The WR 200 B 14 was the smallest of the standard Wehrmacht locomotives and, with 129 units, not quite as common as its three-axle sister. The designation stands for “Wehrmachtslokomotive standard gauge, 200 hp, wheel arrangement B, 14 tonnes axle load”. It is also known under the designation V 20, which it received from the two German railways after the war. The locomotives were never used by the Reichsbahn before the end of the war because they were directly assigned to the Wehrmacht.

Characteristic of her appearance was the driver's cab at the rear end and the high hood, which contained all the machinery and was provided with several flaps for access to the engine room. Compared to the later V 36, the body was lower overall and the entire two-axle locomotive was over a meter shorter. Various six-cylinder in-line engines from Deutz, the Mannheim Motor Works or MAN provided the drive. The power was transmitted via a hydraulic transmission to a jackshaft between the axles, which in turn drove the wheel sets via coupling rods. A coke oven was installed for starting at low temperatures.

After the war, not many examples made it into state railway service and only 23 locomotives remained in service with the Bundesbahn, four with the Reichsbahn and one with the ÖBB. While the DB only removed the coke ovens, the DR machines got new engines with the same power. Today some are still preserved and partly also operational.

The Wehrmacht locomotive that stood out alongside its sisters with 200 and 360 hp was the WR 220. It was ordered by the Luftwaffe and, unlike the others, had mechanical power transmission. There was a two- and a three-axle variant, designated WR 220 B and WR 220 C, respectively. The two-axle had an wheelbase of 2.90 meters and the jackshaft was located between the axles. With the three-axle, the overall wheelbase was only five centimeters longer and the jackshaft was in the narrower space between the second and third axles. The wheel diameter was five centimeters smaller here, but whether this was only chosen to accommodate the third axle or for other reasons can only be guessed at. Compared to the WR 220, both were slightly shorter and had a larger cab.

After the war, the Bundesbahn took over nine two-axle and five three-axle vehicles, which were classified as V 22 according to their output. Since these locomotives differed from the V 20, which was available in large numbers, an adaptation was sought. This was implemented on all two-axle vehicles between 1951 and 1953 by installing a new engine and hydraulic transmission. In 1968, these were even given computer numbers with the class 270 and were used from then on for about ten years. One of the three-axle locomotives was converted to two axles. However, since this apparently did not deliver satisfactory results, the other three-axle vehicles were retired until 1951.

The WR 360 C 14 was the Wehrmacht's most well-known diesel locomotive and was built in the largest numbers. The original designation stood for “Wehrmachtslokomotive Regelspur, 360 HP, wheel arrangement C, 14 tonnes axle load”. However, the name V 36, under which it was used on both sides of the inner-German border after the war, is more familiar to the public.

It was powered by a six-cylinder in-line engine with 360 hp. This did not require turbocharging and drew its power from a displacement of 98 liters, which reduced production costs and minimized technical defects even under difficult operating conditions. Most examples used a multi-speed hydraulic gearbox to transfer power to the jackshaft, but some also used a mechanical gearbox. The production of the WR 360 C 14 comprised a total of around 280 units, some of which remained in other countries after the war. In Germany, 42 pieces went to the Reichsbahn and almost 100 to the Bundesbahn. Further examples were also built after the war, and new types of diesel locomotives were created primarily for private and works railways, which were more or less based on this model.

In the Bundesbahn, the V 36 was not only used for shunting, but often also on secondary lines with passenger trains. Since the poor visibility due to the high hood proved to be a disadvantage when used on the line, conversions were also made. The best known was a tower on the driver's cab roof, with the driver standing on the driver's desk and having a better view of the route. A completely new high cab was built for the V 36 238, but this was the only example. Some V 36s were also modified with regard to the controls. In order to allow push-pull operation with control cars from multiple units, a number of machines were given push-pull control. Systems were initially used that required an additional man on the locomotive and only later variants were suitable for one-man operation. In addition, some locomotives were given multiple controls so that two V 36s could be coupled together at the cabs and manned by one driver.

