Product Features and Details
Prototype: German Federal Railroad (DB) class 52 with a type 1´E h2 rigid frame tender. Built starting in 1942 as a so-called wartime locomotive of the German State Railroad Company (DRG). Use: Heavy freight trains.
Model: Era III. The bodies for the locomotive and tender are constructed of die-cast metal. The locomotive has a digital connector. There is a close coupler mechanism on the tender. 5 axles powered. Traction tires. Length over the buffers 143 mm / 5-5/8".
Three different tender designs were used for the standard version of the class 52: the type K 2"2"T 26 box style tender, the type K 2"2"T 30 tub style tender, and the type K 4 T 30 rigid frame tender, the K in German representing a wartime design. The rigid frame tender had no trucks; instead, the first and fourth wheel sets were mounted in a fixed frame on the 4 T 30, and the second and third wheel sets had 15 mm / 9/16 side play. There was a savings of approximately 2 metric tons in material and about 30% in manufacturing time compared to other designs for tenders. Of the 660 units of the class 52 stored fireless only a few survived the war undamaged. Many were in such bad condition that it was not worth repairing them. In 1950, 216 of the class 52 were still in use on the German Federal Railroad (DB), among them units with the rigid frame tender.
