Northerners are stubborn and persistent, at least in this country here.
After the debacle with Hornby-Rivarossi´s class 58, I was still left sans heavy freight engine. My class 41 and 95 did their best to handle it all, but during revisions, freight service was not up to the usual standards on my railroad.
Therefore, an addition was due. I wanted it to be either
- a class 45 (Liliput´s offering wears a swastika, which is an absolute no-go for me)
- a class 50 (Roco´s is neat)
- a class 42 (on sale!!!)
So, I visited my dealer today, and had almost decided on a Roco class 50 Ep. 3 with ÜK cabin, when I noticed... the dealer had sorted out his shelf, and somewhere behind some large boxes, he found a (pre-Hornby) Rivarossi class 59! Ep. III, but never mind. It is a Länderbahn-era engine, a neat model with rich detail, and it was brand-new! After some bartering, paltering, bargaining, he gave it to me for 175 Euro.
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The class 59, or Württemberger class K, had been built in three batches between 1917 and 1924, the model´s prototype being a late version. The last German engine had been scrapped in 1953 by the DB; Austria and Yugoslavia used them a bit longer iirc.
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After Austria built its class 100 as a 2-12-0 design, and the Royal Wurttembergian Railways needed a heavy freight engine for the steep grades in the Black Forest and the Geislinger Steige, they, too incorporated a 2-12-0 design, with slight alterations to the Austrian version. The advantage was that the 59, or K, could be used on light and medium trackage.
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After World War I, the Deutsche Reichsbahn exchanged the lighter tracks so that engines with greater weight per axle could use them (cf. also the classes 01 and 03). This was finished in the late 1930s, making the 59 more or less obsolete. Austria, however, still had weight limitations that were lower than the German ones, and had great need for heavy freight engines as Hitler had promised his buddy Mussolini massive amouts of coal which had to be transported. Thus, many engines were transferred to Austria, and quite a few stayed there after the war was over.
![]()
Some of these engines were eventually returned to Germany, but they were in such a bad condition that all class 59s Germany was given back by Austria were scrapped on arrival.
Please forgive the poor picture quality; we were invited to my gf´s family today, and the pics I have taken before that event were a bit "quick and dirty". I can take some better ones if you wish... perhaps after I have attached the various add-on parts?
After the debacle with Hornby-Rivarossi´s class 58, I was still left sans heavy freight engine. My class 41 and 95 did their best to handle it all, but during revisions, freight service was not up to the usual standards on my railroad.
Therefore, an addition was due. I wanted it to be either
- a class 45 (Liliput´s offering wears a swastika, which is an absolute no-go for me)
- a class 50 (Roco´s is neat)
- a class 42 (on sale!!!)
So, I visited my dealer today, and had almost decided on a Roco class 50 Ep. 3 with ÜK cabin, when I noticed... the dealer had sorted out his shelf, and somewhere behind some large boxes, he found a (pre-Hornby) Rivarossi class 59! Ep. III, but never mind. It is a Länderbahn-era engine, a neat model with rich detail, and it was brand-new! After some bartering, paltering, bargaining, he gave it to me for 175 Euro.
The class 59, or Württemberger class K, had been built in three batches between 1917 and 1924, the model´s prototype being a late version. The last German engine had been scrapped in 1953 by the DB; Austria and Yugoslavia used them a bit longer iirc.
After Austria built its class 100 as a 2-12-0 design, and the Royal Wurttembergian Railways needed a heavy freight engine for the steep grades in the Black Forest and the Geislinger Steige, they, too incorporated a 2-12-0 design, with slight alterations to the Austrian version. The advantage was that the 59, or K, could be used on light and medium trackage.
After World War I, the Deutsche Reichsbahn exchanged the lighter tracks so that engines with greater weight per axle could use them (cf. also the classes 01 and 03). This was finished in the late 1930s, making the 59 more or less obsolete. Austria, however, still had weight limitations that were lower than the German ones, and had great need for heavy freight engines as Hitler had promised his buddy Mussolini massive amouts of coal which had to be transported. Thus, many engines were transferred to Austria, and quite a few stayed there after the war was over.
Some of these engines were eventually returned to Germany, but they were in such a bad condition that all class 59s Germany was given back by Austria were scrapped on arrival.
Please forgive the poor picture quality; we were invited to my gf´s family today, and the pics I have taken before that event were a bit "quick and dirty". I can take some better ones if you wish... perhaps after I have attached the various add-on parts?
