Saechsischen 2-8-0 Locomotives in Germany

Class Group IX V / BR 56.5 (Locobase 3617)

Data from Charles R King, "Superheated Steam Freight Locomotive - Saxony State Railways', Railroad Gazette, Volume XXXVI [36], No 2 (8 January 1904), pp. 28-29; and "Compound Goods Locomotive, Saxony State Railways", Scientific American Supplement No. 1484 (11 June 1904), p. 23776 . See also Wiener, Gustav Reder, The World of Steam Locomotives; and Alfred Gieseler's Dampfmaschinen und Lokomotiven website entry on the DRG's BR 56.5 at [], last accessed 4 April 2019.

See Saxon State 0-8-2T for details on the Klien-Lindner hollow axle that afforded so much flexibility to this engine's wheelbase. King's description noted that although the locomotive's driving wheelbase was relatively long, only 2.85 m (9 ft 4 1/2 in) was rigid. Reder (1974) notes they were rated at 1,310 tons at 31 mph on level track and 605 tons up 1% at 15 1/2 mph.

King began his detailed analysis of a design by commenting that its "peculiarities" were "numerous" and ranged from the hollow axle described above to a smokebox superheater that worked on exhausted steam only to the long cylinder that stood on the boiler and allowed greater capacity without increasing its height. That is, the high-pressure cylinder's exhaust traveled up to a splitter that divided the steam between left and right sets of of serpentine tubes. At the bottom, the steam, now 40 deg C higher, entered the LP cylinder. Scientific American's review added that the arrangement was better described as a "economizer".

Even the valve gear was unique. Essentially a typical Walschaert setup, the system included a Joy feature that mimicked the crank rod, but didn't extend as far to the side beyond the frames.

Data tables in both Reder and Wiener (1930) are internally inconsistent in their conversions from metric to English measurement. In one instance in Wiener, the author seems to have dropped a "1" from the metric dimension for firebox heating surface. Reder miscalculated the HP cylinder diameter.

The two sources disagree on the size of the heating surface and superheater. It appears that Reder's numbers show the engines as delivered with Klien-Lindner's design of a steam drier; these are what I've used for "superheater." Wiener's numbers -- 1666.3 sq ft and 454.3 sq ft -- probably reflect the later configuration with a Schmidt superheater.

Regardless of the actual values, a later table from Alfred Gieseler shows that the class later reverted to a saturated steam condition. As with most smokebox superheater/economizer installations, the increase in steam power remained limited.