Steam Locomotive, Road Number E 991

Prototype information

Steam Locomotive, Road Number E 991 In 1937, the Danish State Railways (DSB) bought eleven SJ class F Pacific locomotives from the Swedish State Railways (SJ) due to increases in passenger traffic. These locomotives had become superfluous in Sweden due to increasing electrification. These first Scandinavian Pacifics were built between 1914 and 1916 by Nydqvist & Holm as four-cylinder compound superheated steam locomotives with Heusinger valve gear according to the Vauclain system, in which all of the cylinders are in a row. Both the outer low-pressure and the inner high-pressure cylinders were connected to the second set of driving wheels. The steam dome and the sand dome were on the top of the boiler under joint streamlining. In Denmark, these units were initially overhauled in the DSB's Copenhagen main shops, and they were converted to right hand control and then put on the roster as road numbers E 964-974. Additional adaptations involved the refueling infrastructure as well as the construction of 20 meter / 65 foot turntables. The German occupation of Denmark starting in 1940 meant the DSB urgently needed additional powerful steam locomotives, so they had the class E built at Frichs in Aarhus. Between 1943 and 1950, 25 locomotives entered the roster in four series as road numbers E 975-999. These "new" Pacifics had an additional dome to dry steam, larger side windows on the cabs, and welded tenders. In addition, road numbers E 990-999 were delivered with double smokestacks, which were then retrofitted on road numbers E 975-989 between 1948 and 1951. Up into the Sixties, these Pacifics defended their role pulling passenger and freight trains, yet they landed on the storage track one after the other. The last regular use of a class E was in 1970 and the last unit kept for special service, road number E 994, was retired in 1979. Only six units were preserved: Road numbers E 964 and 966 were sold in 1963 and 1999 to the Swedish Railroad Museum in Gävle and were given their old road numbers F 1200 and F 1202 again. Road number F 1200 was carefully restored to its original condition and has been operational since September of 2002, while road number F 1202 functions as a stationary display piece. Road number E 987 belongs to a private individual, while road number E 996 can presently be admired in Great Britain at the "Railworld Wildlife Haven" in Peterborough. The Danish Railroad Museum in Odense owns road numbers E 991 and 994. The former is run as an operational locomotive (currently being overhauled), and the latter is a museum display piece.