Key takeaways
- DLM builds steam locomotives after the end of the steam era – not as replicas, but as technically further-developed new designs.
- The tell-tale feature is the oil firing. No coal bunker, no flying sparks, a noticeably cleaner exhaust.
- The focus is rack and tourist railways, where steam is a selling point rather than a nostalgia project.
- The second line of business is conversions: historic machines get modern firing and controls.
- DLM itself never runs the trains – the locomotives belong to, and run for, the railways that ordered them.
Contents
- 1.Fact file
- 2.Business areas
- 3.History at a glance
- 4.How to recognise the company
- 5.Strengths and weaknesses
- 6.Why anyone still builds steam locomotives after 1968
- 7.Oil firing: the one feature that changes everything
- 8.How to approach an unfamiliar steam locomotive
- 9.Newbuild, conversion, restoration – three different things
- 10.How good are your chances of a steam trip?
- 11.Is this a modern steam locomotive?
- 12.Verdict
- 13.Frequently asked questions
Fact file
| Role in the system | Specialist manufacturer for steam technology – newbuilds, conversions and modernisation |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Winterthur, Switzerland – at the traditional home of Swiss locomotive building |
| Founded | in the 1990s, long after steam locomotive building in Europe had ended |
| Hallmark | light-oil-fired steam locomotives instead of coal firing |
| Typical customers | Rack railways and tourist railways, heritage railway societies, steamship operators |
| Own train operation | none – the railways that order the vehicles do the running |
| Second line of business | Steam engines beyond the rail, for example for paddle steamers |
| Official website | dlm-ag.ch |
Business areas
History at a glance
How to recognise Dampflokomotiv- und Maschinenfabrik AG (DLM)
Does the train really belong to Dampflokomotiv- und Maschinenfabrik AG (DLM)?
- No coal bunker – oil-fired machines carry a tank rather than a heaped-up coal supply
- Clean exhaust – no flying sparks, hardly any fly ash, usually a light or barely visible exhaust plume
- Enclosed cab – newbuilds have glazing and weather protection instead of an open design
- Modern details on an old silhouette – hoses, fittings and control units that didn't historically exist
- No fireman in the classic sense – the firing is regulated, not shovelled
- Works plate instead of build-year romance – newbuilds carry years of build that don't match their period styling
Strengths and weaknesses
What the company stands for
- New-build steam locomotives are extremely rare – every sighting is worth its own entry
- Oil-fired machines keep running even under wildfire risk, when coal locomotives have to stop
- Less smoke means a clearer view of the machine and the landscape when photographing
- The vehicles run on tourist railways with a reliable summer timetable
Where it falls short
- Very small numbers built – the chance of a random sighting is low
- Oil-fired locomotives don't produce the smoke plume many photographers expect
- The vehicles are held by the operating railways, not by the manufacturer – the company name doesn't appear trackside
- There's no reliable public source for order books and production numbers
- Duties are concentrated in season and on mountain lines, hardly ever in everyday service
Updated: August 2026 – When the Swiss Federal Railways ended scheduled steam operation in 1968, steam locomotive building in Europe was considered finished. The Dampflokomotiv- und Maschinenfabrik AG in Winterthur works directly against that verdict. After the end of the steam era, it has delivered brand-new steam locomotives – not replicas, but machines with oil firing, an enclosed cab and modern control systems.
Log steam sightings with the works number
With small production runs, every detail counts – number, railway and date captured in seconds.
Why anyone still builds steam locomotives after 1968
Steam operation wasn’t abolished because the technology was poor, but because it was labour-intensive. A fireman, long raising-steam times, coal supply, ash disposal: in everyday service, none of that stacked up any more against diesel and electric traction.
In one niche, the sums reverse. On a tourist mountain railway, the steam locomotive isn’t the means of transport – it’s the product. Passengers come for the machine. Anyone running a locomotive there that starts reliably, ties up little staff and creates no wildfire risk has a better business proposition than a diesel railcar.
That’s exactly where DLM steps in. Its designs don’t draw on historic drawings but take the principle of steam and lay it out afresh with today’s materials, today’s control technology and today’s safety requirements. What has resulted are, above all, rack locomotives for mountain railways in Switzerland and Austria – vehicles that look like steam locomotives and, operationally, behave more like modern traction units.
