Bavarian State 0-6-2 Locomotives in Germany

Class D VIII / BR 98.6 (Locobase 5804)

Data from Christian Lindecke's website [] (visited 2 Jan 2004) (translated by Google), supplemented by [], last accessed on 12 May 2011.

To tackle the Berchtesgarden line with its 4% grades, the K.Bay.Sts.B bought these tank engines in batches in 1888, 1890, and 1893. The Krauss-Helmholtz bogie handled the tight curves and traction was aided by two sand domes on the boiler. What looked like a second steam dome housed instead the safety valve stand (in German hauptluftbehaelter).

When the DRG began numbering in 1923, the 9 surviving memmbers of the class 98 661-669. Retirements began in 1931 and ended in 1935.

Class D VIII bis / BR 98.671 (Locobase 5806)

Data from "Baureihe 98 671-679 " in Albert Gieseler's Dampfmaschinen und Lokomotiven website at [], last accessed 20 September 2022; Christian Lindecke's website [] (visited 2 Jan 2004) (translated by Google); and the US Military Railway Service Equipment Data Book for German Locomotives supplied by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange in March 2004. Works numbers were 3779-3782 in 1898, 4870 in 1902, and 4871-4874 in 1903.

NB: Tube heating surface area using the inside (fire side) diameter measured 83.25 sq m (896 sq ft); when combined with the direct heating surface area, the total came to 89.61 sq m (965 sq ft). Locobase uses the external (water side) diameter to arrive at the higher number in the table.

To add to the D VIII stud, the K.Bay.Sts.B went back to Krauss in 1898 and 1903 for a total of 9 more engines. These were only slightly different, although the cylinder diameter was larger and there was more adhesion weight. The Krauss-Helmholtz bogie handled the tight curves, although the wheelbase between the last driving axle and the trailing truck grew from 2.7 m to 2.9 m (8' 10 1/4" to 9' 6") and the lateral play was reduced from 31 mm to 13.8 mm to each side.

A photo displayed by Richard Sliwinski on his [] (23 May 2004) shows a different profile in which a small sandbox sits over the gap between the second and third driving axles, the larger steam dome is just behind the first axle and the tall, slender flared stack stands just behind the cylinders. Sliwinski says that the design was sufficiently attractive that the Pfalzbahn adopted as their T4 1 and T4 3 classes and that 37 Prussian T9.3s (so-called "Design Eberfeld") also derived from the D VIII.

When the DRG began numbering in 1923, all nine members of the class were numbered to follow the earlier D VIIIs - 98 671-679. Although they left the DRG in 1933, several continued on in other service. The last of the class -- 98 671 - had gone to the Austrian State Railways as the 891 01. It returned to the Bundesbahn after World War II and carried on until 1959.

Class D X (380) / BR 98.77 (Locobase 5807)

Data from Christian Lindecke's website [] (visited 2 Jan 2004) (translated by Google), supplemented by [], last accessed on 12 May 2011.

This small class of local-traffic 0-6-2 tanks were smaller than the D VIII in most significant dimensions and were designed for local railways in lower Bavaria and the Bavarian Forest. Locobase 5808 shows the 1893 variant with 39" drivers and larger cylinders.

When the DRG began numbering in 1923, all of the class was still in service and became class 98 7701-06. All had been retired by 1931.

Class D X (390)/ BR 98.77 (Locobase 5808)

Data from Christian Lindecke's website [] (visited 2 Jan 2004) (translated by Google), supplemented by Albert Gieseler at [], last accessed 9 May 2011,

The D X local-traffic tanks mentioned in Locoobase 5807 were supplemented by this trio, which had dimensions closer to those of the original D VIII. A larger coal bunker was added behind the cab, which lengthened the frame between buffers, but otherwise changed little else.

When the DRG began numbering in 1923, the three engines became class 98 7707-09. All had been retired by 1931.

Class D XI / BR 98.4, 5 (Locobase 5805)

Data from Christian Lindecke's website [] (visited 2 Jan 2004) (translated by Google) and the US Military Railway Service Equipment Data Book for German Locomotives supplied by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange in March 2004.

This was the most numerous of the local-traffic 0-6-2 tanks supplied to the K.Bay.Sts.B before unification. They were smaller than the D VIII, but obviously serviceable enough with an adequate tractive effort and plenty of adhesion.

When the DRG began numbering in 1923, all of the class was still in service. Thus the numbers ran 98 411-423 & 98 431-556. They stayed in service for decades, the last retiring in 1960.