List of Palatine Locomotives and Railbuses - Overview

Overview

Palatine locomotives were numbered in sequence as well as given names. On being retired, the numbers freed up were reused for newly delivered locomotives. Pontoon locomotives(Schiffsbrückenlokomotiven), as well as engines employed on secondary (Sekundärbahn) and narrow gauge lines used their own numbering scheme with roman numerals.

The allocation of names was stopped in 1904, because the purchase of the railway by the Bavarian state was approaching. Only four locomotives delivered after that were given names: three P 4s and an L 1. The names chosen were based mainly on towns, castles, rivers and mountains in the Palatinate. The use of names from myths from classical antiquity remained Episode. The special importance of express train locomotives was stressed by naming them after Bavarian monarchs, as well as important people in the Bavarian government and managers of the Palatinate Railway.

The introduction of a classification scheme was first achieved in the Palatinate Railway in 1898. Four main groups were created:

• P - Passenger and express train locomotives (Personen- und Schnellzuglokomotiven) (including tank engines used for these duties)
• G - Goods train locomotives (Güterzuglokomotiven)
• T - Tank locomotives (Tenderlokomotiven) for mixed duties
• L - Narrow gauge locomotives for branch lines (Tenderlokomotiven für Lokalbahnen)

An Arabic numeral followed the class letter to distinguish between the individual locomotive classes. A superscripted roman numeral indicated a sub-class. The Palatine class designations were only used on paper and not written on the locomotives themselves.

On the transfer of the Palatine railway network to the Bavarian state railways in 1909 the Bavarian classification system was adopted for new locomotives. Older locomotives however kept their original designations. New locomotives built for the Palatine network continued to receive the range of numbers associated with the Palatinate Railway.