The steam locomotive DRG class 55, also known as Prussian G 7.1, is a fourfold coupled freight locomotive of the Prussian State Railways. It was built in 1893 as the first of the company Stettiner Maschinenbau AG Vulcan and later by other major Prussian locomotive manufacturers. The boiler of the steam locomotive Prussian G 7.1 was taken over by the Prussian G 5.
Details of DRG Class 55
| Manufacturer: | Vulcan and others |
| Length: | 16613 mm |
| Numbering: | DR 55 001-660, 661-674, 681-683 |
| Weight: | 52.6 t |
| Years of construction: | 1893 - 1917 |
| Top speed: | 50 km/h |
| Retirement: | 1966 |
| Fuel supply: | Hard coal |
| Water supply: | 12.0 / 16.5 m³ |
| Number: | 1202 |
| Power: | 485 kW / 660 PSi |
| Boiler overpressure: | 12 bar |
| Interesting facts |
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| The steam locomotive Prussian G 7.1 was built with the D n2 axle formula. It contains four driven axles in the main frame, the steam type is wet steam and it has 2 cylinders. More interesting facts |
Prussian G 7.1 - history and whereabouts
The class 55 locomotives were predominantly used in heavy freight traffic, especially on steep sections. Due to this field of application, many class 55 locomotives went to the West German and Silesian directorates. A total of 1002 copies were delivered to the Prussian State Railways until 1909. In the years 1916/1917 another 200 BR 55 were built, which were needed for military use. The k. u. k. Heeresbahn Austria had from 1916 35 Prussian G 7.1, steam locomotive DRG class 55, which were used on the umgespurten Russian lines. In 1898 the Lübeck-Büchener Eisenbahn procured three Prussian G 7.1s, built by Schwartzkopff.
After World War I, 142 locomotives were handed over to the PKP as reparations. France, after all, received 103 copies of the Prussian G 7.1, as a result of the ceasefire.
In 1923, the German Reichsbahn took over 680 locomotives and redesignated them in 1925 in 55 001-660. 13 steam locomotive Prussian G 7.1 came in 1935 from the railways of the national territory and one from France as 55 661-673 and 55 674 in the holdings of the DR. The three BR 55 from the Lübeck-Büchener railway received in 1938 the numbers 55 681-683.
During the Second World War, 105 locomotives were taken over by the PKP in the stock of the German Reichsbahn. They were provided with numbers of already decommissioned machines. From Lithuania, Prussian G 7.1 were classified as 55 274 and 55 691-694.
After the end of World War II, the class 55 were only used in the shunting service and retired until 1957. In the German Reichsbahn, the last BR 55 were retired in 1966. The steam locomotive DRG class 55 669 was retired in 1964 and has since been in the Transport Museum in Dresden.