V 36 123 of the Franconian Switzerland steam railway with a tower cab in October 2016 in Muggendorf

Reinhold Möller

When the changeover to computer numbers was made, V 36s were still existing in both German states. Since 1968 they have been known as class 236 in the Bundesbahn and as class 103 in the Reichsbahn since 1970. The former was phased out in the 1970s, the latter in the 1980s. Today there are several locomotives, some of which are roadworthy and some of which are used regularly.

The WR 550 D 14 was built as the largest of the Wehrmacht locomotives, which had four axles and an engine power of 550 hp. In terms of appearance, it largely corresponded to its three-axle sister, but was 1.5 meters longer and looked a bit beefier, mainly because of the thicker frame. The biggest difference was that the four wheel sets were all closely spaced and the jackshaft was at the rear end instead of in the middle. As with the WR 200 B 14, slightly different versions with different engines were planned depending on the manufacturer. These were the BMAG version with a six-cylinder MWM engine, the O&K version with a six-cylinder from MAN and the Deutz version with their own eight-cylinder.

Due to the bottlenecks during the war, only one example of each of the three types was produced. Two of them fell into British hands during the war in North Africa and were scrapped after a few years of further use. The O&K locomotive was a special case, which was converted to the so-called “Panzertriebwagen Pz.TR.Wg. 16” (tank railcar) in 1943. For this purpose, the locomotive was completely encased in armor and an armored trailer with four axles was attached to both ends. A rotating turret with a cannon was installed on each of these carriages, there are also photos with anti-aircraft quadruplets. The vehicle came to Poland after the war and was allegedly used there against insurgents. Today it can be seen in Warsaw in the Railway Museum.

The Wehrmacht procured four diesel-electric double locomotives, which were to transport the gigantic 80 cm guns to their place of use and align them in position. These guns weighed 1,350 tonnes and required several trains to transport them. Although four double locomotives were planned, only two were completed, of which only one was actually used.

The guns were not railway guns in the true sense of the word, but rather stationary, which were only transported by rail and had to be set up on site. There, the crews of several construction trains created a spacious position with a double-track curved track to align the cannon. Although the fine alignment was done by electric motors under their own power, the locomotives were needed to move them on the curve of the track. Two of these double locomotives were provided for this purpose, which, thanks to their electrical power transmission, could also supply the current for the gun.

Each half had a six-cylinder in-line MAN engine that produced 691 kW (940 hp). Each of the four axles mounted in a frame had its own nose-suspended motor. A maximum speed of 75 km/h could be reached for transport to the position or other journeys.

After the locomotives were only rarely used during the war, the Bundesbahn subsequently took over two double units in their fleet and kept a third as a spare parts donor. In order to improve performance in freight transport, two Maybach V12s, each with 808 kW, were installed, as they were also used in the modern V 200. The locomotives were given the same red paintwork as the new-build locomotives and, according to the applicable scheme, were designated V 188 due to their original 1,880 hp total output. With the new scheme of 1968, they became the class 288, but the first locomotive was retired in 1969 and was not given a new number. The original D 311 04 and later V 188 02 a+b was renumbered 288 002 and was kept in stock until the beginning of June 1972.

After the Second World War, Henschel offered shunting locomotives for industrial companies that were similar to the Wehrmacht locomotives such as the WR 200 B 14 and the WR 360 C 14 except for a few details. From 1954 locomotives of the so-called second post-war generation emerged, which attracted attention with their modern-looking exterior with many curves. As with competing products, the cab was moved slightly to the middle and raised compared to the hoods in order to improve visibility in both directions.

The smallest variant was the DH 240 with only two axles, whose designation suggests an engine output of 240 hp. That power came from a small eight-cylinder, 22-litre, turbocharged engine from Motorenwerke Mannheim, mated to a Voith torque converter driving a jackshaft. The wheel sets were then driven via coupling rods. 

A total of 14 pieces were originally delivered to several industrial and mining companies. After many years of service with their original operators, some locomotives were sold abroad.

The third post-war generation of Henschel shunting locomotives was based directly on the second, but used a larger number of standardized assemblies. There were again two- to four-axle locomotives, the engine power of which sometimes overlapped and made it necessary to include the wheel arrangement in the designation.

