Class 18 Steam Locomotive

How one of 20 IV h locomotives originally built in Baden ended up in the GDR as part of the later 18.3 series for the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR). In the spring of 1945, the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG) had all 19 remaining Class 18.3 locomotives transported from their home depot at Bremen Central Station, which they had occupied since 1942, to the Munster-Lager military railway station on the edge of the Lüneburg Heath in order to protect them from the destruction of war. to the military railway station in Munster-Lager on the edge of the Lüneburg Heath in order to protect them from the destruction of the war. Thus, 18 314 also experienced the end of the war there. From 1946 to 1947, it was the last locomotive of its class to be back in service at Bremen Central Station. At the end of the 1940s, the DR needed high-speed locomotives to test newly developed railway cars. Engineer Max Baumberg, head of the Testing and Development Center for Machine Management (VES-M) in Halle, approached the main administration of the railways in the western occupation zone, specifically his college friend Theodor Düring, with a view to procuring a high-speed locomotive. Düring held the same position in the FRG that Baumberg had in the GDR, as head of the Federal Railway Testing Office in Minden (Westphalia). Baumberg's intention was to exchange the 18 434 (formerly Bavarian S 3/6), which had remained at the Erfurt-P. depot after the end of the war, for a Baden IV h. He was successful, and Baumberg received the 18 314 in April 1948. Through this locomotive exchange, the four-cylinder Baden locomotive made German-German history. Its first task at the DR was to transport courier trains for the Reichsbahn repair workshop (RAW) in Stendal. In the 1950s, it underwent its first modification with the addition of the “Bavarian crown,” the Caledonian crown of a Bavarian S 3/6 (later BR 18.4-6), and presumably received the nickname “Schorsch” because of this. When the GDR began manufacturing passenger cars with a maximum speed of 160 km/h for export to Russia in the late 1950s, appropriate locomotives were needed to test them. It was therefore decided to carry out a fundamental reconstruction of the 18 314, which was taken out of service in December 1959 and sent to the RAW “7. Oktober” workshop in Zwickau. It was December 16, 1960. On this day, after an extensive rejuvenation and due to its special purpose, the super steam locomotive, painted bright green with a gray-white longitudinal stripe and a chrome ring under the Caledonian brim, rolled onto the tracks of the GDR Reichsbahn. The machine was given its striking appearance with streamlined contours. With a top speed of 150 km/h and an output of almost 2000 hp, it was now the colorful streamlined star in the rather dreary gray of everyday life in the GDR and soon earned the nickname “Laubfrosch” (tree frog). The machine belonged to Max Baumberg's “zoo,” as the VES-M locomotive park was also known. The conversion made the 18 314 the most powerful locomotive in its series. In 1961, another green high-speed locomotive, the 18 201, known as the “Jimmo,” joined the Halle “zoo.” From then on, the two sleek loners repeatedly caused a sensation amid the jet-black standard locomotives. This brings us to the operational status of our 1962/63 model. At that time, 18 314 was assigned to an express train schedule at the Halle-P depot, where the test and trial runs required for new vehicles were naturally carried out. Its planned main route was the Saalfeld–Eisenach–Halle–Berlin line. And there were many anecdotes surrounding Baumberg's green “animals.” When 18 314 emerged from the workshop at some point with a much darker green color, malicious tongues rumored that the “tree frog” had only been given the dull wagon green due to the shortage economy. Nevertheless, the locomotive is a unique specimen with remarkable achievements and stories. We took all this as an opportunity to give this locomotive the highest model honor in the king's gauge. We have incorporated all the modifications that the locomotive underwent during reconstruction into our model with its numerous light and sound functions and its design language that corresponds exactly to the prototype. Just imagine if this high-performance racer, which has been upgraded to a high-speed locomotive by the engineers at RAW, were to run on your layout with a heavy express train or as an “Lz” (locomotive train) in your display case... When the locomotive driver operates the side lever, the powerful four-cylinder compound engine surges forward, marching on, and – to use the jargon of a real railwayman – the quadruple, the internal engine, rotates around the throat axle. Acoustically and visually superb, with the appropriate locomotive sound and a load-dependent, multi-stage, dynamic steam output implemented by the designers at the Göppingen dream factory! The experience of “Schorsch – Germany's last country railway Pacific in trial service at the VES-M Halle” can be enjoyed in all areas thanks to the 1:32 scale model, which is sure to captivate every railway enthusiast!