Dressing for Speed
In May 1936 a crossing gate guard on the important Berlin � Hamburg line was alerted by an almost unearthly but rapidly approaching howling. He likened it to a steam-powered siren. Before he could collect his thoughts, his humble crossing was host to the thunder and enormous speed of the streamlined locomotive 05 002 pulling four express coaches. With observers from the Reichsbahn on board, the thundering burgundy-colored machine recorded a speed of 200.4 km/h (124.52 mph). Paul Roth, from the Reichsbahn�s Berlin-Grunewald test facility, who was on board during the test run, likened the unearthly howl emanating from the smokestack of the BR 05 to its boiler working probably dangerously close to the edge of the envelope, as we like to say in today�s techno jargon.
Some time after Errol Kubicki and I had completed our article on tenders, I asked him if he had any ideas for other articles. After several e-mail exchanges, he asked what I knew about streamlined Dampfloks, specifically streamlined tank engines. Well, I never really paid much attention to them � tank or otherwise but that I�d be willing to do a little investigating. To urge me on, Errol lent me a copy of Modell Eisen Bahner featuring a fairly detailed article on the topic. So, here goes.
Much as we admire the sight of a steam locomotive with its jungle of pipes, valves, connecting rods, and much more of the external necessities that propel the machine, this beloved mechanical jungle does little to improve the efficiency of what is already a rather inefficient machine. By the 1930s, the major locomotive builders in Europe, specifically Germany, realized that, if they were to compete with lighter, more aerodynamic railcars such as "Der Fliegende Hamburg" and the up and coming electric locomotives like the E 18, they would have to take a closer look at clothing their Dampfloks in an aerodynamic shell.
While this well-known run set a record, Wolfgang Messerschmidt, the famous German railroad historian, thinks it is (was) not a record. Being quite familiar with American steam locomotive technology, he feels that some streamlined Alco steam locomotives achieved speeds as high as 230 km/h (142.9 mph). This, of course, also eclipses the run made by "Mallard" in England at 202.7 km/h (125.9 mph) but this latter figure is disputed since it was allegedly done on a slight down grade. Actually, some minor attempts to impart some windcheating form to locomotives go back to the early part of the 20th century when cabs began to be enclosed and the front of the boiler was fabricated in a more conical shape. Take a look at the Bavarian S 3/6 locomotives.
The Beginning
Still, in Germany the effort to develop a more efficient streamlined steam locomotive was on and became more earnest in 1932. William Beil, the director of engineering at Borsig in Berlin (Hennigsdorf), recalls that they were looking at speeds in the 150 km/h (93 mph) range since that was already possible with lighter self-propelled railcars. Borsig conducted some windtunnel testing at its own expense and the Reichsbahn did similar work at the University of G�ttingen. The result was that Lok 03 154 was fitted with a more aerodynamic cab and a parabola shaped boiler door. The running gear and boiler were also enclosed with the enclosures featuring suitable access panels for maintenance. Steaming at 150 km/h (93 mph) it quickly became evident that the engine was able to pull more cars with less effort. This was attributed not only to the streamlining but also to the increased thermodynamic efficiency realized by the streamlining. At the time, William Beil calculated that the streamlining contributed an extra 290 hp at 120 km/h (75 mph). Further calculations for speeds of 160 km/h (100 mph) showed that additional tractive effort would result which would translate directly into hauling more passenger cars.
All of this success led directly to incorporating this technology into the BR 05. As this new project began to, pardon the pun, take shape, the DRG also asked Borsig to streamline
03 193. By then the DRG had also mandated that passenger locomotives capable of speeds exceeding 140 km/h (87 mph) would be equipped with streamlining. Affected were BR 0110, 0310, 05 and 06. While this speed demarcation was in effect at the Reichsbahn, this concept was basically ignored in other countries. In the mid-1930s it had become fashionable, especially in the United States, to streamline locomotives whether or not any performance benefit would be realized or not. Fashionable or not, the German locomotive builders also had to be increasingly concerned with the competition offered by the already mentioned lighter and more aerodynamic railcars and electric locomotives. Not only were these quite efficient but they were also very attractive from a marketing viewpoint.
