Class 01.10

Updated: August 2026 – When a German steam locomotive is marked for 150 km/h, things get interesting. The Class 01.10 was the fastest series-built express locomotive that ran regularly in German passenger service: three cylinders, a massive boiler, streamlined from the factory. This page explains what the decimal figure in the designation means, how to identify the engine, and how to plan a sighting.

What is the Class 01.10?

The Class 01.10 is a three-cylinder express passenger steam locomotive with a tender, built in 1939 and 1940 in 55 examples. Like its sister, the Class 01, it has wheel arrangement 2’C1’, but works with a third, inside cylinder and was rated for 150 km/h. It was delivered with a full streamlined casing intended to reduce air resistance, which disappeared again after the war.

Operationally, it was the top-of-the-line engine for heavy express trains on main lines – wherever high speed was required over longer distances. At Deutsche Bundesbahn, the engines received new numbers in 1968: 011 for the coal-fired locomotives, 012 for the oil-fired ones. None remain in regular service today; surviving vehicles are heritage and special-train locomotives.

Why the designation has a decimal figure

German steam locomotive classes often carry a number after the point – 01.10, 01.5, 03.10, 50.35. This decimal figure isn’t a mere addition but genuine information about the design.

If you want to get to grips with this system, the guide to identifying classes offers a suitable sequence of checks. For research into historic vehicles and their number changes, the guide to heritage railways is also a good starting point.

The 01.10 compared with its sisters

Among German express steam locomotives, the designs differ less in appearance than in details you need to know. This overview lists the key features.

Feature	Class 01	Class 01.10	Class 03.10
Wheel arrangement	2’C1’	2’C1’	2’C1’
Cylinders	two, both outside	three, one inside	three, one inside
Maximum speed	130 km/h	150 km/h	150 km/h
Streamlined casing from the factory	no	yes	yes
Build period	1925–1938	1939–1940	1939–1940

The Class 03.10 is thus the lighter counterpart to the 01.10, built for lines with a lower permitted axle load. The two-cylinder Class 01 remains the starting point of the whole family, and the Class 01.5 shows how Deutsche Reichsbahn later rebuilt the same basic engines in the east.

How you’ll find a 01.10 today

There’s no timetable, but there is a reliable research route. Historic express locomotives are kept by heritage operators, societies and foundations such as the Ulmer Eisenbahnfreunde, and are moved only for specific occasions.

The systematic starting point for this is the guide to finding special trains and special runs.

Photo tips for the fast three-cylinder engines

Big steam locomotives are photographically rewarding and difficult at the same time. They fill the frame, but also happily obscure themselves with their own steam plume.

• Check the wind direction before setting up. A crosswind carries the plume out of the shot and reveals the boiler and running gear; a tailwind lays it over the engine.
• Cold weather produces spectacularly heavy steam – and in still air, obscures everything. In that case, stand further forward or lower.
• The running gear is the subject. An angle of roughly 30 to 45 degrees to the vehicle’s axis shows cylinders, rods and wheels simultaneously.
• Choose your shutter speed deliberately. Short for crisply frozen connecting rods, longer for visible motion – both work, as long as it’s intentional.

Because you often work from a greater distance at special runs, focal length is decisive. Which lenses make sense for this, and where affordable telephoto optics reach their limits, is covered in the guide to the best telephoto lens for railway photography. The basics specifically for steam are in the guide to steam train photography.

Why streamlined casings disappeared again

In the late 1930s, fast locomotives in several countries were given full streamlined casings. The idea was sound: at 150 km/h, air resistance costs measurable power, and a smooth shell reduces it. In practice, though, the concept failed – and the reasons explain why you no longer see a cased German steam locomotive today.

The first reason is maintenance. A steam locomotive needs regular access to the boiler, fittings, lubrication points and running gear. Every casing panel that has to be opened or removed for this costs time – on every inspection, every day. The second reason is heat: under the casing, heat built up, which made working on the vehicle even harder. The third reason is simply the everyday operation of the post-war years, in which speed records no longer mattered but every workshop hour did.

For spotters and photographers, this has a practical consequence: photos of the same engine from different decades show completely different-looking vehicles. Anyone wanting to place historic pictures must therefore always determine the era first before thinking about the class.

Common mix-ups

Verdict

The Class 01.10 marks the point at which German steam locomotive design pushed furthest towards speed without abandoning the proven 2’C1’ basic form. Three cylinders, 150 km/h, a boiler that makes the engine unmistakably massive. With a bit of practice you can identify it by the inside valve gear – but the number decides for certain, and depending on the era that can read 01 10xx, 011 or 012.