European Railroad Discussion > DB & DR 01 Class Pacifics, 1969

A decision to put off going to university after high school, and the funds from working for a year, allowed me to go on a European adventure in 1969.

Regular operation steam in the UK ended in 1968, but France and West Germany still had pockets of main line steam operation.  In those days, I used to read the UK railfan magazines, and many published detailed accounts of the locations of operational steam facilities.

I forget which type of Eurail Pass I had, I have a sense it was a youth or student pass, I was 19 at the time. I did some of the standard tourist venues of the time, Paris, Rome,Amsterdam and so forth. I had a limited amount of film and funds, so the cathedrals and coliseums were committed to memory and the railways were put on film.

In West Germany, several classes of steam locomotive were active, and at locations near the border with East Germany, Deutches Reichsbahn steam locomotives ran through into West Germany.

One class of German steam locomotive fascinated the wandering railfans of the day,  the DB and DR 01 Class Pacifics which were still in passenger train service.

These locomotives were a standard DR design dating back to 1923 and manufactured by many locomotive builders. At one time, they numbered 240 locomotives.

Time and technological change bought many changes to these locomotives, which created many changes to their appearance. Perhaps the most visible change was new larger diameter boilers.

Most survived World War 2 but were in a sad state of repair and required substantial rebuilding.  The partition of Germany after the war created two separate railways, the Deutches Bundesbahn in West Germany and the Deutches Riechsbahn in East Germany. The pre war railway was called the Deutches Reichsbahn.

The DR in East Germany modified and rebuilt their allotment of 01 Pacifis differently than DB in West Germany.

The DB 01's remained in regular service until 1975, and the DR 01's operated until the early 1980's.  Many are preserved today, both static and operational.

DB 001-128 is shown on a local passenger train at Hof, Germany, and 001-234 is shown heading for the shops at Hof.  The roundhouse was destroyed in WW2 but the turntable and servicing tracks remain in service in the background.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/16 09:07 by eminence_grise.

At Bebra, West Germany, Berlin bound trains had their West German diesels replaced by East German steam locomotives. DR Class 01'S were used.

DR 01-524 is shown awaiting a train at the station at Bebra, while 01-532 is shown blowing cylinder cocks while backing toward the station.

Finally, 01-524 is shown making a spirited departure eastbound from Bebra. Even during the Cold War years of a partitioned Germany, a DR "lokfuhrer" (locomotive engineer) was willing to put on a smoke show for a lineside photographer.

Thank you very much for posting these interesting photos.
ALLEN

Other DB Pacifics were operating around Rheine, West Germany in 1969. These were the 011 and 012 class locomotives, derived from the 010 class delivered to the DR in 1939.

Four hundred of these locomotives were ordered from Swartzkopf, a German locomotive builder but only 55 were built. As delivered these locomotives were streamlined, and one surviving Class 011 has been refitted with pre-war style shrouding.

Some of the newest German steam locomotives at the outbreak of WW2, they were all in poor condition at the end of the war. Poor steel had been used in the boilers and a decision was made initially to withdraw all 010 class locomotives after WW2, but subsequently they were modified and rebuilt. The shrouding was removed, new boilers applied and changes to the running gear took place. Some of the class were converted to oil firing as Class 012, while the coal fired locomotives were Class 011.

Rhiene, West Germany still had members of both classes of Pacific active in 1969.  

011-065 was hauled out of the roundhouse for a German railfan and myself, recently overhauled. I believe the practice of painting the running gear red was to show any defects or oil leaks.

Thanks for posting. We do not see enough of Germany-Austria.

Must be more european steam photos in TO poster hands.

Great set, thanks. Railway Magazine always had info on German steam. I certainly recall seeing DR steam from the Hamburg to Berlin train as late as 1985.

Coal fired 011-070 is shown on the ready tracks near Rheine roundhouse.  Oil fired 012-03 is shown on a passenger train approaching Rheine station with a pub in the background.

Oil fired 012-065 is shown passing "allotments" near Rheine. In wartime and post war Europe, citizens were permitted to plant gardens along railway rights of way to supplement rationed food from stores.

Many older citizens all over Europe and Britain hung on to their allotments many years after WW2.

Great photos and coverage. That photo of the 011 class with the folks in front of the cab tells it all by the smile on the gentleman's face in the middle. I really enjoyed my 10 days in Germany in 2002 though not seeing any of the mainline steam. I did get to see several of the narrow guages and rode a few. But I also got to visit the areas that my family emmigrated from to the US.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/04/16 07:29 by Bob3985.

Glad to see some German steam pictures on this forum, spent quite a bit of time chasing the last west- german steam engines. I am just in the process of putting my full length super8 movies on youtube (under my name). Looks like its time to load up some of my pictures on this forum.

Thomas Eckhardt
Hurricane UT