Fleischmann - 7036 - Locomotive, Steam, 0-8-0 DRG Class 81 - Deutsche Reichsbahn - 81 006

Model Information: Introduced in 1985.

DCC Information: No DCC support.

Prototype History: The locomotives of the German DRG Class 81 were standard (Einheitsdampflokomotiven) goods train tank locomotives with the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG).

In 1928, ten examples were delivered by the firm of Hanomag that matched the Class 80 locomotives in many details. The axles were all fixed rigidly to the frame, but the middle one had thinner wheel flanges. In contrast to the Class 80s, the Class 81 engines had a larger heating area and carried more coal and water. The delivery of 60 more vehicles was cancelled in 1940 due to the Second World War. The locomotives were mainly employed on heavy shunting duties. After their collection, the ten engines were allocated to the locomotive depots (Bahnbetriebswerken or Bw) of Goslar (81 001–005) and Oldenburg (81 006–010). In 1945 all the engines were in the Oldenburg area and went over to the Deutsche Bundesbahn. The last engine was taken out of service in October 1963. Number 81 005 was still working as an industrial loco in AW Nied after its retirement from the DB.

Road Name History: The Deutsche Reichsbahn, also known as the German Reich Railway or the German Imperial Railway, was the name of the German national railway created from the railways of the individual states of the German Empire following the end of World War I.

The company was founded in 1920 as the Deutsche Reichseisenbahnen when the Weimar Republic, formally known as Deutsches Reich (German Reich, hence the usage of the Reich in the name of the railway), took national control of the German railways, which had previously been run by the German states. In 1924 it was reorganised under the aegis of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG), a nominally private railway company, which was 100% owned by the German state. In 1937 the railway was reorganised again as a state authority and given the name Deutsche Reichsbahn (DRB). After the Anschluss in 1938 the DR also took over the Bundesbahn Osterreich (BBO, Federal Railway of Austria).

The East and West German states were founded in 1949. East Germany took over the control of the DR on its territory and continued to use the traditional name Deutsche Reichsbahn, while the railway in West Germany became the Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB, German Federal Railway). The Austrian Osterreichische Bundesbahnen (OBB, Austrian Federal Railways) was founded in 1945, and was given its present name in 1947.

In January 1994, following the German union, the East German Deutsche Reichsbahn merged with the West German Deutsche Bundesbahn to form Germany's new national carrier, Deutsche Bahn AG, technically no longer a government agency but still a 100% state-owned joint stock company.

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