DRG Class 64


The Deutsche Reichsbahn had a standard passenger train tank engine with a wheel arrangement of 1'C1' or 2-6-2 and a low axle load, which was designated in their classification system as the DRG Class 64. The Class 64 was developed from 1926 onwards and it was built between 1928 and 1940. Many German manufacturers contributed to the series.

Construction

The boiler and elements of the driving gear were the same as those on the DRG Class 24. They had Bissel bogies, apart from ten engines which had a Krauss-Helmholtz bogie. From no. 64 368 onwards the engines were 10 cm longer than their predecessors. The Class 64 engine was given the nickname "Bubikopf" after a fashionable ladies hairstyle of the time.

Service

After the Second World War 393 engines were still in service of which 278 went to the Deutsche Bundesbahn and 115 to the Deutsche Reichsbahn. No. 64 311 remained in Austria after 1945 and became class 64 with the Austrian Federal Railways. Those engines left in Poland were given the classification OKl2 by the PKP. In 1968 there were still 60 machines in service with the Bundesbahn. Twenty Class 64 locomotives have been preserved, the majority in Germany.

Preserved Locomotives

While the majority of the class 64s are preserved in Germany, seven of the class are preserved in other countries.