Steam locomotive numbering by the Reichsbahn / Deutsche Bundesbahn / Deutsche Bahn runs from 001 to 099. Let’s take a closer look at what the number means, specifically for steam locomotives…
The first digit represents the type of locomotive. As you can guess, the ‘0’ stands for steam locomotive. Other type of locomotives / railcars have numbers and letters based on the era that range from ‘1’ or ‘E’ for electric locomotives to ‘9’ or ‘VS/VB/VM’ to designate control cars or intermediate cars for diesel/gasoline-powered railcars and railbusses. The locomotive type number wasn't added until 1968, replacing the letters on other locomotive types and adding the '0' to the beginning of steam locomotive numbering, expanding it from two to three numbers.
Steam locomotives were additionally subdivided into the type of steam locomotive, whether for passenger or freight, and locomotives with a tender (Schlepptender-Lokomotive) or without (Tenderlokomotive). Here is how the first three numbers worked out:
001-019: Express Train Schlepptender-lokomotive
020-039: Passenger Train Schlepptender-lokomotive
040-059: Freight Train Schlepptender-lokomotive
060-079: Express and Passenger Train Tenderlokomotive
080-096: Freight Train Tenderlocomotive
097-098: Cog and Branch-Line Locomotives
099: Narrow Gauge Locomotives
There are additional nuances to the numbering schemes that also evolved in 1968. For example, the BR (which stands for 'Baureihe' or build class) 41 became the 041 for coal-fired locomotives and 042 for oil-fired versions. Likewise, the BR 01 became the BR001, while the variant 01.10 became the BR011 for coal- and BR012 for oil-fired locomotives. So the next time you look at a Reichsbahn class 01 and think 'Wow, that looks a lot like my model of the BR 012', now you'll know why...
The first digit represents the type of locomotive. As you can guess, the ‘0’ stands for steam locomotive. Other type of locomotives / railcars have numbers and letters based on the era that range from ‘1’ or ‘E’ for electric locomotives to ‘9’ or ‘VS/VB/VM’ to designate control cars or intermediate cars for diesel/gasoline-powered railcars and railbusses. The locomotive type number wasn't added until 1968, replacing the letters on other locomotive types and adding the '0' to the beginning of steam locomotive numbering, expanding it from two to three numbers.
Steam locomotives were additionally subdivided into the type of steam locomotive, whether for passenger or freight, and locomotives with a tender (Schlepptender-Lokomotive) or without (Tenderlokomotive). Here is how the first three numbers worked out:
001-019: Express Train Schlepptender-lokomotive
020-039: Passenger Train Schlepptender-lokomotive
040-059: Freight Train Schlepptender-lokomotive
060-079: Express and Passenger Train Tenderlokomotive
080-096: Freight Train Tenderlocomotive
097-098: Cog and Branch-Line Locomotives
099: Narrow Gauge Locomotives
There are additional nuances to the numbering schemes that also evolved in 1968. For example, the BR (which stands for 'Baureihe' or build class) 41 became the 041 for coal-fired locomotives and 042 for oil-fired versions. Likewise, the BR 01 became the BR001, while the variant 01.10 became the BR011 for coal- and BR012 for oil-fired locomotives. So the next time you look at a Reichsbahn class 01 and think 'Wow, that looks a lot like my model of the BR 012', now you'll know why...
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