Mecklenburg T 4
| Industry | Locomotive manufacturing |
|---|---|
| Products | Steam locomotives |
The Mecklenburg T 4 steam locomotive was produced for the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg Friedrich-Franz Railway to serve as a goods train engine with a wheel arrangement of (2-6-0)T, featuring one leading axle and three coupled axles. In the year 1925, it was integrated into the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft's renumbering scheme as DRG Class 91.19.
At the dawn of the twentieth century, there was a demand for more powerful locomotives suitable for branch line services; however, the existing Prussian models were unsuitable due to excessive weight, particularly the Prussian T 9 series which proved too heavy for these lines. Consequently, Henschel-Werke received a commission to develop what became known as the Mecklenburg T 4—one of the few locomotive types designed specifically within Mecklenburg. Despite common misconceptions in publications, these locomotives were equipped with a Krauss-Helmholtz bogie, similar to that found on the Prussian T 9.3. The entire batch of fifty units was assumed into Reichsbahn ownership.
With improvements made to Mecklenburg's rail infrastructure, many of the earliest locomotives became redundant by the 1930s. Following World War II, out of thirty-eight remaining engines, two were transferred to the Polish State Railways (Polskie Koleje Państwowe), four were acquired by the Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB), fifteen were surrendered as war reparations, and two were withdrawn due to severe damage, leaving thirteen units in service with the East German Deutsche Reichsbahn (GDR). Of these, two operated in Saxony during the early 1950s—serving routes such as between Niederschlema and Schneeberg, Saxony—where uranium mining had caused track damage restricting traffic to very light vehicles; eventually even this limited operation ceased.
The DB phased out its Mecklenburg T 4 locomotives by around 1950 because of their limited numbers but retained them for extended use within industrial repair facilities (Ausbesserungswerk). In addition, in 1949, the Deutsche Reichsbahn incorporated four of six locomotives constructed by Henschel in 1919/1920 for private railway lines, assigning them numbers 91 6401 to 91 6404. The final withdrawal of these engines occurred in 1970.
See also
References
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- Obermayer, Horst J. (1970). Taschenbuch Deutsche Dampflokomotiven. Regelspur (2nd ed.). Stuttgart: Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung. ISBN 3-440-03643-X.
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