Invention and Engineering

DRB Class 50

The DRB Class 50 are a German class of 2-10-0 "Decapod" type steam locomotives, built from 1939 as a standard locomotive (Einheitsdampflokomotive) 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 in Germany as part of the Nazi Party's preparations for war that led to the Second World War (1939-1945). As late as 1948, 3,164 Class 50 engines were built by many European locomotive factories – towards the war's end as "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.

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See also

• ▸Industrialization in the Soviet Union
• ▸Climate change in Europe
• ▸Eddystone Lighthouse

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