The Prussian Class P 8 of the Prussian state railways (DRG Class 38.10-40 of the Deutsche Reichsbahn) was a 4-6-0 steam locomotive built from 1906 to 1923 by the Berliner Maschinenbau (previously Schwartzkopff) and twelve other German factories. The design was created by Robert Garbe.
History[]
In 1906, the Preußischen Staatseisenbahnen (K.P.E.V), needed a powerful engine for passenger traffic purposes, as the P 6 class does not show entire satisfaction, due to a poor load sharing, and poor performances. Robert Garbe, the chief mechanical engineer of the K.P.E.V, decided to designed a new class of engine with a 4-6-0 wheel configuration, with 1,750 m (5.74 ft) diameter driving wheels, which can pull fast passenger trains and expresses at the speed of 110 Km/h (68.3 mph). The ten prototypes of the class were built, by Schwartzkopff in 1906, those engines were noticable for the aerodynamic cab. However garbe's expectations were disapointed, as the prototypes could not reach the speed of 110 km/h, due to poor loading sharing.
After modifications with the load repartition, and finally it had been decided to make a class of mixt traffic engine, with a top speed of 90 km/h (56 ft), and a tractive effort of 1,300 hp, and a weight of 75 tonnes. The construction of the class began in 1908.
Germany[]
The P 8 class of the K.P.EV[]
This class of engines would be a success, being appreciated for their task as mixt traffic engines. The P 8 were used to pull heavy goods trains, and heavy express trains. They could handle easly every sorts of trains. This success would push other german railways to order P 8: 5 engines for The Grossherzoglisch Badischen StaatsEisenbahnen (the Baden state railways); 12 for the Großherzoglich Mecklenburgische Friedrich-Franz-Eisenbahn (the Mecklenburgische railways) which would numberes 251 to 262.
During World War 1, between 60 and 65 P 8 were produced for the German state railways and the military-railway directorates, to operate at Brussels and Warsaw, occupated by the germans.
In 1918, Germany was defeated. The treaty of Versailles of 1919, required the Germans railways to give 5000 engines to the winners. 626 P 8 from all German railways were given:
- 192 for Poland.
- 168 for Belgium.
- 162 for France.
- 25 for Italy.
- 18 for Romania.
- 11 for Lithuania.
- 10 for Greece.
After the War the prussian railways continue to produce new P 8, and by the way fill the gaps of the 626 missing in the inventories.
The class 251 to 262 of the M.F.F.E.[]
In 1914, intrested sby those engines, the Großherzoglich Mecklenburgische Friedrich-Franz-Eisenbahn (M.F.F.E.), would received 12 engiens which received the numbers 251 to 262.
The 38.10-40 of the DR and the DB[]
France[]
In 1919, France received 162 P 8. They were divided between the Nord Railway, the Est railway, the État railway, and the Midi railway. The Compagnie des chemins de fer du Paris-Orléans (P.O), would not received P 8s. The Compagnie des Chemins de fer du Paris-Lyon et à la Méditerranée (P.L.M), would received two engines, they were affected at Lyon, but the P.L.M, would not keep them due to an expansive maintenance. The two P 8 would be given to the Nord railway. 18 other P 8 were initially meant to join France, and according to some sources shall be assigned to the P.L.M but were eventually sent to Romania.
The class 3.1601 to 3.1675 of the NORD[]
The Compagnie des chemins de fer du Nord would received the biggest amount of P 8 of all French railways, with 75 engines. The Nord renumbered them as 3.1601 to 3.1675. They were allocated to the depots of Douai, Aulnoye, Boulogne, Fives, Busigny, Laon, Valenciennes, Romescamps, near Abancourt, and Le Bourget. They were used to ensure passenger trains, on the sections of Paris-Aulnoye, Paris-Calais, Paris-Le Tréport, Paris-Lille, or Valenciennes-Hirson. On the NORD they were nicknamed Râleurs ("Complainers" in English) because of their loud chuffing sound.
The Nord would be one of the rare Franch railways to modified those engines to harmonize them with the rest of the park. Those modifications consisted: of changing the orginal smokebox door with a "Nord" type with a "Y" hinge and centrale button; changing the original buffers with new "Nord" type; and add a water prehater "Caille Potonié" type. The Nord P 8 would also received a light-up indicator panel "Cinema", on the right of the bufferbeam.
The class 11S of the EST[]
The Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Est would received 25 P 8 ex-Prussia, they would formed the class 11s and would be renumbered 3311 to 3335. They were allocated to the depots Nancy, Belfort, and Conflans, and were mainly used to pull expresses, direct trains, local trains, and express freight trains. In 1930, their number would be changed to became the engines n°230-311 to 335.
