"World-class standard" as a model: Even before the reunification of the two Germanys, probably the most successful modification of the class 01 was at home on the rails in East and West. The DR class 01.5 ran into the Seventies as a welcome guest at the front of Inter Zone trains and in its dynamic elegance actually symbolized the often cited, yet almost never reached "world-class standard" of the GDR. Especially the "American" "Boxpok" wheels modelled exactly on the model have an appreciable share here in this quality.

Prototype: Class 01.5 steam express locomotive with an oil tender. GDR German State Railroad (DR/GDR) "Reko" version. Includes Boxpok wheels, type 2´2´T34 standard design tender as an oil tender. Special design Witte smoke deflectors for the class 01.5, continuous dome streamlining, and inductive magnet on one side. Road number 01 0503-1. The locomotive looks as it did in the mid-Seventies.

Highlights

• Especially intricate metal construction.
• Striking Boxpok wheels and continuous dome streamlining.
• Partially open bar frame and many separately applied details.
• Digital decoder and extensive operation and sound functions included.
  

Model: The locomotive has a digital decoder and extensive sound functions. It also has controlled high-efficiency propulsion with a flywheel, mounted in the boiler. 3 axles powered. Traction tires. The locomotive and tender are constructed mostly of metal. The 7226 smoke unit can be installed in the locomotive. The triple headlights change over with the direction of travel. They and the smoke unit that can be installed in the locomotive will work in conventional operation and can be controlled digitally. The cab lights can also be controlled digitally. Maintenance-free warm white LEDs are used for the lighting. There is a close coupling with a guide mechanism between the locomotive and tender. There is a close coupler with an NEM pocket and a guide mechanism on the tender.

The minimum radius for operation is 360 mm / 14-3/16". Protective sleeves for the piston rods and brake hoses are included as detail parts.

Length over the buffers 28.2 cm / 11-1/8".

Produktinfo

This model can be found in an AC version in the Märklin H0 assortment under item number 39209. 

The Class 01.5 with Boxpok Wheels At the beginning of the Sixties, the GDR German State Railroad ran 35 units of the class 01 through an extensive rebuilding program. Initially, only the installation of a new welded "Reko" boiler was planned, the conservation status of the locomotives selected ultimately forced extensive rebuilding that resulted in the units becoming new locomotives in many respects. The maintenance facility in Halberstadt delivered the "Reko" boilers, and they were installed at the maintenance facility in Meiningen. During the rebuilding program the boiler was placed higher, continuous dome streamlining adorned the top of the boiler, and the cabs were replaced by a new welded version. The locomotives rebuilt in this way had hardly anything in common with their original look. After the rebuilding program, these units were therefore given the new class designation of 01.5.

Beginning with road number 01 519 (rebuilt in 1964) the locomotives were equipped with oil firing, and the remaining units were converted accordingly in 1965/66. Only six locomotives kept grate type firing. Twelve units (01 502-504, 507-513, 517, and 518) at times were equipped with Boxpok wheels but the latter were swapped for reinforced spoked wheels at the latest by 1976. Road number 01 504 ran initially with a Giesl flat ejector. In addition, all of the units had a conical smoke box door without central locking after the rebuilding program.

With the introduction of computer numbers, the coal-fired units became the class 01.15, and the DR designated the oil-fired units as the class 01.05. After their rebuilding program, the locomotives were used in heavy express train service on the DR from Berlin East Station (grate-fired locomotives) as well as Wittenberge and Erfurt and also reached the West German turning points of Bebra and Hamburg-Altona in Inter Zone service up into the Seventies in regular schedules. These units were probably the most successful design of the class 01, and ultimately their career ended in 1982 in the Saale Valley. Five units of the class 01.5 were preserved and – to the extent they are still operational – still shake the rails in the East and West even after the reunification.