Prussian T 13

Prussian T 13

Company type	Steam locomotive series
Industry	Railway
Founded	Early 1900s
Area served	Germany (Prussian state railways, Deutsche Reichsbahn, others)
Products	Tank locomotives (0-8-0T wheel configuration)

The Prussian T 13 series consisted of numerous tank locomotives produced for several German state railways, most notably the Prussian state railways and the Deutsche Reichsbahn, during the early 1900s.

T 13

The T 13 locomotives, identical in design, served the Prussian state railways, the Imperial Railways in Alsace-Lorraine, and the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg State Railways. These tank engines, featuring an 0-8-0T wheel configuration, were primarily utilized for shunting operations. Between 1910 and 1916, various manufacturers delivered a total of 512 units to the Prussian state railways. Following significant losses during the First World War, the Deutsche Reichsbahn commissioned an additional 72 locomotives, while the Saar Railways ordered 12 more, all arriving in 1921 and 1922. Additionally, the Imperial Railways in Alsace-Lorraine operated 60 T 13 units, and Oldenburg possessed ten.

In 1925, these locomotives were incorporated into the DRG renumbering plan for steam locomotives as DRG Class 92.5–10, receiving fleet numbers ranging from 92 501 to 913 and from 92 1001 to 1072. Locomotives numbered 92 585–588, 92 606, 92 607, and 92 910–913 originated from the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg State Railways, while numbers 92 732–738 were inherited from the Imperial Railways in Alsace-Lorraine.

By 1935, units numbered 92 919–950 were transferred from the Saar Railways to the Deutsche Reichsbahn. In 1943, five additional locomotives from the Zschipkau-Finsterwald Railway Company joined the fleet as numbers 92 991–995. During Second World War operations, locomotives numbered 92 951–990 and 996 were acquired from Poland, along with numbers 92 1101–1112 sourced from Czechoslovakia. In 1950, the Deutsche Reichsbahn (East Germany) incorporated locomotives numbered 92 6401 and 92 6501–6504 from private railways; notably, numbers 92 6502–6504 were T 13 models procured directly by the Brandenburg Städtebahn. This numbering block also included units numbered from 92 914 to 92 918—formerly Bremen Harbour Railway (Hafenbahn Bremen, Hf Brm) engines numbered 20 to 24—which had been acquired following nationalization in 1930. These particular locomotives were not Prussian T 13s but rather industrial Arnold Jung Lokomotivfabrik designs with an identical wheel arrangement.

The final withdrawal of these engines by the Deutsche Bundesbahn occurred in 1965 at the Kassel Locomotive Depot (Bahnbetriebswerk or Bw), while the Reichsbahn phased out their last units by 1968.

After World War II, four examples of the D-h2t Class 92.10 remained in service within Austria. These included numbers 92 1052, 1055, 1063, and 1068. The Austrian Federal Railway (ÖBB) retained their original numbering but classified them under ÖBB Class 792. All locomotives in this category were retired by the year 1962.

T 13.1

During the early 1920s, the newly established Reichsbahn commissioned thirteen units of the established T 13 locomotives featuring a superheated design, designated as the T 13.1, specifically for the Oldenburg division (previously the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg State Railways) and the Altona division. These were tank locomotives intended for freight service, employing a 0-8-0T wheel configuration, and were later incorporated into the Deutsche Reichsbahn’s renumbering scheme as DRG Class 92.4, with numbers ranging from 92 401 to 92 413.

Additionally, in 1922, the Saar Railways acquired five T 13.1 locomotives from Georg Krauss in Munich, which exhibited some variations compared to the earlier batch. Notably, these units featured a redesigned driver's cab and supplementary equipment mounted atop the boilers. The Reichsbahn assigned them fleet numbers from 92 414 to 92 418.

It is important to note that other former private railway engines numbered by the Reichsbahn as 92 421, 92 431–437, and 92 441 and 442 were not classified as Prussian T 13.1 locomotives.

Locomotives that remained in the Allied Occupation Zones in Germany#Western zones of occupation after World War II following Second World War hostilities were divested to private railway companies by the year 1948.

T 13 Hagans variant

The T 13 Hagans variant was a freight tank locomotive with an 0-8-0T wheel arrangement, constructed for the Prussian state railways but distinguished by its unique Hagans drive system. This design was developed by the Erfurt-based company Maschinenfabrik Christian Hagans, featuring a divided locomotive frame aimed at enhancing performance on curves. The two front driving axles were fixed within the main frame, while the rear pair was mounted on a pivoting frame and powered through an innovative system of levers connected to the front axles.

Produced by Henschel between 1899 and 1902, this model was essentially a smaller iteration of the Prussian T 15. These locomotives were delivered to several railway divisions including Erfurt, Saarbrücken, Magdeburg, and Frankfurt am Main. However, their complex mechanical arrangement resulted in high maintenance demands, adversely affecting operational efficiency and leading to their withdrawal by 1923.

A pair of similar engines were supplied by Henschel to the Baden state railways under the designation Baden VIII d#Class VIII d.

In the Deutsche Reichsbahn’s renumbering plan of 1923, five of these units were assigned numbers from 92 501 to 92 505, though they had been retired by 1925.

T 13 Mallet Variation

Among the T 13 series, there existed five Mallet tank locomotives that were incorporated on 1 January 1913 following the acquisition of the Bergheimer Kreisbahn and Mödrath-Liblar-Brühler railway located west of the Rhine. These B'B n4vt type engines were taken over by the Royal Prussian Railway Division based in Cöln (Cologne) and assigned fleet numbers Cöln 7946 through 7950. Notably, these represented the sole Mallet tank locomotives operating within Prussia. Concurrently, multiple Hohenzollern-produced units were supplied to the Filderbahn and Moselbahn. The locomotives stationed in Cologne were withdrawn from service during 1920 and 1921.

See also

• List of DRG locomotives and railbuses
• List of Prussian locomotives and railbuses
• List of preserved steam locomotives in Germany

References

• Spielhoff, Lothar (1990). Länderbahn-Dampf-Lokomotiven. Band 1: Preußen, Mecklenburg, Oldenburg, Sachsen und Elsaß-Lothringen. Stuttgart: Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung. pp. 85, 135–136. ISBN 3-440-06145-0.
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