CFL 5603 Steam Locomotive III

CFL 5603 Steam Locomotive III

1:87 scale model produced by Roco. This model is ready-to-run straight out of the box and would make a excellent addition to any model railway collection.

Features:

• Analogue DC Model
• Best suited to Epoch III Model Railways
• This model mainly operates in Luxembourg
• Decorated in CFL company markings
• Best suited to 358mm radius curves
• With fine metal spoked wheels
• Connecting and coupling rods made of precision-cast metal
• With delicately executed lettering
• Z21 cab available.

Details

The DRB Class 52 was a highly influential and extremely numerous steam locomotive developed during the Second World War for the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DRB) as part of the war-time standardisation programme. Designed to be robust, economical and easy to build, the Class 52 was a simplified version of the earlier Class 50 and was intended to support heavy freight operations under wartime conditions where material shortages and rapid production were critical issues.

Introduced in 1942, the Class 52 featured a 2-10-0 wheel arrangement (two leading wheels, five coupled driving axles and no trailing wheels), giving it strong traction and the ability to haul heavy goods trains over main and secondary routes. Simplified construction and reduced use of strategic materials allowed tens of thousands of components to be produced quickly in a wide variety of factories. As a result, more than 6,000 locomotives were completed, making the Class 52 one of the most numerous steam classes ever built anywhere.

The design’s simplicity and ruggedness helped the Class 52 give reliable service under harsh conditions, and many units survived the war. After 1945 they were spread across Europe, appearing in service with national railways including those of East and West Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Belgium, France, Hungary, and the Soviet Union. In many cases they became mainstays of post-war freight operations, sometimes remaining in regular use well into the 1960s and 1970s as diesel and electric traction gradually took over.