A Luttermöller axle is an unusual

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the loco ...

component. Steam locomotives with several axles or wheelsets connected to one another by

coupling rods A coupling rod or side rod connects the driving wheels of a locomotive. Steam locomotives in particular usually have them, but some diesel and electric locomotives, especially older ones and shunters, also have them. The coupling rods transfer ...

are not able to negotiate tight curves well. In order to assist such locomotives, the manager of the

Orenstein & Koppel Orenstein & Koppel (normally abbreviated to "O&K") was a major German engineering company specialising in railway vehicles, escalators, and heavy equipment. It was founded on April 1, 1876 in Berlin by Benno Orenstein and Arthur Koppel. Ori ...

factory in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

, Dr. Luttermöller, built the axle system named after him.

Overview

With this system, the outermost of several sets of successive

driving wheel On a steam locomotive, a driving wheel is a powered wheel which is driven by the locomotive's pistons (or turbine, in the case of a steam turbine locomotive). On a conventional, non-articulated locomotive, the driving wheels are all coupled ...

sets are not connected by coupling rods to

crankshaft A crankshaft is a mechanical component used in a piston engine to convert the reciprocating motion into rotational motion. The crankshaft is a rotating shaft containing one or more crankpins, that are driven by the pistons via the connecti ...

journals on the outside of the wheels, but by cogwheels located in the centre of the axles. The axles are housed in the

locomotive frame A locomotive frame is the structure that forms the backbone of the railway locomotive, giving it strength and supporting the superstructure elements such as a cab, boiler or bodywork. The vast majority of locomotives have had a frame structure o ...

such that they are able to move at right angles to the axis of the rails to a certain degree, likewise the cogwheels are able to slide relative to one another. In this way curves can be negotiated with less friction being generated.

Use

Germany

For the

Hamburg Harbour The Port of Hamburg (german: Hamburger Hafen, ) is a seaport on the river Elbe in Hamburg, Germany, from its mouth on the North Sea. Known as Germany's "Gateway to the World" (''Tor zur Welt''), it is the country's largest seaport by volum ...

railway with its tight curves, the ten-coupled

s of Class 87 were built with Luttermöller axles, front and rear. The 16 locomotives of this class were however retired as early as 1954, because they tended to overheat at higher speeds and could therefore only be used for shunting duties. A five-axled, , steam engine with the Luttermöller system was procured by the private South Harz Railway (''Südharz-Eisenbahn''; Braunlage - Walkenried - Tanne) in 1928 from Orenstein & Koppel with operating number 61. It proved itself so well on the winding route, that in 1930 two

Mallet locomotives The Mallet locomotive is a type of articulated locomotive, articulated steam railway locomotive, invented by the Swiss engineer Anatole Mallet (1837–1919). The front of the locomotive articulated on a bogie. The Compound steam engine, compo ...

, built in 1925, were converted to the Luttermöller system by

Henschel Henschel & Son (german: Henschel und Sohn) was a German company, located in Kassel, best known during the 20th century as a maker of transportation equipment, including locomotives, trucks, buses and trolleybuses, and armoured fighting v ...

(operating numbers 56 and 57). Henschel had to obtain a licence from Orenstein & Koppel to use Luttermöller axles.

Indonesia

Luttermöller axles found further use on

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

lines, e.g. in Java (Indonesia).

Argentina

Several 2' gauge Luttermöller locomotives built by Orenstein & Koppel were exported for use in Argentina at the Ingenio San Martin del Tabacal sugar cane refinery in the

Salta Province Salta () is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the east clockwise Formosa, Chaco, Santiago del Estero, Tucumán and Catamarca. It also surrounds Jujuy. To the north it borders Bolivi ...

near the town of Hipólito Yrigoyen, Salta. Four of these engines were bought by Preston Services and moved to

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

in the UK where two are currently stored with the third and fourth sold to new owners.''ORENSTEIN & KOPPEL 2 FT GAUGE 0-10-0 ‘LUTTERMOLLER’ LOCO 13101''
at prestonservices.co.uk. Retrieved 26 Sep 2022.] A fifth locomotive from a different Argentinian sugar mill was also sold by Preston Services and now resides at the Böhmetal Kleinbahn in Germany.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luttermoller axle Steam locomotive technologies Train axles

Overview

Use

Germany

Indonesia

Argentina

See also

References