Oil firing: the one feature that changes everything
Anyone trying to identify a steam locomotive normally looks at the wheel arrangement, boiler position and cab shape. With modern steam technology, one more feature is added that you can spot from 200 metres: the exhaust.
A coal-fired machine throws out a dark plume with sparks and fly ash every time it accelerates. An oil-fired machine doesn’t. The exhaust stays light or, in warm weather, is barely visible at all. On the tender or supply container, there’s no heaped-up mound of coal – instead there’s an enclosed tank. And in the cab there’s no fireman shovelling, but a regulated burner system.
That has operational consequences you notice trackside. Oil-fired machines are ready for service faster, because raising steam doesn’t have to be controlled by hand. They hold boiler pressure more steadily, which on steep gradients makes the difference between running to schedule and struggling along. And they’re permitted to operate where the authorities have imposed a spark-flight ban during dry weather – for a railway whose summer business depends on the steam locomotive, that isn’t a detail, it’s the basis of its existence.
Firing first, then design
When logging steam sightings, always note both: the design and the firing type. The same class can run in both variants, and for later analysis that's the crucial difference. How to set up your archive for this is described in the guide to keeping a sightings logbook.
How to approach an unfamiliar steam locomotive
Count the wheel arrangement
Count driving and carrying axles separately. This narrows down the design fastest and works even from a distance.
Check the supply
Coal bunker or tank? This one look decides whether you're looking at a classic or a modernised machine.
Look for a rack gear
A visible rack gear between the wheels means a mountain railway. Pure rack locomotives look entirely different in their motion work from adhesion locomotives.
Read the works plate
Manufacturer, works number and year of build are usually on the side of the frame or on the cab. A recent year of build on old-style period looks is the surest sign of a newbuild.
Note the operator
The locomotive belongs to the railway, not the manufacturer. Without the operator, the sighting is barely traceable later.
Newbuild, conversion, restoration – three different things
In everyday scene usage, these terms get muddled together. But they describe completely different vehicles.
| Approach | What happens | Result on the vehicle | Typical customer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newbuild | complete new construction | modern year of build, modern firing | Rack and tourist railways |
| Conversion | firing and controls renewed | old design, new technology in the detail | Heritage and traditional railways |
| Restoration | returned to original condition | historically accurate, coal firing | Societies and museums |
| Overhaul | fit-for-service repair | externally unchanged, new boiler possible | Works such as Meiningen |
The difference isn’t academic. A restored SBB C 5/6 is deliberately run exactly as it was delivered. A converted machine like some examples of Class 52.80 is optimised for reliable running in today’s environment. And the 18 201 shows just how far conversions can go.
Don't miss steam days
With the Traintrack app, you see what steam sightings other people are reporting right now.
How good are your chances of a steam trip?
Is the trip worthwhile?
The railway's own announcement beats any statistic – steam only runs if the machine is fit for service.
Is this a modern steam locomotive?
Modern steam technology, if …
- an oil tank is carried instead of a coal supply
- the exhaust stays free of sparks and a dark plume
- the works plate shows a year of build after the end of the steam era
Look more closely, if …
- a historic design has an unusually clean exhaust
- modern gauges and displays are visible in the cab
- the locomotive runs during wildfire risk while others stand idle
Classic coal locomotive, if …
- coal is visibly heaped up and a fireman is shovelling
- sparks and fly ash occur when it accelerates
- the operator explicitly advertises its as-delivered condition
Both variants are worth photographing, but in different ways. On curving lines such as the Albula line near Bergün or at the Landwasser Viaduct, a clear view of the motion work is worth more than a smoke plume. On the Brocken line of the Harz narrow-gauge railways, the opposite is true: there, the smoke is part of the subject.
Steam operation means heat and sparks
Around the firebox of a steam locomotive, temperatures are high, and with coal firing sparks fly. Keep your distance, photograph from platforms and publicly accessible points, and don't enter track areas. The rules are set out in Safe distance from the track and in the article on house rules at stations.
Verdict
DLM AG is neither a museum nor a nostalgia project, but a specialist business with a clear thesis: steam power is a technology that can be developed further rather than merely preserved. For spotters that matters, because it produces vehicles that don’t fit into any of the usual pigeonholes.