The ubiquitous BR 01 and BR 03
At first sight the famous BR 0110 and BR 0310 look almost identical but the difference was more skin deep with the BR 01 being the heavier duty machine with greater axle loading. The lighter duty BR 03 and its BR 01 counterpart were both destined to be clothed with streamlining. Altogether, these types were the most widely built and used streamliners. Initially, the DRG wanted to order 205 of the BR 0110 but the war reduced this by nearly 75 percent. Most survived those years and in 1949 they were overhauled but their streamlining was removed. Similarly, the original order for 140 of the BR 0310 streamliners was reduced to 60 at the start of the war. After the conflict, the DB and DR overhauled them but also had their streamlining removed.
The BR 05 in two versions
"In the BR 05 German steam engine development had reached its highest point." Those were the words of the editors of "M+F Journal" 25 years ago. That this is unarguable was proven in May 1936 when 05 002 broke the 200 km/h (124 mph) barrier. Three streamlined BR 05s were built by Borsig under the direction of Richard Paul Wagner at the DRG - two conventional (05 001 and 05 002) and one cab forward (05 003). All were 2�C2� (4-6-4) three-cylinder machines with five axle tenders. (Author�s note: This is the Wagner whose name is applied to the large smoke deflectors)
The conventional BR 05s were delivered in March and May 1935. Both entered revenue service in 1936 on the Berlin � Hamburg line. During the May 1936 record run, 05 002 developed over 3,400 hp (2,535 kW). With advent of the war, both were sidelined since high speed passenger service was deemed superfluous. They survived the war and in 1950, Krauss-Maffei dismantled the streamlining and reduced the boiler pressure to 16 bar. They then entered regular service in 1951 and were retired in July 1958. Engine 05 001 was installed in the N�rnberg Transportation Museum complete with its original streamlining. Together with 05 001, the two Loks regularly reached speeds of 150 km/h (93 mph) and 175 km/h (108 mph) on some stretches.
The cab forward design was radical by any measure. The engine was delivered in the fall of 1937. Unlike the Southern Pacific cab forward engines, the design of the 05 003 was intended primarily to provide better visibility for the crew at the anticipated high speeds. The obvious impossibility of trying to shovel coal into the boiler resulted in use of a stoker system that moved coal dust through a 14 m (46-ft) long pipeline. Even the use of coal dust proved difficult. Test results with two types of coal (brown and hard) were less than satisfactory. In 1944, 05 003 was rebuilt into a conventional locomotive but without streamlining. Its livery was wartime camouflage paint complete with strategically located armor plate to protect vital parts. After surviving the war, Krauss-Maffei overhauled this engine in 1950 and it joined the other 05s in revenue service. The ideal fuel would have been oil but this was not considered since it would have meant use of a very strategic material. Besides, the DRG had only very limited experience with oil-firing.
The Mammoth BR 06
The BR 06 was developed in 1933. It was necessary to have a high-performance locomotive for more mountainous areas and the all-important Berlin � Frankfurt/Main and Berlin � Munich lines. The new prototype engine had to be able to pull 650 ton trains at 120 km/h (75 mph) and on more severe grades at 60 km/h (37 mph). But, it was not until April 1939 that Krupp delivered the prototype three-cylinder BR 06 (06 001), a 2�D2� (4-8-4) design. It and its mate 06 002 were then the largest steam locomotives built in Germany. Their impressive size was further enhanced by their huge partially exposed drivers. Alas, the machines disappointed. There were boiler problems but perhaps potentially more serious was their inability to negotiate radii of 140 m (460 feet) without the possibility of derailing. Some railroaders also cast doubt on the machines� inability to safely negotiate some of the very complex turnout systems in place at that time. One of the driven axles was even flangeless. These limitations and the advent of more efficient electric locomotives on the Berlin � Frankfurt and Berlin � Munich lines doomed the BR 06. It never entered series production. Engine 06 001 was taken out of service in 1951 and 06 002 was hit by a bomb and destroyed during the war.
