The first ten locomotives built in 1922 were ordered as T 20 Magdeburg 9201–9210, and because they were at first intended to be grouped into Class 77, were supplied as numbers 77 001 to 77 010. By 1923, they had been renumbered to 95 001–010. A total of 45 locomotives were built by 1924. Their areas of operations included the Sonneberg–Probstzella line, the Spessart ramp, the Franconian Forest Railway, the Geislingen ramp (Geislinger Steige), the Schiefe Ebene and the Rübeland Railway, where they earned their nickname Bergkönigin ('mountain queen').
The locomotives were the most powerful tank engines procured by the DRG. They could haul a train load of 2,060 tonnes (2,030 long tons; 2,270 short tons) at a speed of 50 km/h (31 mph) on level ground and could still manage 430 tonnes (420 long tons; 470 short tons) at 25 km/h (16 mph) on a 25‰ (2.5%) incline. Their very high adhesive weight of 95.3 tonnes (93.8 long tons; 105.1 short tons) enabled them to climb inclines of up to 70‰ (7%) without needing a rack, and their Riggenbach counter-pressure brake ensured that they could slow down with heavy loads while going downhill.
Of the 45 examples owned by the Reichsbahn, the Deutsche Bundesbahn took over 14 that, towards the end, were stationed in Aschaffenburg and used as pusher locomotives on the Spessartramp. They were retired in 1958. Locomotives had also been stabled in Neuenmarkt-Wirsberg until 1952 for duties on the Schiefe Ebene.
31 locomotives ended up in the East GermanDeutsche Reichsbahn. Of these, 24 were rebuilt to oil-firing between 1971 and 1973 and ten were given a newly designed boiler. From 1970 the oil-fired engines were designated as DR Class 95.0 and the unconverted ones as DR Class 95.1. The last locomotives worked the line from Sonneberg to Eisfeld and were retired in 1981.
Brozeit, Wolfgang; Müller, Hans; Bölke, Günter (1994) [1990]. Baureihe 95: Der Lebenslauf der "Bergkönigin" (in German). Berlin: transpress Verlagsgesellschaft. ISBN3-344-00377-1.[page needed]
Vogelsang, Harald (2002). Die Fahrzeuge und Anlagen des Eisenbahnmuseums Bochum-Dahlhausen (in German). Dt. Ges. für Eisenbahngeschichte. ISBN3-921700-99-X.[page needed]
Weisbrod, Manfred; Müller, Hans; Petznik, Wolfgang (1978). Dampflokomotiven deutscher Eisenbahnen, Baureihe 60–96 (EFA 1.3) (in German) (4th ed.). Düsseldorf: Alba. pp. 216–220. ISBN3-87094-083-2.
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