If you see a steam locomotive with a clean exhaust, an oil tank and an enclosed cab, you’re not looking at a poorly restored old machine. You’re looking at modern steam engineering – and one of the rarest vehicle categories there is. For your archive that means: such vehicles deserve a full description, because they’re not cleanly captured in any standard list and the fleet barely changes over the years.
In short
A small-batch manufacturer with one unmistakable feature: oil firing instead of coal. Anyone who spots the missing coal bunker and the clean exhaust is looking at modern steam technology – no matter how old the design looks.
Rare vehicles deserve a proper note
Design, firing type, operator and works number – all together in one entry in Traintrack.
Summary
- The company disproves the assumption that steam locomotive building is a closed chapter: there are niches where the technology works economically.
- Anyone who sees a steam locomotive with a clean exhaust and an enclosed cab is probably not looking at a restored old machine, but at modern steam engineering.
- The small production numbers make every encounter worth documenting – it's worth noting the works number and operator in full here.
- There's no reliable public source for production figures and order books, so this page sticks to design and principle.
Frequently asked questions
Are genuinely new steam locomotives still built today?
In very small numbers, yes. DLM AG in Winterthur has delivered brand-new steam locomotives after the end of scheduled steam operation, above all rack locomotives for tourist mountain railways. This isn't a mass-market business but a niche: where steam is the product itself, the effort pays off.
How do I recognise an oil-fired steam locomotive?
By the missing coal supply and by the exhaust. Where a coal-fired locomotive has a heaped-up coal bunker, oil firing has an enclosed tank instead. The exhaust is noticeably cleaner, no sparks fly, and the smoke plume stays light or is absent altogether. For identifying the design itself, the usual route via the guide to identifying locomotive classes still applies.
Why oil instead of coal at all?
Three reasons: sparks, ease of operation and staffing. Oil firing can be regulated like a burner instead of being shovelled by hand. In forested, dry areas, the absence of flying sparks is often the very condition under which running is permitted at all. And an operation without a fireman in the classic sense is easier to staff.
Does DLM run its own trains?
No. Like any manufacturer, the company delivers vehicles that afterwards belong to the railways that ordered them. Running is done by their staff under their operating licence. The company name therefore appears at most on the works plate, never on the data panel as the keeper – how to cleanly separate keeper and operator is explained in Who actually runs the train?.
What does DLM do besides locomotives?
Steam engines beyond the railway. Modern steam propulsion systems have been supplied for paddle steamers on Swiss lakes, and there are stationary applications too. The common thread is always the same: an old technology rebuilt with today's materials, today's controls and today's safety requirements.
Are converted locomotives still historically authentic?
That's the perennial argument in the scene. A machine converted to oil firing is more reliable and cheaper to run, but departs in detail from its as-delivered condition. For your logbook that means: note the condition, not just the design. An oil-fired Class 52.80 is a different thing from a coal-fired one.
Where am I most likely to see modern steam technology?
On rack and tourist railways in the Alps, and there in the summer timetable. Heritage railways such as the Harz narrow-gauge railways, by contrast, run mostly classic coal-fired steam. This only becomes plannable via each railway's own timetable – you can find special trains via the guide to special trains and charters.
How does DLM differ from the Dampflokwerk Meiningen?
The Dampflokwerk Meiningen is a repair works with boiler-building capability: it keeps the historic fleet in running order. DLM comes from the other direction and develops steam technology further. Both are specialists, but with a different basic stance – preservation versus further development.
Is steam worth photographing without a smoke plume?
Yes, just differently. Without a dense smoke plume you see the motion work, rods and landscape more clearly, which is an advantage especially on mountain lines. Anyone wanting the classic plume has to look for a coal-fired machine instead. Fundamentals and exposure questions are covered in the article How to photograph steam trains.
Log vehicles from Dampflokomotiv- und Maschinenfabrik AG (DLM)
Company, vehicle, location and date logged in seconds – and visible to the community.
The operational level in the railway operator database
Who actually runs the trains, with keeper markings and identifying features on the vehicle.
Dampfzug-Betriebs-Gemeinschaft
Dampfzug-Betriebs-Gemeinschaft carries its principle in its name: several parties bring together what's needed for a steam special train.
