Class 051 Steam Locomotive with a Cabin Tender

Class 50 Steam Freight Locomotive The class 50 units came out shortly before the beginning of World War II as the last of the "so-called" standard steam locomotives. From April to July of 1939 Henschel built the first twelve units which quickly became the most fortunate design of the German State Railroad (DR). This 2-10-0 unit put out about 1,600 horsepower and had a maximum speed of 80 km/h / 50 mph. It quickly developed into a general-purpose, rugged, and reliable locomotive. The outbreak of war in 1939 increased the demand for freight locomotives dramatically and over the next few years another 3,152 units followed the twelve prototypes. After the end of the war the DB still had more than 2,000 units on its roster that successively were equipped with the small Witte instead of the large Wagner smoke deflectors and most of them lost the running board skirting. The so-called freight train escort cars formed a big problem in the Fifties on freight trains. These cars were not available in sufficient quantities. Finally, the idea came about of installing a cabin for the train crews in 751 tenders of the class 50 units. Two large windows ensured a good view to the rear of the train and the inside of the cabin had space for a wide work board with a table lamp, an upholstered folding seat, two emergency seats, a folding wash basin, a ceiling light, two shelves, steam heating, meal warmers, a water jug, and clothing hooks. Right up to the end of the steam locomotive era in 1977 the class 50 units with or without cabin tenders remained "the" all around steam locomotives pulling freight and passenger trains on main and branch lines.