DR Class 58.30
Encyclopedia
After the Second World War, the Deutsche Reichsbahn in East Germany had a requirement for powerful goods train locomotives with a 15-18 tonne axle load
for routes in the Mittelgebirge mountains. As a result the DR Class 58.30 emerged, as part of the so-called 'reconstruction programme', based on rebuilds of the former Prussian G 12
locomotives (later DRG Class 58.2-5, 10-21). Between 1958 and 1962, 56 locomotives, originally from various state railways (even several former Alsace locomotives) were converted at the former repair shop, RAW Zwickau
.
As part of this rebuild, the engines were given welded driver's cabs, newly designed boilers (the Rekokessel) with combustion chamber
s, mixer-preheater systems, new welded cylinders, Trofimoff valves and Witte smoke deflectors
. The reinforced Type 58E Rekokessel was a slightly modified Type 50E boiler, that was also installed on e.g. the Rekoloks of Class 50.35 and Class 52.80
as well as the DR Neubaulok, the DR Class 23.10
. Due to the longer boiler, the frame also had to be extended. The distance between the carrying axle wheelset and the first coupled axle increased by around 300 mm and the overall wheelbase of the locomotive from 8,500 to 8,800 mm. That and other changes meant that the permitted top speed could be raised from 65 km/h to 70 km/h.
After the reconstruction, the Class 58.30, with its new cab, higher-pitched boiler, steep smokebox
skirts and two main air reservoirs located above the cylinders, had a completely new and striking appearance. Compared with the original Prussian G 12
engines, the reconstructed locomotives were more powerful, more economical and faster. The engine crews were very pleased with the larger reserves of power of the new boiler. On the plains, the Reko-G12 matched the performance of the DRG Class 44
. That said, the 58.30 was the most expensive locomotive of the entire reconstruction programme due to its extensive modernisation.
Because the delivery of new tenders in the required quantities was not possible for various reasons and the original pr 3 T 20 and sä 3 T 21 tenders could not be used for safety reasons, there was a major shortage of tenders for this class for a long time. So the Class 58.30 was coupled with almost all available types of four-axled tender to begin with. For example, there are official photographs of engines with the large 2'2'T34 standard tenders as well as the 2'2'T30 tub tenders.
The rebuilt locomotives were primarily stationed in Saxony
and Thuringia
, above all in the locomotive depots (Bahnbetriebswerk or Bw) of Aue, Döbeln
, Dresden
-Friedrichstadt, Gera
, Gotha
and Saalfeld. The last surviving engines were homed at Glauchau
. On 12 February 1981, numbers 58 3028 and 58 3032 were taken out of service a Bw Glauchau, thus ending the official deployment of Class 58.30 steam locomotives.
Two locomotives (of Prussian origin) have been preserved as non-working examples for posterity.
Locomotive no 58 3047, reconstructed in 1961 from 58 1955 (ERFURT 5672), (LHB
Breslau 1920) is looked after today by the interest group of the same name in Glauchau. In Schwarzenberg
, the Verein Sächsischer Eisenbahnfreunde ('Saxon Railway Friends Society') accommodates and maintains locomotive no. 58 3049, which was rebuilt from 58 1725 (KÖLN 5617), (Hannoversche Maschinenbau AG
Hannover 1920). The former museum locomotive is coupled with a new-design 2'2' T 28 tender; the latter with a 2'2' T 31.5 rebuild tender from a Prussian P 10
.
Axle load
The axle load of a wheeled vehicle is the total weight felt by the roadway for all wheels connected to a given axle. Viewed another way, it is the fraction of total vehicle weight resting on a given axle...
for routes in the Mittelgebirge mountains. As a result the DR Class 58.30 emerged, as part of the so-called 'reconstruction programme', based on rebuilds of the former Prussian G 12
Prussian G 12
The Prussian G 12 was a 2-10-0 goods train locomotive with the Prussian state railways .It was built because it had been shown during the First World War that it was a great disadvantage, from a servicing and maintenance point of view, for each state railway to have its own locomotive classes with...
locomotives (later DRG Class 58.2-5, 10-21). Between 1958 and 1962, 56 locomotives, originally from various state railways (even several former Alsace locomotives) were converted at the former repair shop, RAW Zwickau
Zwickau
Zwickau in Germany, former seat of the government of the south-western region of the Free State of Saxony, belongs to an industrial and economical core region. Nowadays it is the capital city of the district of Zwickau...
.
As part of this rebuild, the engines were given welded driver's cabs, newly designed boilers (the Rekokessel) with combustion chamber
Combustion chamber
A combustion chamber is the part of an engine in which fuel is burned.-Internal combustion engine:The hot gases produced by the combustion occupy a far greater volume than the original fuel, thus creating an increase in pressure within the limited volume of the chamber...
s, mixer-preheater systems, new welded cylinders, Trofimoff valves and Witte smoke deflectors
Smoke deflectors
Smoke deflectors are vertical plates attached to the front of a steam locomotive on each side of the smokebox. They are designed to lift smoke away from the locomotive at speed so that the driver has better visibility unimpaired by drifting smoke....
. The reinforced Type 58E Rekokessel was a slightly modified Type 50E boiler, that was also installed on e.g. the Rekoloks of Class 50.35 and Class 52.80
DR Class 52.80
The Rekolokomotives of DR Class 52.80 first appeared in 1960 in service with the Deutsche Reichsbahn in East Germany as extensive rebuilds of the wartime locomotives or Kriegslokomotiven of DRB Class 52...
as well as the DR Neubaulok, the DR Class 23.10
DR Class 23.10
The steam locomotives of DR Class 23.10, were passenger train engines built for the Deutsche Reichsbahn in East Germany after the Second World War.- History :...
