Class 295

Updated: August 2026 – Anyone who spots a Class 295 first sees the same thing as with four other classes: a centre cab, two bonnets of unequal length, four axles on bogies. The V 90 family is one of the most instructive vehicle groups in German railway operation for exactly that reason – it shows where identifying by shape ends and reading the vehicle number begins.

What is the Class 295?

Class 295 is a four-axle diesel-hydraulic shunting and transfer locomotive from the V 90 vehicle family. All four axles are powered and sit in two two-axle bogies; power is transmitted hydraulically through a gearbox with shunting and line ranges.

Within the family – classes 290, 291, 294, 295 and 296 – the class digit reflects the equipment and rebuild status, not a different basic design. Wheel arrangement, body style and running gear are identical. That’s why the same principle applies to all these vehicles: the shape gets you to the family, the number to the class. Rebuilds and re-engining of machines in this family are now handled by specialist operators such as KSV Kompetenz für Schienengebundene Verkehre.

Type code 98: the starting point

The twelve-digit UIC vehicle number begins with two digits describing the type. They answer two questions at once – drive type and intended use.

Type code	Drive	Intended use	Everyday example
91	Electric	Line service	Electric locomotive ahead of a passenger or freight train
92	Diesel	Line service	Diesel locomotive on a non-electrified line
97	Electric	Shunting and operational service	Electric shunter under the wires
98	Diesel	Shunting and light-locomotive service	V 90 ahead of a transfer working

The 295 carries 98. That’s the norm in shunting duty, because transfer workings regularly run onto tracks without overhead lines. Electric shunters such as the Class E 63 therefore remained the exception. How the type digit sits within the full vehicle number is explained in the guide to reading the UIC number.

Telling the 29x family apart reliably

The general order for identifying unknown vehicles is described in the guide to identifying classes.

Where and when transfer workings happen

Shunting and transfer traffic doesn’t follow a clockface timetable, but the demand of the sidings it serves. Even so, there are patterns that make observation more predictable: connections are often served in fixed time windows, frequently in the early morning and mid-morning. Once you’ve watched a transfer line, you usually know its time window better than any online source.

• Transfer lines are often easy to view. They frequently run alongside public roads to industrial estates – ideal conditions for legal vantage points.
• Slowness is an advantage. Shunting and transfer workings are slow. That allows clean shots even in moderate light and makes reading the number easy.
• The train tells the story. Tank wagons, sliding-wall wagons or flat wagons say something about the siding being served – such details belong in the shot.
• Plan the number into the frame. A photo without a legible vehicle number is only half as valuable for this family.

Which focal length makes sense for this and where the limits lie is covered in the guide to focal length in railway photography. Locations and times of day around marshalling yards are described in the guide to spotting at marshalling yards.

What the B’B’ wheel arrangement delivers in shunting service

A locomotive’s wheel arrangement isn’t a formality, but a summary of its abilities. B’B’ means: two two-axle groups, each pivoted, all four axles powered. That yields three properties that fit shunting and transfer duty exactly.

Full adhesive weight. Tractive effort comes from the friction between wheel and rail. With all axles powered, the entire vehicle weight is available for that. A locomotive with carrying axles gives away potential here – in shunting duty, where heavy wagon groups have to be started from standstill, that would be a real disadvantage.

Curve negotiation. Siding tracks, loading roads and works access lines often have tight curves. Two short, pivoting groups get through where a rigid frame with four coupled axles would reach its limit. That’s exactly what separates the V 90 family from the three-axle V 60 generation with its rigid frame.

Balanced axle load. Four axles distribute the weight better than three. That matters because branch lines and siding railways aren’t always built for high axle loads – a locomotive not allowed to run there is useless to anyone.

This combination explains why the design remained viable for decades and why even modern shunting locomotives mostly follow the same basic pattern: four powered axles in two bogies, centre cab, all-round visibility.

Common mix-ups

The direct comparison cases are the base design Class 290, the radio remote-controlled Class 294 and the Class 296 with, again, a different equipment status.

Conclusion

Class 295 is a locomotive for the unspectacular but indispensable part of freight traffic: moving wagon groups, serving sidings, assembling trains. For vehicle knowledge, it’s a good example of how the body style doesn’t always take you all the way to the class. Whoever reads the number and notes it with date and keeper has a reliable sighting – whoever guesses has an error in their own list.