The Meiningen Steam Locomotive Works () is a railway repair shop in

Meiningen Meiningen () is a town in the southern part of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in the region of Franconia and has a population of around 26,000 (2024).

, Germany. It is owned by

Deutsche Bahn (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...

and has specialised in the maintenance of museum

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 ...

since 1990, having extensive experience in maintaining steam engines. Today, customers of the factory include railway museums and museum railways from all over Europe. The factory is responsible for the safety inspections of all operational German steam locomotives. Dampflokwerk Meiningen is the only facility in mainland Europe capable of constructing new locomotive boilers up to modern standards of construction, performance, and safety. The newly built British steam locomotive 60163 ''Tornado'' that was delivered in 2008 had her all-steel, high-performance

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 ...

made at Meiningen because the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust required their boiler to meet then current EU safety standards.

History

In 1863 the

Werra The Werra (), a river in central Germany, is the right-bank headwater of the Weser. "Weser" is a synonym in an old dialect of German. The Werra has its source near Eisfeld in southern Thuringia. After the Werra joins the river Fulda in the to ...

Railway (''Werrabahn'') built a locomotive repair shop opposite

Meiningen Meiningen () is a town in the southern part of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in the region of Franconia and has a population of around 26,000 (2024).

station, which became a main workshop for the

Prussian state railways The term Prussian state railways (German: ''Preußische Staatseisenbahnen'') encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the state of Prussia. The words "state railways" are not capitalized because Prussia did not have a ...

in 1902. In 1910, construction of a new building on the present site was begun due to the lack of space at the original location. On 2 March 1914, the workshop was opened with 420 employees. From that time to the present day it has carried out the repair and maintenance of

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, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

s of all types. By 1918 the number of employees had risen to 2,200. From 1919 onwards, the shop was operated 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 ...

. After the foundation of the

Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft 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 re ...

in 1924, it was renamed the 'Meiningen Reichsbahn Repair Depot' (''Reichsbahnausbesserungswerk Meiningen'' or ''RAW Meiningen''). From 1925 the new ''

Einheitsdampflokomotive The Einheitsdampflokomotiven ("standard steam locomotives"), sometimes shortened to ''Einheitslokomotiven'', ''Einheitsloks'', ''Einheitsdampfloks'' or simply ''Dampflok'', were the standardized steam locomotives built in Germany after 1925 under th ...

n'' were repaired and inspected too, mainly those of classes 01, 02, 43 and 44. In the 1930s an average of 60 locomotives a month were repaired; during 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 ...

this rose to 87 per month. On 18 April 1945 the factory was occupied by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

and on 21 April around 400 employees began work again. By the end of 1946 the number of workers had risen to just under 3,000. In 1951 nine employees lost their lives when there was a

boiler explosion A boiler explosion is a catastrophic failure of a boiler. There are two types of boiler explosions. One type is a failure of the pressure parts of the steam and water sides. There can be many different causes, such as failure of the safety val ...

on a DRG Class 95 locomotive in the boiler testing shop (''Anheizhaus''); a passer-by in a nearby street was also killed. The boiler landed in the garden of the neighbouring hospital. In the 1960s, construction began on new snow ploughs for the DR in

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

as well as the conversion of steam locomotives to oil-firing. At the same time the refurbishment of

diesel locomotives A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover (locomotive), power source is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is con ...

was taken on. The number of employees hovered around 2,000. In 1961 the former

streamliner A streamliner is a vehicle incorporating streamlining in a shape providing reduced air resistance. The term is applied to high-speed railway trainsets of the 1930s to 1950s, and to their successor " bullet trains". Less commonly, the term i ...

, 61 002, was converted by the factory into the high-speed, trial locomotive, 18 201, which is still operational today. This engine reached a top speed of 180 km/h and is currently the fastest, operational steam locomotive in the world. In 1981 the construction of

fireless locomotive A fireless locomotive is a type of locomotive which uses reciprocating engines powered from a reservoir of compressed air or steam, which is filled at intervals from an external source. They offer advantages over conventional steam locomotives of ...

s and S-Bahn

bogies A bogie ( ) (or truck in North American English) comprises two or more wheelsets (two wheels on an axle), in a frame, attached under a vehicle by a pivot. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transport. A bogie may remain normally ...

began, whilst the repair of steam locomotives steadily waned. After the merger of the DB and DR in 1994 into the

Deutsche Bahn AG (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...

