Marklin 39435 - Class S 3/6 Steam Locomotive, the “Hochhaxige” / “High Stepper”

Prototype information

Type S 3/6 and class 18.4 steam locomotive The first unit left the factory in July of 1908. By 1911, Maffei delivered another 16 largely identical units in three production runs. In a departure from the first locomotives, 18 units (Series d and e, Maffei 1912/1913, road numbers 3624-3641) were equipped with driving wheels with a diameter of 2,000 mm / 78-3/4". This meant that the boiler on these units was also higher. The “High Stepper” S 3/6 locos put into service in 1912/13 became the masterpieces of Bavarian express locomotives. They proved to be outstanding long-distance runners and were virtually predestined for use on fast trains in particular. They were thus immediately deployed on the non-stop D 57/58 service between Munich and Würzburg (277 km / 173 miles in 3 hours 20 minutes) as well as the non-stop D 79/80 service between Munich and Nuremberg (199 km / 124 miles in 2 hours 15 minutes). Unfortunately, the outbreak of World War I not long afterwards brought these marvelous performances to a halt again. With the German State Railroad Company (DRG), the remaining units with small wheels were given the road numbers 18 401-434, 18 461-478, and 18 479-548, and the “High Steppers” the road numbers 18 441-458. With a few short-lived exceptions, the latter remained within their Bavarian homeland. Although all “High Steppers” survived World War II, hardly any of them would experience the German Federal Railroad era, as almost all were retired during the first post-war years. One exception was road number 18 451, which was made available to the Locomotive Research Institute in Göttingen starting in February 1950. There, it completed a series of excellent runs, including the long-distance run of May 2, 1951, which still represents a remarkable achievement. The running times of the newly introduced Ft 56 express powered rail car were specified for the new bi-level train to be hauled from Hamburg to Munich. In fact, road number 18 451 was able to match and, in some cases, even slightly undercut the running times of the Ft. However, the most remarkable aspect of this long-distance run was that a route of 820 kilometers / 513 miles was covered using only one locomotive that was almost 40 years old and without dumping cinders in between. As it happened, the fire was still burning so well upon arrival in Munich that road number 18 451 could have traveled another 100 to 200 kilometers / 63 to 125 miles. Starting in April of 1952, the research institute no longer required the locomotive, and it was put into storage. By 1958, it was immaculately refurbished at the repair facility in Ingolstadt, put back to its original condition, and donated to the German National Museum in Munich, where it currently occupies a place of honor as the sole surviving “High Stepper”.