Steam Locomotive BR 54.8-10 DRG Road no. 54 1079 At the time of its foundation, the DRG had an excessively large stock of old, uneconomical locomotives which they wanted to dispose of &ldquo, at great speed&rdquo, . From the point of view of those responsible, this also included the G5.4 class. In this way the stock was reduced relatively quickly from 218 locomotives in 1926 to 95 in 1929. Nevertheless, 22 locomotives were converted to superheated steam by 1930. The G5.4 superheated steam locomotive were in service in the railway divisions of Altona (Hamburg) and Hanover on branch lines, were relatively popular and were some of the most economical steam locomotives ever. The saturated steam locomotives were spread over several roundhouses in the territory of the German Reich and carried out minor tasks such as shunting and maintenance train services but were also useful as suppliers of steam for cleaning cattle trucks. With the onset of the global economic crisis, the days of the remaining G5.4 saturated steam locomotives were very quickly at an end. At the beginning of 1935, there were only three locomotives left in the depot. Although the two Hanover locomotives 54 932 and 54 1047 were retired, the last one &ndash, 54 887 &ndash, survived until after the end of the war. It was only retired in 1951 at the Schö, neweide roundhouse of the Deutsche Reichsbahn (German Imperial Railway). Of the locomotives converted to saturated steam, 14 survived the withdrawals from service of the 1930s and some were still in service after the war. Even in the 1940s, comprehensive changes were made to them such as the installation of electric lighting and simplified armour protection (54 859) - proof of the acute lack of locomotives during the war. Between 1946 and 1948, the last G5.4 saturated steam locomotives were then retired from service, none were added to the stock of the newly founded DB. Delivery date: July / August 2010
