Express Locomotive with a Tender.

The class S 3/6 locomotives were particularly successful designs. These units proved themselves both in Bavaria and also in important, long distance passenger service beyond the borders of Germany. The German State Railroad Company ordered additional units in this class between 1923 and 1930 from Maffei and Henschel, based on the good experience with this locomotive, later designated as the class 18.4. A special, visible feature on this second series was the fact that the front of the engineer's cab no longer had a pointed shape to lessen wind resistance; the engineer's cab now was simply straight across the front. Together with the longer look of the boiler, it now gave these locomotives a totally different appearance. In addition, the power output was raised slightly as the result of different modifications. This now made the class 18.5 (the next class designation for these units) locomotives the ideal motive power for important, long distance passenger service. The class 18.5 was the preferred motive power in particular for the "Rheingold". The locomotives used in this service were given a red-white-red band around the smoke stack. The brass boiler bands were always kept highly polished of the high and were further proof of the demands placed on the appearance of the Rheingold flagship trains. The last class 18.5 locomotive was not retired until 1966. Several museum locomotives remain preserved, among them an operational unit at the Bavarian Railroad Museum in Nördlingen.