The DRG Class 86 was a standard goods train tank locomotive with the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG) (German Imperial Railway Company), intended for duties on branch lines. They were of 2-8-2 wheel arrangement in the Whyte notation, or 1′D1′ h2 in the UIC classification, most often referred to as a Mikado, frequently shortened to Mike, but at times it was also referred as the McAdoo Mikado and, during WWII, the MacArthur. This wheel arrangement allows the locomotive's firebox to be placed behind instead of above the driving wheels, thereby allowing a larger firebox that could be both wide and deep. This supported a greater rate of combustion and thus a greater capacity for steam generation, allowing for more power at higher speeds.
Almost all German locomotive factories took part in building these engines, 775 examples being produced between 1928 and 1943, among which twenty were destroyed during the WWII. Its area of operations was predominantly the routes in Germany's central mountains. After the war, 175 went to the GDR railways, 385 to the Deutsche Bundesbahn, 29 to the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), 44 to the PKP in Poland as the Class TKt3, 73 to the SZD and 62 to the CSD. The ÖBB began to retire them in 1945, but the last didn't retire until 1972.
The Bundesbahn stationed most of its 86's in Nuremberg for the Franconian branch lines and the marshalling yards there, but also at Hof. Short, semi-fast trains were regularly hauled by the Class 86. The DB retired its last one in 1974. In the GDR railways the 86's were mainly stationed at Aue engine shed, for the surrounding Erzgebirge routes. Their last (official) year in service in the DR was 1976, but several engines continued to run on into the 1980s. No. 86 001/86 1001 and no. 86 501 were the longest serving of all the standard locomotives to be placed in scheduled service by a national railway. Of all, 12 locomotives were preserved (excluding memorial ones), among which 9 are in Germany.
The locomotive on the postcard has number 86 260 (serial number 3295) and was manufactured by Schichau-Werke at Elbing in 1936. It was photographed on June 14, 1968, at Plattling depot. Plattling is a central railway hub in eastern Lower Bavaria. The first station building was erected near the town and was opened in 1860. On 16 April 1945 the station was destroyed in a bombing raid that lasted just seven minutes, but was rebuilt after the war. With the electrification of the main line from Regensburg to Passau in May 1959 and the general changeover of motive power in the DB, the Bahnbetriebswerk (locomotive depot) at Plattling lost its function in maintaining steam locomotives. The last train hauled by a steam locomotive ran on 6 March 1974 from Plattling into the Bavarian Forest.
About the stamp
The stamp was issued on 2012 to celebrate 100 years of service of the Alpine railway, the Mittenwaldbahn.
References
DRG Class 86 - Wikipedia
2-8-2 - Wikipedia
sender: Daniela Hebeler (direct swap)
sent from Altdorf bei Nürnberg (Bavaria / Germany), on 16.11.2013
photo: Heintz Fiolka
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