Prussian G 7.1
Encyclopedia
The Prussian Class G 7.1 engines of the Prussian state railways
Prussian state railways
The term Prussian state railways encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the State of Prussia...

 were German eight-coupled, goods train, steam locomotives.

History

They were first built in 1893 by the firm of Stettiner Maschinenbau AG Vulcan, but later by the other larger Prussian locomotive manufacturers as well. The boiler
Boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...

 was the same as that of the G 5.1
Prussian G 5.1
The Prussian Class G 5.1 steam engines were the first 2-6-0 goods locomotives in Europe. They were developed for the Prussian state railways from the Class G 4 and a total of no less than 268 units of this class were placed in service in Prussia between 1892 and 1902. The twin-cylinder G 5.1 had...

.

The locomotives were intended for heavy goods duties especially on hilly routes. As a result, most of the engines went to the western German and Silesian railway divisions. By 1909, 1,002 examples had been delivered to the Prussian state railways
Prussian state railways
The term Prussian state railways encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the State of Prussia...

. During the First World War simple and robust locomotives were required for military use. As a result in 1916/1917 a further 200 G 7.1s were built. From 1916, the k.u.k. Heeresbahn in Austria
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...

 had 35 units of the Class G 7.1 which it named the Class 274. They were intended for use on broad gauge
Broad gauge
Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...

 Russian railways. The Lübeck-Büchen Railway also bought three G 7.1s, which had been manufactured in 1898 by Schwartzkopff
Berliner Maschinenbau
Berliner Maschinenbau AG was a German manufacturer of locomotives.The factory was founded by Louis Victor Robert Schwartzkopff on 3 October 1852 as Eisengießerei und Maschinen-Fabrik von L. Schwartzkopff in Berlin ....

. Another seven engines went to the Gutehoffnungshütte. Even the Palatinate Railway
Palatinate Railway
The Palatinate Railway or Pfalzbahn was an early German railway company in the period of the German Empire prior to the First World War. It was formed on 1 January 1870, as the United Palatinate Railway based in Ludwigshafen, by the amalgamation of the following railway companies:*The Palatine...

 placed 27 of its G 4' in service; the design of these was based on the Prussian G 7.1.

In 1923 the Deutsche Reichsbahn
Deutsche Reichsbahn
Deutsche Reichsbahn was the name of the following two companies:* Deutsche Reichsbahn, the German Imperial Railways during the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich and the immediate aftermath...

 took over no less than 680 from the Prussian state railways into its renumbering plan
DRG renumbering plan for steam locomotives
In 1922 the Deutsche Reichsbahn began to develop a renumbering plan to standardize the numbering of steam locomotives that had been taken over from the state railways . Its basis was the corresponding DRG classification system....

; in 1925 they listed locomotive numbers 55 001–660. In 1935 13 more came from the Saarbahn and one from France into the Reichsbahn fleet as 55 661-673 and 55 674. The three G 7.1s with the Lübeck-Büchen Railway were given numbers 55 681–683 in 1938.

In the Second World War 105 G 7.1s were taken over from Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 into the Reichsbahn's inventory. They were given the numbers of engines already retired. In addition, G 7.1 engines from Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

 were added as numbers 55 274 and 55 691-694.

After the Second World War, the locomotives that ended up in the Deutsche Bundesbahn
Deutsche Bundesbahn
The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany on September 7, 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft '...

 were mainly used in shunting duties and were retired by 1957. In the Deutsche Reichsbahn in East Germany the last G 7.1 was not retired until 1966, including number 55 642.

Preserved locomotives

Locomotive 55 669 was retired in 1964 and has been displayed since in the Dresden Transport Museum
Dresden Transport Museum
The Dresden Transport Museum displaysvehicles of all modes of transport, such as railway, shipping, road and air traffic, under one roof.The museum is housed in the Johanneum at the Neumarkt in Dresden, Germany...

 in 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....

. Photograph of the 55 669

Locomotives 55 196, 393, 400, 493 and 553 were left in Austrian territory after the Second World War. Apart from 55 553, which had been taken over by 1950, the ÖBB incorporated them into their ÖBB Class 655, retaining their serial numbers. The last one, 655.393, was withdrawn in 1957. Its task had been shunting at Stadlau station.

The vehicles were equipped with tenders of classes pr 3 T 12 and pr 3 T 16.5 (built 1916/17).

External links

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