Class 03.10 Express Locomotive with a Tender

Prototype information

The intoxication with speed in the late Thirties – fired up by the competition with the airplane and automobile – led to the German State Railroad Company (DRG) promoting a clear increase in speed for express trains. The modern classes 01 and 03 locomotives were just as unable to meet this challenge as the numerous provincial railroad designs with compound running gear still in use. The solution was a substantially new design based on the class 03. Three-cylinder running gear with more performance provided the necessary propulsion. Modern discoveries in aerodynamics showed moreover the great influence of air resistance on achievable end speed and the coal consumption required for this, which was compensated with streamlined sheathing. The designation for this new streamlined locomotive was the class 03.10. It was planned for use on lines with a maximum axle load of 18 metric tons at a maximum speed of 150 km/h / 94 mph. The firms Borsig in Hennigsdorf near Berlin, Krupp in Essen, and Krauss-Maffei in Munich were awarded the contracts in 1938 to build the class 03.10. However of the 140 units ordered only 60 pieces were delivered to the German State Railroad. The first locomotives were given a rust red paint scheme similar to the class 05, all of which were repainted later in black. After the end of the war, 26 units of the class 03.10 were still on the German Federal Railroad's roster.