The DH 360 Ca and DH 500 Ca models were therefore three-axle locomotives with 360 and 500 hp respectively. The weaker variant used a V12 diesel from Henschel that was not turbocharged. The variant with 500 hp received the Mercedes-Benz MB 836 Bb, which already powered the previous series. Overall, the third-generation locomotives were available with 120 to 850 hp, with the three-axle models later also being offered with 700 hp. 

No locomotives of this generation were delivered to the Bundesbahn ex works and customers were primarily found in the mining industry. The DH 500 Ca also found customers in Spain, Switzerland, Norway, Sudan and Ghana. A total of 18 DH 360 Ca and 89 DH 500 Ca were built.

The three-axle models of the second Henschel post-war generation started with the DH 390 and shortly afterwards the weaker DH 360. Soon the engine power was increased to 440 and finally 500 hp thanks to new engines. The engine used in the DH 440 was the MAN W 8 V 17.5/22 A with a displacement of 42 liters and eight cylinders, which reached its rated output at 1,100 rpm. The DH 500, on the other hand, received the Mercedes-Benz MB 836 Bb with a displacement of just under 30 liters from six cylinders, which, however, with 1,500 rpm was already one of the high-speed engines and was turbocharged. 

The DH 440 only reached a quantity of six, half of which went to various companies and half to the Danish State Railways. However, the latter had 120 copies built by Frichs as MH (II) without licensing. The DH 500 was offered from 1956 as a „Hüttenlok” (smelter locomotive) because it was a suitable locomotive for the narrow tracks of the metallurgical works with sufficient power for the heavy loads. This was partly thanks to the shorter overall length due to the smaller engine. It could anticipate some improvements that led to the DH 500 Ca from Henschel's third generation.

The Arnold Jung Lokomotivfabrik also offered some diesel-hydraulic shunting locomotives in the 1950s, which were based on the Wehrmacht diesel locomotives. Two-axle vehicles with 300 hp, three-axle vehicles with 300, 400 and 440 hp and a four-axle vehicle with 600 hp were available. The designation of these locomotives consisted of an R for “shunting locomotive”, a number that indicated the approximate horsepower in tens and the letter B, C or D for the number of axles. There were also the RK 12 B and RK 20 B with chain drive. Although these were the first successful young diesel locomotives of the post-war period, the manufacturer referred to these locomotives as the “third generation” with regard to the former models from earlier times.

The R 42 C was the most successful variant of the series with 29 units. In reality, it had an output of 440 hp, which came from an eight-cylinder in-line MAN engine. This was the same engine like that used in the competing 440 hp Henschel and Krauss-Maffei locomotives. The Bundeswehr was the largest customer with seven vehicles. In contrast to their competitors, the young locomotives found fewer sales in industrial companies and were used more often on light and district railways.

After the three-axle six-cylinder models based on the WR 360 C 14, KHD developed the two-axle models of the T4M series. While four-stroke in-line engines had previously been installed, two-stroke engines in a V design were now used. These were not only lighter than their predecessors, but also saved quite a bit of height. This allowed the hood to be flatter, which significantly improved the driver's view. With 225 hp, the engine of the fifth generation was already more powerful than in the two-axle Wehrmacht locomotive and this was increased again in the sixth generation to between 240 and 260 hp. The use of the same designations for the locomotive and engine soon turned out to be a marketing problem when some T4M 525 R model locomotives were built with engines of the sixth generation. The locomotives were still sold as T4M 525 R, but the engine was now called T4M 625 R and led to confusion with the more powerful locomotive.

Nevertheless, a total of 25 pieces of the weaker and 76 pieces of the stronger variant were sold. Within Germany, six locomotives could again be sold to the British Army of the Rhine, while most customers only bought a smaller number or even individual locomotives. In addition to these locomotives with four-cylinder engines, the three-axle T6M 625 R with 400 hp and the T8M 625 R with 530 hp were also built, in which the same V-engines with six and eight cylinders werde used. With them, the driver's cab was not at the very end, as there was still a smaller hood behind it. Of them, however, only eleven and two pieces were made.

41 of the T4M 625 R found their customers at various operators in Sweden. Most of them ended up with the state railway SJ and were given either the designation Z6 or Z64. Towards the end of the 1970s they not only received 272 hp Scania engines, but also revised and soundproof cabs. Only in the 1990s were the latter transferred to lower-value services and later mostly resold.