Product Features and Details
Prototype: German Federal Railroad (DB) class 18.5 express locomotive. Bavarian class S 3/6 from the series delivered to the German State Railroad. Class with a straight engineer's cab and large smoke deflectors. Version for late Era III.
Model: The locomotive and tender are constructed of die-cast metal. The locomotive has a powerful motor with a bell-shaped armature and a flywheel. The motor and the gear drive are built into the locomotive. 3 axles powered. Traction tires. The locomotive has an NEM digital connector in the tender. There is a close coupling between the locomotive and the tender. The valve gear and wheel treads are dark nickel plated. Length over the buffers 134 mm / 5-1/4".
A Beauty in Black. The class S 3/6 locomotive is among the particularly successful designs for steam locomotives. These units turned in excellent results not only in Bavarian, but were also used in premium long distance service, sometimes beyond the borders of Germany. Due to the good results with the locomotive later designated as the class 18.4, the German State Railroad Company ordered additional locomotives in the years 1923 to 1930 from Maffei and Henschel. With this series the most noticeable external feature was engineer's cab. It no longer had a streamlined arrow shape to it; it now had a straight front. Along with the now longer appearing boiler, this cab gave the locomotive a totally different look. In addition, different modifications allowed the performance to be increased slightly. The locomotive, now designated as the class 18.5, proved to be the ideal motive power for premium long distance service. In particular, there was a preference to use the class 18.5 locomotives as motive power for the "Rheingold". Locomotives for this use were provided with a red-white-red band around the smoke stack. The consistently clean shiny brass boiler rings were further witness of the high demands made in terms of looks on the Rheingold flagship trains. The last unit of the class 18.5 was not retired until 1966. Several museum S 3/6 locomotives remain preserved, among them an operational unit at the Bavarian Railroad Museum in Nördlingen.
