Deutsche Bundesbahn 2-6-2 Locomotives in Germany

Class BR 23.10-DB/023.10 (Locobase 2459)

Data from http://www.DLok.de and from a German railroad support forum -- 8

[], accessed via Google's cache on 28 December 2006. See also "Baureihe 23" in Albert Gieseler's Dampfmaschinen und Lokomotiven website at [], last accessed 10 October 2022; "DB -Baureihe 23" in Wikipedia at [], and at [], last accessed 10 October 2022.

Henschel & Sohn works numbers were 28611-28625 in 1950, 28530-28543 in 1954. Jung works numbers were 11471-11478 in 1952, 11838-11839 in 1953, 11966-11969 in 1954, 12131-12136 in 1955, 12506-12511 in 1956, 12751-12756 in 1957, 12757-762 in 1958, 13101-13113 in 1959. Krupp works numbers were 3179-3187 in 1954, 3441-3452 in 1955.

Max axle load of 41,890 lb (or 37,480 lb for lighter track.)

High-pitched boiler with combustion chamber and mid-line smoke deflectors marked this post-World War II neubaulok produced to replace the once-ubiquitous P8 4-6-0s. (See Locobase 1701 for the East German version of this same approach.Friedrich Witte based the new engine on the early '40s design shown in Locobase 4315. But he took advantage of several innovations.

Of all-welded construction (frame, boiler with combustion chamber), the class used the Krauss-Helmholz truck that combined the leading guiding axle and the lead driving axle. A modified Bissel truck under the cab that reset using counter-linkages and a resetting device on the pivot pin.

Both DB and DR railways found the original multi-valve regulator that used superheated steam problematic and used Schmidt-Wagner saturated-steam regulators instead. A principal difference between the two railways' designs lay in the size and number of tubes and flues in the boiler. The length of each measured 200 mm (7.89") less than those in the DR-23.10s. West German 23.10s had fewer small tubes and more flues for superheater elements, each flue measuring 15 mm less (0.59") than those in the DR-BR 23.10s. As a result, superheater area percentage rose beyond considerable to an astronomical 1/3 of combined heating surface area.

The first 52 locomotives used a Knorr feed water heater, the next 40 came with Heinls, and the last 13 an MV57 design. Compared to most Heusinger constant-lead radial gear setups, BR 23s used a Kuhn loop instead of a sliding link to deal with the tight space and clearances under the running board. Coupled wheel axle loading could be adjusted from the cab to exert 17 metric tons (37,479 lb) or 19 metric tons (41,888 lb). From 23.052 on, all engine axles turned in roller bearings.

Wikipedia summarizes the success of this postwar design:

"As it turned out after the first use, the new design met expectations, the series could be used universally, and the coal consumption was lower than with comparable locomotives ...Measurement runs showed that the 23 series, with its boiler heating surface only 8.5% larger than the P 8, exceeded its boiler output by 23%; At 1480 hp, the hitch power is even more than 50% higher than that of the P 8.

The last one of the class, which came from Arnold Jung, was the last new steam locomotive delivered in West Germany.

They proved to be a handy size for mixed-traffic operations and capable of 110 kph (68 mph) while pulling a 600 ton train on level track and up a 1% grade at 44 kph (27 mph).

Some of the class even operated in Holland and Switzerland. The class saw steam out in West Germany, the last of the class being withdrawn in 1975.