BR 61 and Henschel - Wegmann
Enter the locomotive builder Henschel & Sohn and the car builder Wegmann & Co. This team designed and developed a streamlined locomotive and suitable passenger cars to compete with the railcars. It was to be a relatively light train based on a 2�B1� (4-4-2) tank engine and passenger cars featuring Jacobs trucks. The DRG, however, wanted the design to make greater use of existing standard designs for both the locomotive and cars. What emerged was a streamlined BR 61 (61 001) and matching passenger cars painted in attractive aluminum and violet colors.
The train made its debut in May 1935 on the Berlin � Dresden route. In acceleration and top speed it matched "Der Fliegende Hamburg." Top speed was 185 km/h (115 mph), but at 150 km/h (93 mph), the locomotive�s running characteristics were not nearly as stable as those of other streamliners, notably the BR 05. Nevertheless, the new train did the 176 km (109 mile) Berlin to Dresden route in 100 minutes, a speed of 64 mph (103.5 km/h). The limited water capacity of the BR 61 was also an issue. Still, the train entered service. At war�s end, it was stationed in Braunschweig. It was then outfitted for service between Hannover and Bielefeld. An accident in 1952 led to its retirement.
To overcome these objections, in 1939 Henschel delivered a larger three-cylinder BR 61 (61 002) with the unusual axle configuration of 2�C3� (4-6-6). To accommodate the increased coal and water capacity, Henschel chose the three-axle trailing truck and too keep axle loading at the 18.5 tons dictated by the Reichsbahn. The new machine performed very well but scheduled service between Berlin and Dresden did not materialize and by 1943 both 61 001 and 61 002 gave up their attractive paint scheme and reverted to dreary wartime gray. But, the story of 61 002 did not end here, and as the immortal Monty Python gang often said, "and, now for something completely different."
After World War 2, 61 002 remained in the Soviet occupied zone of Germany. The servicing facility in Dresden had little use for the one-off locomotive other than to use it for various general purpose tasks. For a while, the engine was used for the personal train of the transportation minister but even while serving this dutiful bureaucrat, the machine exhibited all sorts of ills. As it turned out, the railway development center in Halle needed locomotives capable of at least 160 km/h (100 mph) to test high speed passenger cars then under development. The overhaul facility in Meiningen was given the job to convert 61 002 to a conventional tender locomotive of 2�C1� (4-6-2) configuration capable of 180 km/h (112 mph). The tender was from a BR 44 (44 468). The outside cylinders were from H 45 024, an experimental coal dust fired Lok with a condensing tender. (The less than elegant H 45 024, in turn, was derived from a conventional BR 45.) The reborn engine, now oil-fired, was designated 18 201 and in honor of the first German Pacific, a Badische IVf in 1907. This Lok used the 18 201 number in 1925. To some extent the new, green 18 201 looked like the Bundesbahn�s BR 10 of 1956.
The little BR 60
Though not intended to break or even approach high speeds, the private L�beck � B�chener Eisenbahn (LBE) ordered two streamlined BR 60s from Henschel. The two modest two-cylinder locomotives (60 001 and 60 002) were delivered in 1936. The LBE combined these with two-level coaches. The two trains were used in pull-push service on the Hamburg � L�beck � Travem�nde line. The little tank engines were capable of 120 km/h (75 mph). The LBE ordered a third slightly more powerful BR 60 streamliner (60 003) in 1937.
With the start of the war, the DRG de-emphasized high speed passenger traffic and relegated the BR 60s to heater service but eventually only 60 001 was used for that. In 1945, 60 002 and 60 003 went to the East German DR. Engine 60 002 was in service in the Berlin suburbs until 1958 and the third machine served until 1962 near Stralsund.
The Unconventional BR 19
Yet another but the last attempt to build another aerodynamic steam engine was Henschel�s design for the BR 19. In its outward appearance, the 19 1001 was very similar to the BR 01 and BR 03 streamliners. It was a decidedly unconventional machine of 1�Do1� (2-8-2) configuration. Four two-cylinder steam engines were used. On the right side, two engines powered the first and third driven axle and on the left side a similar arrangement powered the second and fourth driven axles. It was delivered to the DRG on June 13, 1941 and after solving some teething problems, the BR 19 showed stable and quiet running characteristics. Trials on a dynamometer at the DRG�s Grunewald (Berlin) test facility showed that speeds of up to 200 km/h (124 mph) should be easily possible. A promising start, indeed.
