The Saxon Class XII H2 steam locomotives (also nicknamed ''Sächsischer Rollwagen'' or 'Saxon rollers') were bought by the

Royal Saxon State Railways The Royal Saxon State Railways (german: Königlich Sächsische Staatseisenbahnen) were the state-owned railways operating in the Kingdom of Saxony from 1869 to 1918. From 1918 until their merger into the Deutsche Reichsbahn the title 'Royal' was d ...

(''Königlich Sächsische Staatseisenbahnen'') specifically for the mountainous areas of Saxony. They were built by Hartmann between 1910 and 1927 in

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany ...

. The design of this passenger train locomotive was carried out in parallel with that of the express train classes, the

Saxon X H1 The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

and Saxon XII H. A total of 159 examples of this powerful locomotive were built by 1922. The

Deutsche Reichsbahn The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'', also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the German national railway system created after the end of World War I from the regiona ...

took over 124 of these engines as the DRG Class 38.2-3 (the others had been lost during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

or had to be given away as

reparations Reparation(s) may refer to: Christianity * Restitution (theology), the Christian doctrine calling for reparation * Acts of reparation, prayers for repairing the damages of sin History *War reparations **World War I reparations, made from ...

) and gave them operating numbers 38 201 to 38 324. In 1927, ten more were built. These were given operating numbers 38 325 to 38 334. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

15 of the Class XII H2s that had been given to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

returned to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

and were stationed again in the Reichsbahn division of Dresden. From 1938, however, the majority of these locomotives were working out of locomotive depots (''Bahnbetriebswerken'' or ''Bw'') in the

Sudetenland The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and sk, Sudety) is the historical German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the ...

. As a result, after the war only about a half the original fleet of these engines was left in Germany. Five of the locomotives returned from France went into the

East German Deutsche Reichsbahn The Deutsche Reichsbahn or DR ''(German Reich Railways)'' was the operating name of state owned railways in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), and after German reunification until 1 January 1994. In 1949, occupied Germany's railw ...

where they were allocated operating numbers 38 204 and 38 351 to 38 354. The last ones had been withdrawn by 1971. Even the surviving museum locomotive, number 38 205 is currently not working. This engine is owned by the

DB Museum The Nuremberg Transport Museum (') is based in Nuremberg, Germany, and consists of the Deutsche Bahn's own DB Museum and the Museum of Communications ('). It also has two satellite museums at Koblenz-Lützel (the '' DB Museum Koblenz'') and Hall ...

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

and has been loaned to the Saxon Railway Museum in Chemnitz-Hilbersdorf. The first 15 vehicles were originally equipped with Saxon sä 2'2' T 16 tenders. Later they ran with Saxon sä 2'2' T 21 tenders as did all the subsequent locomotives.

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saxon 12 H2 4-6-0 locomotives 12 H2 Sächsische Maschinenfabrik locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1910 Standard gauge locomotives of Germany 2′C h2 locomotives Passenger locomotives

See also

References