DB Class 23

Deutsche Bundesbahn Class 23

Company type	Steam locomotive
Industry	Railway
Founded	1950
Headquarters	Germany
Products	Steam locomotives (2-6-2 wheel arrangement)

The Class 23 steam locomotives were developed in Germany during the 1950s to serve passenger train duties under the Deutsche Bundesbahn. Featuring a wheel arrangement of 2-6-2 according to Whyte notation, these engines were paired with Class 2'2' T 31 tenders. Their introduction aimed to succeed the widely used Prussian P 8 locomotives, which had been manufactured from 1908 until 1924, making Class 23 the most prevalent postwar replacement series of its time.

Manufacture and Design

File:Class 23 in Mosel Valley 1972.jpg

A Class 023 locomotive operating in the Moselle Valley, Easter 1972

Starting in 1950, a total of 105 units of this newly developed class were produced to serve medium-distance passenger and light express train routes. These locomotives featured welded locomotive frames, boilers, and tenders, incorporating the most advanced German engineering techniques of the period. Notable innovations included a superheated multi-valve regulator and centralized lubrication systems targeting the most difficult-to-reach components of the running gear. Units with operating numbers up to 023 were fitted with Knorr surface preheaters and journal bearings. From serial numbers 024 and 025 onward, as well as from number 053, roller bearings were installed on both axles and drive components, alongside mixer-preheaters. Additionally, a limited number of locomotives were equipped with Heinl preheaters, and several were adapted for push-pull train operation.

Last new steam locomotive in West Germany

The final steam locomotive to be commissioned by the Deutsche Bundesbahn in the Federal Republic of Germany was engine number 23 105, constructed by Arnold Jung Lokomotivfabrik and introduced in December 1959. Following its withdrawal from active service, it was housed at the Nuremberg Transport Museum, where it suffered extensive damage during a major fire in the locomotive shed on 17 October 2005.

Reclassification and retirement

With the implementation of the revised DB numbering system on 1 January 1968, this series was reclassified as Class 023. The final examples were decommissioned in 1976 at the Crailsheim locomotive depot (Bahnbetriebswerk or Bw).

Preserved locomotives

As of September 2006, the following engines have been preserved:

• 23 019 is displayed at the German Steam Locomotive Museum (Deutsche Dampflokomotiv-Museum) located in Neuenmarkt-Wirsberg, Upper Franconia, Bavaria, Germany.
• 23 023 is maintained by the Stoom Stichting Nederland in Rotterdam, Netherlands (in operational condition since March 2019).
• 23 029 stands as a monument outside the technical school in Aalen, Germany.
• 23 042 is part of the collection at the Darmstadt-Kranichstein Railway Museum in Hesse, Germany, where it remains operational.
• 23 058 is preserved by EUROVAPOR in Basel-Haltingen, Switzerland, under the care of Club 41 073 e. V. (operational). It is currently leased to the Friese Stoomtrein Maatschappij (FStM) in the Netherlands.
• 23 071 belongs to the Veluwsche Stoomtrein Maatschappij based in Apeldoorn, Netherlands (operational).
• 23 076 also resides with the Veluwsche Stoomtrein Maatschappij in Apeldoorn and has been operational since June 2007.
• 23 105 is exhibited at the South German Railway Museum (Süddeutsches Eisenbahnmuseum Heilbronn) in Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg, Germany (on loan from DB until 2016).

• Steam special featuring locomotive 23 042 on May 13, 2007
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  Alongside the Koblenz – Neuwied route
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  Approaching Urmitz stop...
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  ... positioned before the Rhine bridge
• Driving wheels and trailing wheels of locomotive number 23 042
  Driving wheels and trailing wheels of locomotive number 23 042

See also

• Deutsche Bundesbahn
• List of DB locomotives and railbuses

References

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