The German Pacific Locomotive (Its Design and Development) is David
Maidments fourth book in the series of Locomotive Profiles published by
Pen & Sword. It is the first in the series to tackle an important range
of overseas steam locomotives, the German pacific locomotives, which,
with the Paris-Orleans pacific in France, were the first of that wheel
layout in Europe and came to be the dominant type for express passenger
work throughout Western Europe for the following fifty years, until
displaced by diesel and electric traction.
The German railways in the first two decades of the twentieth century
were run principally as regional State railways, and two distinct styles
of design developed, which were influenced by the natural terrain. In
the south, in the mountainous foothills of the European Alps, four
cylinder compound locomotives with comparatively small coupled wheels,
most produced by the famous firm of Maffei in Munich, held sway from
1907 until the late 1930s, and in parts of Bavaria that were not yet
electrified, even until the early 1960s. In the flatter lands of the
north, Prussian 4-6-0s sufficed until Paul Wagners standard two cylinder
simple pacifics came onto the scene in 1925, and were followed by the
three cylinder streamlined pacifics at the start of the Second World
War. After addressing the devastating damage to the German railways in
the conflict, the book follows the modernization of the locomotive fleet
in the postwar period until the elimination of steam in both East and
West Germany in the mid-late 1970s.
The book describes the design, construction and operation of the full
range of pacifics that ran in both parts of Germany, and the large
numbers of these locomotives that have been preserved, and is
illustrated with over 180 black and white and 80 colour photos.
