DB Class 23

DB Class 23
Class 23 in Darmstadt-Kranichstein
Number(s)	23 001–105
Quantity	105
Manufacturer	Henschel (29 ex.) Jung (51 ex.) Krupp (21 ex.) ME (4 ex.)
Year(s) of manufacture	1950–1959
Retired	by 1976
Wheel arrangement	2-6-2
Axle arrangement	1'C1' h2
Type	P 35.18
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Length over buffers	21,325 mm
Service weight	82.8 t
Adhesive weight	56.0 t
Axle load	18.7 t
Top speed	110 km/h, backwards: 85 km/h
Driving wheel diameter	1,750 mm
Leading wheel diameter	1,000 mm
Trailing wheel diameter	1,250 mm
No. of cylinders	2
Cylinder bore	550 mm
Piston stroke	660 mm
Boiler Overpressure	16 kg/cm"
Grate area	3.11 m2
Superheater area	73.80 m2
Evaporative heating area	156.28 m2
Water capacity	30 m3
Fuel	8 t coal
Train control	Heusinger

The steam locomotives of Class 23 were German passenger train locomotives developed in the 1950s for the Deutsche Bundesbahn. They had a 2-6-2 wheel arrangement and were equipped with Class 2'2' T 31 tenders. They were designed to replace the once ubiquitous Prussian P 8 engines that had been built between 1908 and 1924 and, in their day, were the most numerous post-war replacement class.

From 1950, 105 examples of this newly designed class were manufactured for medium passenger train and light express train services. They had welded locomotive frames, boilers and tenders together with all the latest refinements of German practice. These included a superheated multiple-valve regulator and central lubrication of the least accessible parts of the running gear. Engines up to operating number 023 had Knorr surface preheaters and journal bearings. Locomotives with serial numbers 024 and 025, as well as those from 053 onwards were equipped with roller bearings for the axles and drive as well as mixer-preheaters. A small number of vehicles were given Heinl preheaters and several were equipped for push-pull train operations.

Locomotive number 23 105, built by Arnold Jung Lokomotivfabrik and taken into service by the DB in December 1959, was the last steam engine to enter service in the Federal Republic of Germany. After its retirement it was stabled at the Nuremberg Transport Museum where it was severely damaged by the great fire in the locomotive shed on 17 October 2005.

On the introduction of the new DB numbering scheme on 1 January 1968 the class was redesignated as Class 023. The last few locomotives were retired in 1976 at Crailsheim locomotive depot (Bahnbetriebswerk or Bw).