The Class PtL 2/2 locomotives of the Royal Bavarian State Railways were light and very compact superheated steam locomotives for operation on branch lines (Lokalbahnen). There were three types in total, of which two were transferred to the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft as Class 98.3 tank locomotives and even survived to join the Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) fleet after WWII. All the variants have the B axle arrangement (0-4-0 in Whyte notation), the semi-automatic, gravity-feed firing that enabled one-man operation, platforms with guard rails, and a large driver's cab with 3 windows per side that surrounded the entire locomotive boiler as far as the smokebox (what brought it the nickname Glaskasten - Glass Box).
In 1905 and 1906 Krauss supplied three locomotives (numbers 4501-4506, renumbered in 1923 98 301 - 98 306), in 1908 and 1909 other 29 (numbers 4507 - 4535), in 1910 three (designated as the Prussian Class T2), and in 1911 and 1914 two batches of nine and four. The Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft took over 22 locomotives, numbering them 98 301 - 98 322. Two locomotives were sold to industrial firms in 1942, one was a victim of the WWII, and 98 304 stayed in Austria after the war. The remaining locomotives entered the Deutsche Bundesbahn, and were mostly withdrawn during the 1950s. Number 98 307 was deployed until 1963 between Spalt and Georgensgmünd and was known as Spalter Bockel (Spalter Goat). It has been preserved and is kept at the German Steam Locomotive Museum in Neuenmarkt-Wirsberg on loan from the Nuremberg Transport Museum. Unfortunately the locomotive which had been cut in cross-section was a victim of the great fire at the Nuremberg Shed in October 2005.
About the stamps
The first stamp is a variable value stamp, about which I wrote here.
The second, Winter Mood, was issued on November 2, 2013.
References
Bavarian PtL 2/2 - Wikipedia
98 307: Der "Glaskasten" - Deutsches Dampflokomotiv Museum official website
sender: Daniela Hebeler (direct swap)
sent from Altdorf bei Nürnberg (Bavaria / Germany), on 07.12.2013
photo: Wolfgang Walper
A very compact engine indeed.
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