Tender Locomotive T 8 K.P.E.V.

After the ‚Eisenbahnbau- und Betriebsordnung‘ (‚Act for the Construction and Operations of Railways‘) also permitted a maximum speed of 50 kph on branch lines from 4^th November 1904, several railway divisions requested a C-coupled tender locomotive which was also capable of achieving this speed.  

In 1902, such a locomotive had been rejected in view of the T 12, which was at the development stage. The chief engineer and advocate of saturated steam Robert Garbe planned a universal locomotive which could be used both as for passenger and for freight trains. Linke-Hofmann in Breslau was commissioned with the development of the design, from whose factory halls the first Prussian T 8 engines then came in 1908. The new locomotive was impressive in terms of power and consumption, but it was extremely unpopular with personnel due to its poor running properties.  

The large wheels and the lack of mass compensation made the locomotive judder at high speeds, which led to corresponding nicknames such as „boneshaker“. Another blunder was the much too high weight, which prevented its use on branch lines de facto.  

Due to its good acceleration, however, the T 8 was to provide good service on suburban lines in Berlin. As speeds of 60 kph were continually reached here, the complaints of the personnel were not long in coming and this also resulted in engine damage. The 100 locomotives that had been built were very quickly moved to shunting duties, where they were very much in demand in the industrial regions of the Rhine and Ruhr and in Silesia.