Product Features and Details
In 1905, the Royal Bavarian State Railway Company decided to commission its long-standing supplier, Maffei of Munich, to build a special locomotive for high-speed testing. The order was placed in December 1905 and, after a few months of industrious hard work, the new locomotive got up steam for the first time on 30 April 1906. It was first shown to the public in May 1906 at the Bavarian State Exhibition in Nuremberg.
Even on the inaugural runs, it was evident that the new locomotive not only fulfilled, but also surpassed all expectations. Even when operating at high speeds, it demonstrated low-noise running properties and the boiler always delivered plenty of steam to the balanced four-cylinder engine. In July 1907, the locomotive set a new speed record of 154.4 km/h on a test run between Munich and Augsburg. It was the fastest steam locomotive of its era on the entire European continent.
After these record runs, the S 2/6 was used for the regular express train service from Munich, mainly on the Munich-Augsburg line. In 1910, the locomotive was handed over to the Palatinate Network. Even as a daily express train, the S 2/6 demonstrated outstanding operational characteristics.
The S 2/6 was taken out of service in 1925. However, instead of being scrapped, it was renovated at the Maffei factory and exhibited to an appreciative public at the Munich Transport Exhibition. When the exhibition closed, the S 2/6 went to the Transport Museum in Nuremberg, where it still delights visitors as proof of the outstanding achievements realised by the Bavarian locomotive industry 100 years ago.
When it was commissioned and completed its sensational record runs in 1906, the S 2/6 wore an elegant grey coat of paint. The boiler was clad with a "polished Russian iron jacket", which was the very latest thing in locomotive design at that time.
