Steam Locomotive with a Tender.

Prototype information

A Beauty on the Rails. From 1908 to 1931 the Royal Bavarian State Railroad bought what is probably the most famous and beautiful of all of the Bavarian express locomotives. That means that the last S 3/6 locomotives were delivered 6 years after the introduction of the class 01 standard design locomotive, undoubtedly proof of this successful design. The famous S 3/6 was the symbol of Bavarian locomotive construction. There were only slight differences between the first 4 subclasses of this locomotive. The diameter of the driving wheels was 1,870 mm / 73-5/8". Thanks to its great power and very efficient use of coal, the S 3/6 was assured of its great success. One hundred fifty nine locomotives were built in 16 groups. It took on the main role in Bavarian express train service immediately after its introduction. It pulled express trains from Munich to Nürnberg, Regensburg, Lindau, Ulm, Würzburg, Aschaffenburg, Salzburg, and Kufstein. It even pulled famous trains such as the Orient Express. In the German State Railroad period its use as motive power for the Rheingold was surely the high point of its career. The last of the S 3/6 was retired from the German Federal Railroad in 1966. Several museum locomotives remain preserved, among them one in the German Museum in Munich and an operational unit at the Bavarian Railroad Museum in Nördlingen that is currently one of the busiest steam locomotives for special excursions.