In tests on the Berlin � Hamburg line the machine reached 186 km/h (115 mph), a speed that was not only attributed to its unconventional propulsion system but also to the well designed streamlining. While the potential was clearly there, the times did not permit further development. In May 1943, the engine was transferred to Bw Altona (near Hamburg) and used in revenue service. A bomb hit in early in 1944 damaged 19 1001 but she was repaired only to be hit again in August 1944, but this time more severely that was followed by sidelining. In April 1945, the unusual machine was discovered by the advancing American troops, taken into custody and then shipped to Fort Monroe in Virginia in October of that year. Industry engineers and others examined the Lok but did not run it. As a matter of fact, the machine never ran again under its own power. The advent of dieselization by the American railroads quickly obsoleted steam power. By 1952, the engine was scrapped.
The BR 10
No doubt the last gasp in search of a more streamlined steam engine was the BR 10. It was a very advanced three-cylinder 2�C1� (4-6-2) and, according to Wolfgang Messerschmidt, it was really a pseudo-streamliner. Krupp built the only two of these prototypes in 1956, which were intended to replace the BR 0110 and BR 0310. The first, 10 001, was coal-fired and its mate, 10 002, was oil fired. The machine�s axle loading of 22 tons imposed restrictions on many lines and, in addition, not all lines permitted its service speed of 140 km/h (87 mph). With times and technology changing rapidly, the end of steam was clearly in sight. Both were retired in 1967.
The End of an Era
As we saw, those streamliners that survived the war were stripped of their elegant windcheating exteriors. Soon the groundbreaking V200 came on the scene as did the E18 before the war. Both were clearly more efficient and faster but even they are retired now. Today�s passengers on the ICE will probably never have heard of the mighty 05 002�s record run. The longest lived streamliner was no doubt 01 1102 delivered in the summer of 1940 and served until 1974. It is now restored and still operating much to the delight of Europe�s steam enthusiasts.
Streamliner Summary
| Type | Service Class | No. built | Service Years |
| BR 0110 | S 36.20 | 55 | 1939 - 1953 |
| BR 0310 | S 36.18 | 60 | 1939 - 1959 |
| BR 05 | S 37.19 | 2 | 1935 - 58 |
| BR 05* | S 37.19 | 1 | 1937 - 1939; 1950 - 1958 |
| BR 06 | S 48.18/20 | 2 | 1939 - 1945 |
| BR 10 | S 36.22 | 2 | 1956 - 1967 |
| BR 19 | S 46.18 | 1 | 1941 - 1944 |
| BR 60 | St 24.18/19 | 3 | 1936 - 1962 |
| BR 61 | St 38.18 | 2 | 1935 - 1956 |
| 18 201** | S 36.20 | 1 | 1961 - ?? |
| * cab forward | |||
| ** ex 61 002 |
The author appreciates the assistance provided by Kevin Brady and Heinz Brockmann.
Sources:
"50 Jahre Einheitslokomotiven", Alfred B. Gottwaldt, ISBN 3-440-04253-7, 1975.
"Das Grosse Typenbuch Deutscher Lokomotiven", Weisbrod, B�zold,, Obermayer, ISBN 3-334-70751-5, 1995.
"Die Dampfmotor Lokomotive 19 1001", M�rklin Magazin, 2/74, pp. 28 � 30.
"Baureihe 05 � Die schnellsten deutschen Dampflokomotiven", M+F Journal, 1/1975, pp. 10 �12.
"Die Entwicklung der Stromlinien Lokomotiven der Deutschen Reichsbahn", M+F Journal,1/1977, pp. 47 � 49.
"Ganz in Schale", Franz Rittig, Modell Eisen Bahner, Nr. 12/1996, pp. 12 � 19.
"Jimmos starke Herren", Eisenbahn Magazin, 12/98, pp. 41 � 46.
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