Class 56.34-35 | TrainsDepot.org

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Class 56.34-35

Also known as: BR 56.34-35

Vehicle type: Steam locomotive

Registration country: Germany

Railway companies: DRG / DRB - Deutsche Reichsbahn

Vehicle's history

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1938

Following the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in March 1938, the Austrian Federal Railways (BBÖ) were incorporated into the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DRB). As part of the integration of the Austrian locomotive fleet, all 100 BBÖ Class 270 steam locomotives were taken over and reclassified as Class 56.34-35, receiving the running numbers 56.3401 - 56.3500.

The new designation placed the Austrian locomotives within the Reichsbahn’s Class 56 group, which included several different types of 1′D freight steam locomotives inherited from former German state railways and other railway administrations. The former Austrian Class 170, from which the Class 270 had been developed, was also incorporated into this group, receiving numbers within the Class 56.31-34 range.

During their Deutsche Reichsbahn service, the Class 56.34-35 locomotives continued to perform a wide variety of duties. Although principally intended for freight traffic, their versatility allowed them to be employed on different types of trains, making them useful general-purpose locomotives throughout their German service.

1939

The outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 substantially changed railway operations across Central Europe. As the Deutsche Reichsbahn assumed responsibility for railway networks in German-occupied territories, locomotives were increasingly redistributed according to operational and military requirements. The Class 56.34-35 fleet, which initially consisted of 100 former Austrian BBÖ Class 270 locomotives numbered 56.3401 - 56.3500 was subsequently expanded to include locomotives acquired from other railway administrations.

Following the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, several locomotives belonging to the Polish State Railways (PKP) Class Tr12 were incorporated into the Deutsche Reichsbahn fleet. These locomotives were direct descendants of the Austrian kkStB Class 270 design, having been manufactured in Austria and Poland during the 1920s. The German authorities assigned 33 former Polish locomotives the numbers 56.3501 - 56.3533, extending the existing Class 56.34-35 numbering sequence beyond the original Austrian fleet.

The subsequent invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941 resulted in 4 former JDŽ Class 25 being incorporated and renumbered 56.3534 - 56.3537.

Further additions followed Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, when additional former PKP Class Tr12 locomotives, previously captured by Soviet forces in 1939, came under German control. Nine of these locomotives were incorporated into the Deutsche Reichsbahn fleet as 56.3538 - 56.3546. Other captured locomotives continued operating under their previous designations, particularly within the German-administered Ostbahn railway network in occupied Poland.

1945

The end of the Second World War in May 1945 brought another major reorganisation of the fleet. The collapse of Nazi Germany and the subsequent restoration of independent railway administrations resulted in the redistribution of locomotives that had been operating under Deutsche Reichsbahn control. Only 25 locomotives from the former Austrian Class 270 fleet remained in Austria after the war. These subsequently entered the re-established Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), where they were reclassified as Class 156, retaining the numerical portion of their former Deutsche Reichsbahn running numbers.

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