The class 230-943 to 959 of the État[]
The administration des chemins de fer de l’État would received the smallest amount of P 8 with 17 engines. The État would given them the numbers 230-943 to 959. At the beginning, those engines would be allocated to the depots of Mantes, Dieppe, Caen, Argentan, Laval, Saint-Brieuc and Brest. During their career on the État, the État P 8 would finally been regrouped on the depots of Le-Mans, with some engines allocated sporadically to Dreux and Angers. They were ensure for mixed traffic dutties on the star of Le Mans, in direction of Dreux, Angers, Argentan and Tours.
Just like on the Nord railway, the 230-943s would received modifications by: replacing, for some of them, the original smokebox door with an "Etat" type one; and replacing the preheater "Knorr" type with a "Fives-Lille" type one.
The class P 8 of the Alsace-Lorraine[]
During its german years, the Chemins de fer d'Alsace-Lorraine would never received P 8s. The railway received an amount of 25 P 8 engines from the Prussian railways. On the A.L those engines would still be designed as the P 8 class, as the Prussian railways and the railways of Alsace-Lorraine shared the same numbering system. Those P 8s would received the numbers 2350 to 2374. The P 8s would be allocated on the depots of Moselle, and would run on the whole network. Some of them were opperating on the railways of Luxembourg.
The A.L would also applied modifications on its P 8s: replacing the preheater "Knorr" type, for some engines with an "A.C.F.I RM" type one; adding, for some engines, of a chimney lift, just like in germany; and the engine the P 8 n°2365 would received a "Caprotti" distribution to perform tests to equip it to the S 16 and G 16 classes.
In 1935, during the Saar's annexation to Germany, the engines n°2350 and 2351 were reincorporated to the DRG's fleet of engines.
The class 3700 of the MIDI[]
The MIDI would received 20 P 8s, and they would been introduce in the MIDI's fleet of engines by forming the class 3701 to 3720. Fifteen of them were given as reparation for lost material during the war. The 3700s were allocated to the depots of Bayonne, Agen, Bordeaux, Toulouse and Narbonne. The MIDI used them to pull expresses, locals, and expresses freight trains, on a big era. During their career on the MIDI, the 3700s would received the nickname "Popaul" from the railway workmen.
In 1934, the MIDI and the Paris-Orléans railways algamated to form the P.O-MIDI. The 3700s were renumbered 230-701 to 720.
The 1-230-F-352 to 374, 311 to 335, 600, 607, 641 and 694, 2-230-C-1 to 75, 3-230-E-943 to 959, and 4-230-H-701 to 720 of the SNCF[]
On January the 1st 1938, every raillways merge to form the SNCF. The new railway incorporated 149 of the former P 8, as the ETAT N° 230-945 to 950, 952, 954, 956, 957 and 959 were not, and were parked and scrapped in 1940. The 149 remaining P 8s were renumbered:
- 1-230-F-311 to 335 (for the former EST) and 352 to 374 (for the former A.L on the Eastern region;
- 2-230-C-1 to 75 (former NORD) on the northern region;
- 3-230-E-943, 944, 950, 951, 953, 955 and 958 (former Etat) on the Western region;
- 4-230-H-701 to 720 (former MIDI and P.O-MIDI) on the South Western region.
In August 1939, some engines from the former A.L were allocated to Bénéstroff, while the other engines were at the depots Colmar, Hagueneau, Mulhouse-Île-Napoléon, Metz, Thionville and Luxembourg.
In 1940, the Germans, who were occupying France during World War II, have requisitioned every former P 8s. After the war, some engines returned to France between 1945 and 1949. However, 48 former P 8s from all regions found themselves on the Eastern bloc, and where declared lost and withdrawned from the SNCF inventories between 1951 to 1953. The 101 engines that returned to France were:
- N° 1-230-F-311, 313 to 317 and 319 to 334 (former EST);
- N° 1-230-F-354, 356, 358, 359 and 362 to 374 (former A.L);
- N° 2-230-C-1 to 3, 6 to 17, 19 to 25, 27 to 30, 32 to 34, 36 to 44, 46 to 65 and 67 to 75 (former NORD)
- N° 3-230-E-943 (former Etat);
- N° 4-230-H-701 to 707, 709 to 713 and 715 to 720 (former MIDI and P.O-MIDI).
After 1945, the SNCF decided to allocated the former P 8s from the western and south western regions to the eastern region were they would handled the numbers: 1-230-F-343 (for the former 3-230-E-943), and 1-230-F-401 to 407, 409 to 413 and 415 to 420 (for the former 4-230-H-701 to 707, 709 to 713 and 715 to 720).
