–594 delivered as 691–694
(Hz) 97 501–504 4 1923–1925 E h2(4v)t Delivered with DRG numbers

Rebuild locomotives

The Royal Württemberg State Railways rebuilt older locomotives in order to re-use them and they did so to a much greater extent than other German state railways. This conversion activity may be divided into two periods of time: in the first one, from 1867 to 1887, under senior engineers Brockmann and Gross, older 2'B locomotives were rebuilt into rigid-axled 1B engines and tank locomotives of various wheel arrangements. Under chief engineers Adolf Klose and Eugen Kittel, the last remaining 2'B locomotives were also rebuilt into tank locomotives during the second conversion period between 1887 and 1910, and older 1B and C types, some of which themselves had already been rebuilt once before, were converted to match the newer locomotive types in appearance and performance.

First conversion period 1867–1887

ClassRailway number(s)DRG number(s)Quantity rebuiltYear(s) rebuiltTypeRemarks
B3 1"...148 51 1867–1883 1B n2 Rebuilt from 1 B (rebuild), 5 C (old), 45 D (old)
D (rebuild) 4"...48 16 1867–1874 1B n2 Rebuilt from 10 C (old), 6 D (old)
B2 (rebuild) 7...128 16 1868–18821B n2 Rebuilt from 9 A (old), 2 D (old), 5 E (old)
B (rebuild)21...125 16 1869–1884 1B n2 Rebuilt from 3 A (old), 5 D (old), 1 D (rebuild), 7 E (old)
T2a 36, 37 2 1872–1875 1B n2t Rebuilt from E (Alb)
E (rebuild) 88, 118 2 1873–1874 1′B n2 Rebuilt from E (old)
T4a 3"...123 11 1874–1886 2′B n2t Rebuilt from 7 D (old), 1 D (rebuild), 1 E (old), 2 E (Alb)
T (rebuild) 87...129 7 1879–1887 B n2t Rebuilt from E (old); 1 locomotive given the number and name of the retired Class D (old) engine, no. 105 Kirchberg
Aa (rebuild) 142, 179 2 18821B n2 Rebuilt from B (old)

Second conversion period 1887–1910

ClassRailway number(s)DRG number(s)Quantity rebuiltYear(s) rebuiltTypeRemarks
T2aa 88, 118 2 1887–1892 1B n2t Rebuilt from E (rebuild)
T2 4"...150 15 1890–1894 1B n2t Rebuilt from 1 D (old), 14 D (rebuild)s
Fa (rebuild)
ab 1906: F2
127"...267 8 1890–1892 C n2 Rebuilt from F (from 1892: Fa)
F2 (Rebuild) 8"...333 53 8301 88 1891–1910 C n2 Rebuilt from F (from 1892: Fa)
T4n 101...151 6 1891–1895 2′B n2t Rebuilt from D (old)
Ab 7...313 16 1893–1902 1B n2 Rebuilt from 3 B, 1 B (rebuild), 2 B2, 10 B2 (rebuild)
Fb 12...148 12 1895–1899 1′C n2 Rebuilt from B3
A (rebuild)318–327,
334–336
34 8101 13 1896–1905 1B n2 Rebuilt from Aa

Narrow gauge locomotives

1000 mm gauge

The Württemberg metre gauge locomotives were built specifically for the Nagold-Altensteig route.

ClassRailway number(s)DRG number(s)QuantityYear(s) of manufactureTypeRemarks
1–3 99 171–173 3 1891–1899 D n2t With Klose steering
10 1 1891 C n2t Krauss type; former construction locomotive, no. 1900, taken over as an operational locomotive
9 99 121 1 1900 C n2t Borsig type; taken over in 1904 from the fleet of the Württemberg Railway Company (WEG)
(Ts 5) 99 191–194 4 1927 E h2t Procured by the DRG, delivered with DRG numbers

750 mm gauge

The Württemberg gauge locomotives were procured for following routes:

ClassRailway number(s)DRG number(s)QuantityYear(s) of manufactureTypeRemarks
11–13 99 621–622 3 1894 D n2t With Klose steering, for Marbach–Beilstein
21–24 99 501–504 4 1896 C n2t With Klose steering, for Lauffen–Güglingen and Schussenried–Buchau
41–49 99 631–639 9 1899–1913 B′B n4vt Articulated Mallet locomotive

Railbuses

ClassRailway number(s)DRG number(s)QuantityYear(s) of manufactureTypeRemarks
BW1–5 5 1887–1900 A1 bm Petrol railbus
1–5 5 1895–1901 A1 n2Steam railbus with Serpollet boiler; no. 1 retired in 1908, nos. 2–5 equipped with Kittel boiler
6–17 CidT 9–13 12 1903–1909 A1 h2 Steam railbus with Kittel boiler
AW1 (1) (1897) Bo′2′ g2t Accumulator car, rebuilt from a four-wheeled, Class E, passenger coach ; reconverted in 1908
1 1 1907 (1A)2′ h2 Steam railbus with Kittel boiler for gauge

See also

References