. Due to the longer boiler, the frame also had to be extended. The distance between the carrying axle wheelset and the first coupled axle increased by around 300 mm and the overall wheelbase of the locomotive from 8,500 to 8,800 mm. That and other changes meant that the permitted top speed could be raised from 65 km/h to 70 km/h.
After the reconstruction, the Class 58.30, with its new cab, higher-pitched boiler, steep smokebox
Smokebox
A smokebox is one of the major basic parts of a Steam locomotive exhaust system. Smoke and hot gases pass from the firebox through tubes where they pass heat to the surrounding water in the boiler. The smoke then enters the smokebox, and is exhausted to the atmosphere through the chimney .To assist...
skirts and two main air reservoirs located above the cylinders, had a completely new and striking appearance. Compared with the original Prussian G 12
Prussian G 12
The Prussian G 12 was a 2-10-0 goods train locomotive with the Prussian state railways .It was built because it had been shown during the First World War that it was a great disadvantage, from a servicing and maintenance point of view, for each state railway to have its own locomotive classes with...
engines, the reconstructed locomotives were more powerful, more economical and faster. The engine crews were very pleased with the larger reserves of power of the new boiler. On the plains, the Reko-G12 matched the performance of the DRG Class 44
DRG Class 44
The Class 44 was a ten-coupled, heavy goods train steam locomotive built for the Deutsche Reichsbahn as a standard steam engine class . Its sub-class was G 56.20 and it had triple cylinders...
. That said, the 58.30 was the most expensive locomotive of the entire reconstruction programme due to its extensive modernisation.
Because the delivery of new tenders in the required quantities was not possible for various reasons and the original pr 3 T 20 and sä 3 T 21 tenders could not be used for safety reasons, there was a major shortage of tenders for this class for a long time. So the Class 58.30 was coupled with almost all available types of four-axled tender to begin with. For example, there are official photographs of engines with the large 2'2'T34 standard tenders as well as the 2'2'T30 tub tenders.
The rebuilt locomotives were primarily stationed in Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
and Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
, above all in the locomotive depots (Bahnbetriebswerk or Bw) of Aue, Döbeln
Döbeln
Döbeln is a town in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, part of the Mittelsachsen district, located at both banks of the river Freiberger Mulde.-History:It was founded in the 10th century, the first written proof of its existence dates back to the year 981....
, Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
-Friedrichstadt, Gera
Gera
Gera, the third-largest city in the German state of Thuringia , lies in east Thuringia on the river Weiße Elster, approximately 60 kilometres to the south of the city of Leipzig and 80 kilometres to the east of Erfurt...
, Gotha
Gotha (town)
Gotha is a town in Thuringia, within the central core of Germany. It is the capital of the district of Gotha.- History :The town has existed at least since the 8th century, when it was mentioned in a document signed by Charlemagne as Villa Gotaha . Its importance derives from having been chosen in...
and Saalfeld. The last surviving engines were homed at Glauchau
Glauchau
Glauchau is a town in Germany, in Saxony, on the right bank of the Mulde, 7 miles north of Zwickau and 17 miles west of Chemnitz by rail. It is part of the Zwickau district....
. On 12 February 1981, numbers 58 3028 and 58 3032 were taken out of service a Bw Glauchau, thus ending the official deployment of Class 58.30 steam locomotives.
Two locomotives (of Prussian origin) have been preserved as non-working examples for posterity.
Locomotive no 58 3047, reconstructed in 1961 from 58 1955 (ERFURT 5672), (LHB
LHB
LHB may refer to:*LHB co., a Duluth based Architecture firm with offices in both Duluth and Minneapolis, MN.*The University of Texas Longhorn Band, a marching band*Left halfback, a football position*Alstom LHB, a German transport company...
Breslau 1920) is looked after today by the interest group of the same name in Glauchau. In Schwarzenberg
Schwarzenberg
- People :* House of Schwarzenberg, Frankish and Bohemian aristocratic family which was first mentioned in 1172** Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg , Field Marshal in Austrian service during the Napoleonic Wars...
, the Verein Sächsischer Eisenbahnfreunde ('Saxon Railway Friends Society') accommodates and maintains locomotive no. 58 3049, which was rebuilt from 58 1725 (KÖLN 5617), (Hannoversche Maschinenbau AG
Hanomag
Hanomag was a German producer of steam locomotives, tractors, trucks and military vehicles. Hanomag first achieved international fame by delivering a large number of steam locomotives to Romania and Bulgaria before World War I....
Hannover 1920). The former museum locomotive is coupled with a new-design 2'2' T 28 tender; the latter with a 2'2' T 31.5 rebuild tender from a Prussian P 10
Prussian P 10
The Prussian state railways' Class P 10 were 2-8-2 "Mikado" type passenger-hauling steam locomotives built for hauling heavy express trains in the hilly and mountainous terrain of the Mittelgebirge...
.
Literature
- Dirk Endisch: Baureihe 58.30, transpress Verlag, ISBN 3-613-71210-5
- Hans Wiegard: Reko- und Neubau-Dampfloks der DR, GeraMond Verlag, ISBN 3-7654-7103-8
- R. Heinrich / H. Schnabel: Die Baureihe 58.30, Die Geschichte der "Reko-G12", EK-Verlag, Freiburg 1999, ISBN 3-88255-158-5
- Michael Reimer: Baureihe 58, transpress Verlag, 2002, ISBN 3-613-71171-0
- Gerhard Dambacher: Baureihe 58, Weltbild Verlag, 2003
External links
- IG 58 3047 Glauchau
- Verein Sächsischer Eisenbahnfreunde (Saxon Railway Friends) site
- There is a relevant English-language forum at Railways of Germany