Class 23

Updated: August 2026 – At a time when West Germany was already thinking about diesel locomotives, the Deutsche Bundesbahn built an entire steam locomotive class once more: the Class 23. It was meant to replace the Prussian P 8, proven a thousand times over, and so became the last major passenger steam locomotive of the West. This page shows you how to identify it, how it fits into the wider picture, and how to catch a sighting today.

What is the Class 23?

The Class 23 is a passenger steam locomotive with a tender and the wheel arrangement 1’C1’, built between 1950 and 1959 in 105 examples with the numbers 23 001 to 23 105. It works with two outside cylinders in superheated-steam operation and was rated for 110 km/h.

Its job was clearly defined: to replace the Prussian P 8, which as Class 38 had carried passenger services for decades and was slowly reaching its limits. The 23 therefore belongs to the Deutsche Bundesbahn’s new-build locomotives – post-war designs with modern welded boilers, large cab windows and small smoke deflectors. Historical irony: the rapid advance of diesel and electric traction cut its service life dramatically short. Today no Class 23 remains in scheduled service.

Placing the wheel arrangement

The 1’C1’ sits between the two better-known designs and explains exactly what the machine was built for. Once you understand this system, you can place any steam locomotive within seconds.

Wheel arrangement	Coupled axles	Designed for	Example classes
2’C1’	three	fast express trains on main lines	01, 03
1’C1’	three	passenger trains with many stops	23, 38
1’D1’	four	heavy trains on gradients	22, 41
1’E	five	freight trains	50, 52
1’D2’	four	passenger tank locomotives	65

The difference between 2’C1’ and 1’C1’ sounds small but matters in practice: a two-axle leading bogie guides the locomotive better at high speed, but costs weight and length. For passenger trains with many stops that outlay does not pay off. How to work through such features in the field is covered in the guide to identifying locomotive classes.

New-build locomotives and their context

The Class 23 does not stand alone. New steam locomotive classes emerged in both German states after 1950, often for comparable tasks but developed separately.

The East German equivalent is the Class 23.10 / 35.10, and its predecessor is the widespread Prussian P 8. From the same new-build generation, but as a tank locomotive, comes the Class 65.10.

Spotting: how to find a Class 23

There is no timetable for steam locomotives, but there is a reliable research path – umbrella bodies such as the Association of German Museum and Heritage Railways (VDMT) collect the dates of their member organisations. Surviving machines belong to museum operators such as the South German Railway Museum in Heilbronn, societies and heritage operators, who publish their own dates.

• Operator websites first. They state whether a locomotive is operational or currently under overhaul. This information is the precondition for everything else.
• Event calendars next. Station festivals, anniversaries, museum days and vehicle gatherings are the occasions for steam workings.
• Community forums last. Short-notice changes, locomotive swaps and cancellations appear there before official channels.
• Check the running route before you travel. Only with the route and times can you choose publicly accessible locations.

How to combine these sources efficiently is covered in the guide to finding special and heritage trains.

Photo tips for passenger steam locomotives

A Class 23 is smaller and more compact than the large express machines – that changes your composition.

• Getting closer is fine, standing closer isn’t. The more compact machine fills the frame less at the same distance; solve that with focal length, not with your position.
• The setting tells part of the story. Passenger locomotives belong to branch lines, small stations and landscapes. A photo that shows the context is often stronger than a pure vehicle portrait.
• Check the wind direction. Steam drifts across the whole machine in unfavourable wind. A side-on viewpoint helps.
• Get the running number in the frame. 23 plus the running number is the information that makes your sighting unambiguous.

The technical details – equipment, shutter speed, handling the steam plume – are covered in the guide to steam train photography.

Why the service life stayed so short

The Class 23 is a vehicle that convinced technically and still disappeared early. The reason lies not in its design, but in its timing.

When the first machines were delivered in 1950, passenger service was still firmly in steam’s hands. A few years later, electrification of the main lines accelerated, and on branch lines diesel railcars and diesel locomotives took over the workings. A steam locomotive needs coaling, water, servicing facilities, ash pits and staff for firing up and finishing work – all of that is infrastructure that only pays off when enough steam vehicles use it. As soon as a locomotive depot switched to diesel, that infrastructure disappeared, and the steam locomotives based there lost their home.

This chain reaction explains why the new-build locomotives of the 1950s achieved so few years in service. For spotters this has an indirect consequence: because many of these machines ran comparatively little, several survived in good condition – 23 076, for instance, at the Stoom Stichting Nederland. Ironically, it was the short service life that helped ensure vehicles of this generation can still be seen today.

Common mix-ups

Conclusion

The Class 23 marks the end point of a development: the last major West German passenger steam locomotive, built at a time when its own demise was already technically foreseeable. It’s quick to identify – one leading axle, three driving axles, post-war styling – and even quicker to place, because the class number 23 gives away its passenger duty directly. Today you can only see one at museum operators and heritage runs.