HeritageHarzer Schmalspurbahnen GmbH (HSB)
The Harzer Schmalspurbahnen run a metre-gauge network in the Harz with daily steam operation. You can spot them by the track alone, long before a train arrives.
HeritageMecklenburgische Bäderbahn Molli GmbH & Co KG
The Mecklenburg seaside railway Molli connects Bad Doberan with the Baltic coast – narrow gauge, with steam, and right through the middle of the street. This page explains the operation behind it.
Long-distanceSchweizerische Bundesbahnen (SBB)
The Swiss Federal Railways are the state railway of Switzerland and present across the whole country. This page shows what that means for the network and how to recognise its vehicles.
Typical vehicles
SBB C 5/6 (Elefant)
The C 5/6 'Elefant' was the SBB's heavy freight steam locomotive. This page explains the designation, axle arrangement and today's surviving museum stock.
ClassSBB A 3/5
The A 3/5 was the SBB's express steam locomotive before electrification. This page explains the Swiss classification system and today's surviving museum stock.
ClassClass 52.80
Class 52.80 is the rebuilt version of the wartime Class 52: 200 locomotives with a new boiler, converted from 1960. Today one of the most common museum steam locomotives.
Class18 201
The 18 201 is a one-off: assembled in 1961 at the Meiningen works from pre-war parts, certified for 180 km/h, and so the world's fastest operational steam locomotive.
ClassÖBB Class 52
The Class 52 is the Austrian version of the war locomotive: a freight steam engine with five coupled axles. Here's how to identify it reliably.
Where you will find Dampflokomotiv- und Maschinenfabrik AG (DLM)
Spotting locations where you will regularly come across vehicles from this organisation – with viewpoints, the best light and coordinates.
Albula line near Bergün
Between Bergün and Preda, the metre-gauge Albula line climbs over 400 metres – with spiral tunnels, loops and viaducts packed into a tight space. A railway trail runs right through the middle, and in winter the closed pass road becomes a sledging run.
Photo spotLandwasser Viaduct near Filisur
A curved limestone viaduct that leads, without warning, into a rock tunnel 65 metres up: the Landwasser Viaduct on the Rhaetian Railway is Switzerland's best-known railway subject. An official platform makes it one of the few Alpine subjects that even beginners can get right.
Junction stationBern Hauptbahnhof
Bern is the hub the Swiss timetable is built around. Two major railway companies share the same platforms, a narrow-gauge railway with its own terminus lies beneath the station – and the platforms are among the narrowest in the country.
Narrow gaugeHarzer Schmalspurbahnen zum Brocken
The Harzer Schmalspurbahnen operate Germany's largest connected metre-gauge network – and the only scheduled steam operation of this scale. On the Brockenbahn, trains work their way up to the highest mountain in northern Germany every day.
More companies
Dampflokwerk Meiningen
In Meiningen stands the works that operational steam in Germany depends on. Here complete steam locomotive boilers are built from scratch, here major overhauls are carried out – and here it's decided which historic machine will still be under steam in the years ahead.
Heritage railwayHarzer Schmalspurbahnen (HSB)
The Harzer Schmalspurbahnen run one of Europe's largest connected metre-gauge networks – and steam runs to a timetable on it. The Brockenbahn, Harzquerbahn and Selketalbahn are three very different railways under one roof.
Heritage railwayMuseumsbahn Blonay–Chamby
The Blonay–Chamby museum railway links two active metre-gauge networks over the slopes above Lake Geneva across just a few kilometres. The association runs steam and electric traction on its own line – and alongside that maintains one of the most extensive collections of historic narrow-gauge vehicles in Switzerland.
State railwaySchweizerische Bundesbahnen (SBB)
SBB doesn't label its vehicles with a class number but with a combination of letters that codes speed, coach class and type of traction. Anyone who can read Re, RABe and Ee identifies a Swiss vehicle faster than any database lookup.
Related guides from the blog
- How Do You Photograph Steam Trains? The Ultimate Guide to Steam Train Photography (Equipment, Settings, Light, Spots)
- Finding Special Trains and Charter Runs: Never Miss One Again
- Identifying Train Classes: How to Recognise Any Locomotive or Multiple Unit
- Railway Clubs in Germany, Austria & Switzerland: Types, Membership, Costs, Tips
- Keeping a Sighting Logbook: From Scraps of Paper to a Real Database
