5
Information about the prototype
In the early part of 1907, Maffei was given the contract to build
a Pacific compound locomotive for the Bavarian State Railroad.
Based on the Baden “IV f” built by the same builder, Maffei
developed the Bavarian S 3/6, which was fated to fascinate
generations of railroad fans by virtue of its timelessly elegant
appearance that was chiefly characterized by the four-cylinder
compound running gear.
The first unit left the builder in July of 1908. Another six locomo-
tives followed it in the same year. By 1911, Maffei delivered
another 16 mostly identical units in three builder series (a to c).
Departing from these first 23 locomotives, 18 units (Series d and
e, Maffei 1912/1913) were equipped with driving wheels with
2,000 mm / 78-3/4“ diameter instead of 1,870 mm / 73-5/8”. This
also caused the boiler to sit higher on these units. Starting with
Series f (three units, 1913/1914) however, the builder returned to
the original driving wheel diameter. By 1918, the Series i closed
out this first purchasing period. With the exception of the 18
“High Steppers”, the remaining 71 units all had “wind splitter”
streamlined cabs. The second purchasing period began in
1923 and did not end until the State Railroad era in 1931. Maffei
delivered the Series k with 30 units in 1923/24. The Series l and
m followed in 1927/28 (20 units) as well as the Series n with only
two units in 1930. The last 18 units of the S 3/6 as the Series o
were built by Henschel in 1930/31 under license because Maffei
went bankrupt.
The locomotives were initially based in Munich, Nürnberg, and
Ludwigshafen and they ran in heavy express train service. After
World War I, 19 units had to be surrendered as reparations. On
the DRG the remaining locomotives with small wheels were
given the road numbers 18 401-434, 18 461-478, and 18 479-548.
The units with large wheels were given the road numbers 18 441-
458. In addition to the great Bavarian maintenance facilities, the
locations at Wiesbaden, Darmstadt, Halle / S., and Osnabrück
were also home bases for the Bavarian flagship locomotive. The
most famous train assignment during the State Railroad era was
surely the FFD 101/102 “Rheingold”. After World War II, these
locomotives migrated for the most part into ordinary passenger
service. From 1953 to 1956, 30 units from the last three series
were updated by the DB from the ground up. By 1962 the last of
their non-modernized siblings were in storage. Only road number
18 505 remained in operation at the BZA Minden as an experi-
mental locomotive until May of 1967. Today it can be admired at
the DGEG Railroad Museum in Neustadt / Weinstrasse.
