LDE – Moldau to Mulde

The MOLDAU to MULDE series of early, German steam engines were designed as tender locomotives for the Leipzig–Dresden Railway Company (Leipzig-Dresdner Eisenbahn-Compagnie or LDE) for mixed duties.

History

As early as 1866 and 1868 the Leipzig-Dresden Railway had procured 2-4-0 wet steam engines from Maschinenfabrik Esslingen. The nine locomotives acquired in 1874/75 differed from the older batch mainly in their modern Crampton boilers and inside Allan valve gear.

In the LDE the locomotives were only given names; no running numbers or classification. On being taken over in 1876 by the Royal Saxon State Railways most of them were given new names in order to avoid duplication. In addition they were allocated the running numbers 604 to 612 and grouped into Class K III.

In 1885 their classification was changed to K II and in 1892 they were renumbered from 696 to 704. From 1896 the classification just became II. From 1900 their running numbers were raised by 2000 and the name plates were removed.

In 1904 the first locomotives were retired. Several ended up in 1920 in the fleet of the newly founded Deutsche Reichsbahn. In the preliminary renumbering plan two locomotives were allocated new running numbers: 98 7301 and 7302, the rest were not covered.

In 1923 the last locomotive in this class, the former MOLDAU, was withdrawn from the fleet.

Locomotive table

See also

• Royal Saxon State Railways
• List of Saxon locomotives and railbuses
• Leipzig–Dresden Railway Company

References

• Näbrich, Fritz; Meyer, Günter; Preuß, Reiner (1983). Lokomotivarchiv Sachsen 1. Berlin: transpress VEB Verlag für Verkehrswesen. 
• Preuß, Erich; Preuß, Rainer (1991). Sächsische Staatseisenbahnen. Berlin: transpress Verlagsgesellschaft mbH. ISBN 3-344-70700-0. 

Classes of Saxon locomotive and railcars
Early locomotives	Saxon Saxonia to Tiger Saxon I Saxon BIIaT Saxon IIa Saxon IIIa
Passenger and express train locomotives	Saxon VIa Saxon VI Saxon VIb Saxon VIII 1 Saxon III Saxon IIIb Saxon VIb V Saxon IIIb V Saxon VIII 2 Saxon VIII V1 Saxon VIII V2 Saxon X V Saxon XII H Saxon XII HV Saxon XII H1 Saxon X H1 Saxon XII H2 Saxon XVIII H Saxon XX HV
Mixed traffic and goods train locomotives	Saxon II Saxon IIb Saxon VII Saxon Va Saxon V V Saxon I V Saxon IX V Saxon IX HV Saxon XI H Saxon XI HV Saxon XIV Saxon XIII H
Tank locomotives	Saxon IIb T Saxon I T Saxon H VIIIb T Saxon V T Saxon VII T Saxon IIIb T Saxon VII TS Saxon XVI T Saxon VII TOV Saxon XVI TV Saxon MI TV Saxon I TV Saxon IV T Saxon XI HT Saxon XIV HT Saxon XV HTV
Narrow gauge and fireless locomotives	Saxon I M Saxon Hg VII TK Saxon I K Saxon II K Saxon III K Saxon IV K Saxon V K Saxon VI K Saxon I F
Railbuses and electric locomotives	Saxon Hz 0 Saxon S 1 Saxon E 1 Saxon I ME Saxon I MET Saxon Dai 1 Saxon DET 1-2 Saxon 9015
Royal Saxon State Railways