, there was a drastic cutback in the workforce. Today there are only 120 men in the factory. Since 1995, under the name of Meiningen Steam Locomotive Works (''Dampflokwerk Meiningen''), the factory has become a European specialist for the refurbishment of steam locomotives of all classes, the customer base of which includes railway companies as well as technical museums and railway heritage societies. In 1995 a major project was begun for a private investor. The former monument locomotive, ex-DB 012 102-4 (oil) from

Bebra Bebra () is a small town in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Bebra lies some south of Kassel on the Fulda River, Fulda. The town is easy to find on most maps thanks to its prominent location on the ' ...

, now streamlined steam locomotive number 01 1102, also known as the "Blue-Lady“, was completely overhauled from 1994 to 1996 and delivered to the owner, Johannes Klings, on 1 March 1996. It is a piece of history and, at the same time, an example of the quality and construction capability of the ex DR repair shop and the present day steam locomotive works. In 2002, locomotive 18 201 which the workshop had rebuilt, was completely overhauled again and transferred to its new owner ''Dampf-Plus''. Today the steam locomotive works is a centre of attraction for steam locomotive enthusiasts. In June 2006 the new boiler for the 60163 ''

Tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

'' locomotive was delivered. ''Tornado'' is a new British steam locomotive built to the same plans as those of the LNER Class A1 ('Peppercorn') series from the immediate post-war years, and noted for its distinctive conical shape. From April to October 2007 the '' ADLER'', a 1935 replica of the first German steam locomotive, was rebuilt in Meiningen after it had been badly damaged by the fire at 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''). ...

's roundhouse at Nuremberg West locomotive depot on 17 October 2005. The Locomotive Works is also building a new

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

for the Mecklenburg line, ''Molli Spa Railway'' (''

Bäderbahn Molli The Molli (''German: Mecklenburgische Bäderbahn "Molli"''; short: MBB; also: Molli Bahn or Mollibahn) is a narrow-gauge steam-powered railway in Mecklenburg, Germany, running on gauge track. It operates between Bad Doberan, Heiligendamm and K ...

''), the first new steam engine in Germany for 50 years. In 2010 the company gained much notoriety in Australia after the newly built boiler for NSW locomotive

3801 3801 (pronounced Thirty-eight o-one) is a New South Wales C38 class locomotive, C38 class 4-6-2 steam locomotive built for and operated by the New South Wales Government Railways between 1943 and 1974. It is arguably Australia's most famous s ...

had to be returned and reconstructed on two separate occasions after manufacturing and size related defects were found

Images

Image: Dampflokwerk02.jpg, A wheelset turning lathe Image: Dampfspeicherlok Genthin Henkel Werk.jpg, Meiningen

Image: Adler_Wiederaufbau 2007_re_vo_Meiningen_09_2007.JPG, ''ADLER'' rebuild, 2007 Steam Festival Image: Schneepflug_Meiningen_01092007.JPG, "Meiningen" snow plough in the workshop, 2007 Steam Festival

Events

Since 1995 the ''Meiningen Steam Festival'' (''Meininger Dampfloktage'') takes place annually on the first weekend in September. The two-day event is visited by up to 15,000 steam locomotive enthusiasts from Germany and elsewhere. Some travel there in special trains hauled by steam locomotives.
In 2007, an almost fully refurbished '' ADLER'', which had been seriously damaged in the 2005 fire in Nuremberg, was on display. There are regular guided tours of the factory, every first and third Saturday in the month at 10.00 o'clock. A tour lasts about 1½ hours and booking is not necessary.

References

Literature

* Meininger Heimatklänge 4/2005 * Meininger Dampf Zeit 1914- 2004 90 Jahre Dampflokwerk * Das Dampflokwerk Meiningen - Eisenbahn-Kurier-Special 50, Freiburg 1998

External links