DRB Class 50

The DRB Class 50 is a German class of 2-10-0 locomotive, built from 1939 as a standard locomotive (Einheitsdampf-lokomotive) for hauling goods trains. It had one leading axle and five coupled axles and was one of the most successful designs produced for the Deutsche Reichsbahn.

This class was procured as part of the German Nazi party's preparations for war that led into the Second World War. Up to 1948, 3,164 Class 50 engines were built by almost all the European locomotive factories – towards the end as so-called provisional war locomotives (Übergangskriegslokomotiven) and classified as 50 ÜK.

At the end of the steam locomotive era they became virtually a universal class of mixed-traffic steam engine that, thanks to their low axle load could even be employed on branch lines with light track beds. The Deutsche Bundesbahn grouped the locomotives into Classes 050, 051, 052 and 053 from 1968 so that the numbers were computer-compatible.

Some of the class were used by the Polish State Railways as type Ty5.

General

In spite of wartime losses, a large number of engines still remained in 1945. No less than 2,159 working locomotives were taken over by the Deutsche Bundesbahn alone and, for a long time, they...
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