In 1945, the SNCF received 4 new engines from the DR 38 class, as war catch. Those engines were renumberer: 1-230-F-600 (former 38 3800); 1-230-F-607 (former 38 3607); 1-230-F-641 (former 38 2141) and 1-230-F-694 (former 38 3094). Those units have been built between 1918 and 1922, for the Prussian Railways (38 2141 formely Elbefeld 2516), for the Deutsche Reichsbahn Geselshaft (38 3607 and 38 3094) and for the Baden region of the DRG (38 3800 formely Baden 1160). They different from the other former P 8s because of the presance of "Wagner" type smoke deflectors. The 1-230-F-694 had the originality to have been coupled by the SNCF with a BR 52's tender, aas its original one had been destroy by a bombing raid. Not much is known about those four ex-P 8s, we know however that N° 1-230-F-641 was allocated at Strasbourg and that N°1-230-F-694 had continued to work near Mulhouse. In 1950, they were renumbered 1-230-F-601 to 604. They've been withdrawn from services between 1957 and 1959.
In 1948, the Luxembourgish National Railways (CFL) saw the day. To he CFL and their engine's fleet, the SNCF sent nine ex-P 8 engines. Those engines were numbers 2-230-C-6, 10, 17, 19, 43, 49, 50, 72 and 75, and they received the run registration of 3902 to 3910. In 1950 they were given back to the SNCF, however four of them would be sent to the eastern region. Those engines were the 2-230-C-10, 17, 49 and 72. They were renumbered 1-230-F-210, 217, 249 and 272, by putting a '2' in front of the original number to indicate the region of origin. 13 other engines (2-230-C-10, 13, 17, 21, 25, 30, 36, 47, 49, 59, 60, 62 and 72) were also allocated to the eastern region and would received the numbers: 1-230-F-210, 213, 217, 221, 225, 230, 236, 247, 249, 259, 260, 262 and 272.
On January 1951, the northern region had a total of 41 ex-P 8 engines, spread on the depots of:
- Beauvais (12 units): 2-230-C-6, 9, 20, 33, 52, 56, 61, 63, 67, 68, 71 and 73;
- Busigny (8 units): 2-230-C-7, 19, 27, 28, 34, 53, 55 and 75;
- Fives (12 units): 2-230-C-8, 11, 12, 22, 29, 32, 37, 41, 44, 48, 64 and 7;
- Le Tréport (9 units): 2-230-C-14, 15, 24, 42, 43, 50, 51, 57 and 58.
In 1955, Beauvais and Douai's depots became have each an amount of 18 engines, becoming the main depots of the class by this time. In 1957, the first major withdrawn of the class began woth the electrification of the region. Some engines would however being withdrawn later due to the need of steam engines to electrified the lines. The last ex-P 8 of the northern region was number 2-230-C-7, which was withdrawn from services on March 7th 1962.
On the eastern region, the 230-Fs would have been located in the depots of Alsace and Moselle: Sarreguemine, Thionville, Mulhouse-Île-Napoléon, Belfort, Colmar, Sarrebourg, Hagueneau, Strasbourg, Hausbergen, and Metz-Frescaty. During the 50's the first engine of the class began to be withdrawn from services. The last ex-P 8 engine in France to be withdrawn was the engine number 1-230-F-365 (ex AL P 8 2365), at the depot of Sarreguemines, on May 1966. Every engines were scrapped.
Belgium[]
The Class 6400 of the Etat Belge[]
In 1919, Etat Belge or Belgische staatsspoorwegen received 168 ex-P 8s. At there arrival they formed the class 6400 and received the numbers 6401 to 6568. The engines were used for mixt traffic duties on the entire Belgium network.
The Type 64 of the SNCB[]
In 1926, with the creation of the Société National des Chemins de fer Belge (SNCB), the 6400s became the type 64 and received the numbers 64.001 to 64.168. They were allocated to the depots of Arlon, Aalst, Brugge, Bruxelles Midi, Charleroi/Montignies, Jemelle, Landen, Ledeberg/Merelbeke, Leuven, Liège, Mons, Muizen, Namur, Ottignies, Tienen and Tournai.
During World War 2 in 1940, an ex-P 8 engine had been destroyed by an air raid, and during the Occupation of the country by the nazies, the 167 remaining type 64 were taken by the DR. The restitution of the engines began in 1945 to finish in 1950. In 1950, 153 Type 64s were in service, as 5 of them were too damaged to be manded and the last 14 engines would not be given back.
While they were back in Germany, some changes were applied. Some of them have been equipped with a superheater type Knnor, for the engines number: 64.003, 9, 15, 19, 23, 27 to 29, 34, 41, 43, 47, 49, 51, 53, 56, 62, 67, 75, 81, 85, 88, 95, 101 to 103, 105, 111, 115, 117, 122, 138, 140, 141, 145, 149, 150, 151, and 160 to 162. It would be replaced between 1950 and 1955. Two engines, no. 64.028 and 64.168, were equipped with Wagner type smoke deflectors. The engines, no. 64.010 and 64.049 would have received each a bell. And finaly, the engines no. 64.010, 045 and 077, would have received a German chemney.