I'm mostly into 1/144 scale I have most of the dragon German military rail stuff, they also recently came out with two sets with an armored locomotive. What I'm interested in is the steam locomotives that were commonly in use during the war in Germany. I would like to know what locomotives were commonly used then. I went to blueprint.com but they had so many listed it was not helpful and some had dates but that doesn't mean just because it was there in 1940 that it saw much use. I also tried going online but could only really verify like two. Anyway would much appreciate any info, thanks for your time.
From 1942 onwards look for DRB 52 class of which between 6100 to 7000 were built The "Standardpanzerzug BP42" (Nr. 61 - 72) usually had the BR 57 class locomotives, the later introduced BP44 (Nr. 73 - 84) also the DRB 52
Might be of interest to you Deutsche Reichsbahn - The German State Railway - Feldgrau History: German Railways after 1920
You will find German railway enthusiasts at the Axis History Forum. Post your questions in the Economy sub-forum, where there is a long thread about railroads on the Eastern Front. Also this military journal article might be of interest: The Influence of Railways on Military Operations in the Russo-German War 1941–1945 — History of Military LogisticsHistory of Military Logistics
There is a book, The German Pacific Locomotive, David Maidment, Pen & Sword 2017 that details all the major 4-6-2 express passenger classes from their earliest introduction to recent plandampf excursions. There are a small number of WW2 era photos plus many from the immediate and post war period. The appendices include full lists of numbers, build dates and stored and withdrawn dates. Some are listed as 'war damage'. It should be possible to use this to work out which classes were in use during the war but of course, pacific classes only in this book no freight. Having said that, the Germans built surprisingly few locos post war (plenty or rebuilds and new boilers) so its likely pretty well any German loco could be regarded as in use during the war. Notable exceptions include the DB23 and and DB65. Also most of the streamliners also lost their coverings post 45 and the book includes some interesting pictures of damaged and partially de streamlined in use and in store after the war.
