German Class 45

steam locomotives 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 locomot ...

were standard locomotives ('' Einheitslokomotiven'') designed by 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 Weimar Republic, German national Rail transport, railway system created after th ...

for hauling

goods trains A freight train, also called a goods train or cargo train, is a railway train that is used to carry cargo, as opposed to passengers. Freight trains are made up of one or more locomotives which provide propulsion, along with one or more railroad ...

History

The Class 45 engines were the most powerful steam locomotives ever operated in Germany. They were built between 1936 and 1937 by the firm of

Henschel Henschel & Son () 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 vehicles and weapons. Georg C ...

. After the first two engines entered service, a further 26 units were delivered in 1940. However, the third order for another 103 machines was cancelled in 1941, because the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

favoured the construction of simpler wartime locomotives, the so-called ''

Kriegslokomotive ''Kriegslokomotiven'' (, singular: ''Kriegslokomotive'') or ''Kriegsloks'' were locomotives produced in large numbers during the Second World War under Nazi Germany. Their construction was tailored to the economic circumstances of wartime Germa ...

n''. The Class 45s were given the operating numbers 45 001 to 45 028. After the war, boiler damage appeared very quickly that made a reduction of the

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centra ...

overpressure Overpressure (or blast overpressure) is the pressure caused by a shock wave over and above normal atmospheric pressure. The shock wave may be caused by sonic boom or by explosion An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume of a given amoun ...

to 16 bar necessary. From 1950 therefore several

Deutsche Bundesbahn Deutsche Bundesbahn (, ) or DB () was formed as the state railway of the newly established West Germany (FRG) on 7 September 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG). The DB remained the state railway of West Germany u ...

machines were equipped with an outer firebox with a combustion chamber and a mechanical underfeed stoker (''Rostbeschicker''). The engines with operating numbers 45 010, 45 016, 45 019, 45 021 and 45 023 were provided with welded boilers and underfeed stoker equipment. In East Germany, the Deutsche Reichsbahn's sole example, 45 024, was rebuilt into high pressure variant and renumbered H 45 024. It proved to be a failure and was retired in 1959. Parts of this locomotive (outside

cylinders A cylinder () has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infinite ...

trailing wheels On a steam locomotive, a trailing wheel or trailing axle is generally an unpowered wheel or axle ( wheelset) located behind the driving wheels. The axle of the trailing wheels is usually located in a trailing truck. On some large locomotives, ...

and the rear section of 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 ...

) were used in building engine no. 18 201. In 1968 the Deutsche Bundesbahn only had three examples left, which were used as braking and experimental engines by the Bundesbahn Central Office in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the largest town in population between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district () of Minden-Lübbecke, situated in the cultural region ...

. They were no. 45 023, which was stabled in Munich, and nos. 45 010 and 45 019, which were stationed at Minden. On the evening of 17 October 2005 a fire destroyed the locomotive shed of the

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

in Nuremberg, as a result of which the last preserved example of this class, the 45 010, was badly damaged. Plans were put in hand to restore it and this was completed during 2012. This class was initially a faulty design, similar to the

DRB Class 06 The German DRB Class 06 engines were standard steam locomotives (''Einheitsdampflokomotiven'') with the Deutsche Reichsbahn#1937: Deutsche Reichsbahn (DRB), Deutsche Reichsbahn (DRB) designed to haul express train services. They were the only Germ ...

, because of its poor boiler. Following replacement of the boiler and the introduction of mechanical stoking the true qualities of this locomotive became clear. As well as being used as braking locomotives for the Bundesbahn Central Office, in their final years numbers 45 019 and 45 010 were used time and again for those heavy goods train duties that the Class 44 locomotives had difficulties with. The vehicles were coupled with 2′3 T 38 tenders. Those with underfeed stokers had 2′3 T 29 Stoker tenders.

References

* * * {{DRG locomotives 45 1′E1′ h3 locomotives 45 Henschel locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1936 Standard-gauge locomotives of Germany 2-10-2 locomotives Freight locomotives

History

See also

References