It’s not exactly an earth-shattering issue but European train enthusiasts seem to be clearly divided when it comes to an opinion about the quaint Bavarian "Glaskasten" locomotive. Either you like the funky little Lok or you think of it as a bug that should be flattened. Since I have chosen to learn more and to write a little about the Glaskasten or "glass box" and since my family gave me the Märklin Austrian Set 29871 for Christmas, you don’t have to be rocket scientist to figure out which side I’m on.

This tiny, standard gauge locomotive can trace its history back nearly 100 years of which over 50 years were spent in reliable service. Its life began in 1905 when the locomotive builder Krauss & Co. (later to become part of the industrial giant Krauss-Maffai) delivered the first of three

0-4-0 engines designated ML 2/2. It was a two-cylinder, superheated steam design which used a countershaft or jackshaft to transmit power to the two coupled axles. In German these engines were called Urglaskasten, a term that might be translated very early or 'proto' Glaskasten. A very notable feature was its cab with windows all around that fully enclosed the small boiler. The excellent visibility that its many windows provided no doubt led to it being named Glaskasten or glass box. These Urglaskasten were sold to the Königlich Bayerische Staatsbahn (K.Bay.St.B.) and carried road numbers 4501 to 4503. One year later, Krauss sold three more improved models to the K.Bay.St.B under the designation PtL 2/2 with road numbers 4504 to 4506.

Then Maffai delivered 24 engines, designated ML 2/2 and carrying the numbers 4001 to 4024, during the period of 1906 and 1908. At a glance these appeared to be more or less normal 0-4-0 tank engines but with its cylinders positioned between the two axles and using Heusinger valve gear. In terms of development of the actual Glaskasten, these little tank engines took a different path and are only mentioned here to illustrate the different designs that emerged to do the same job. So, back to the two versions of the Glaskasten.

The Glaskasten concept as pioneered by Krauss entered production with deliveries beginning in the 1905/1906 period. One of the main differences between the Urglaskasten and the production model were the external steam cylinders and valve gear, which, by means of the jackshaft, drove both axles by means of coupling rods. The space thus gained in the cab made room for additional water tanks. The boiler used 76 tubes, 12 smoke tubes and eight superheater tubes, which was essentially the same configuration used on the Urglaskasten. Of course, the point of the whole exercise was to build a locomotive that did not require a fireman. The driving position is on the right side of the boiler. There is access from the cab to the front and rear of the locomotive. Thus, coal was fed into the firebox by means of semi-independent, self-feeding gravity shute connected to a coal hopper containing 0.55 tons of coal. A Worthington feedwater heater was also used. Braking was by means of a Westinghouse air brake as well as a manual handbrake.

As demand rose in 1910, Krauss developed additional simplified PtL-2/2 engines but without the jack-shaft of the original. These shorter wheelbase engines, 2,700 mm (106 in.) vs. 3,200 mm (126 in.), used the same cylinders as their predecessors. The boiler and cab were taken directly from the jackshaft engines. There were many small detail changes to the sandboxes and the dimensions of the coal hopper.

Intended for regional service, the Glaskästen Loks carried on well into the early 1960s. They might have pulled two or three Donnerbüchsen, or a handful of two-axle freight cars, or a combination of passenger and freight cars. If you have a Glaskasten on your layout and wonder what manner of cars it can pull, pretty much anything is the answer. Rolling stock from Eras I, II or III.

Krauss built 28 of these engines with the jackshaft, numbered from 4507 to 4535, for the K.Bay.St.B. Even though they acquitted themselves well, when the Deutsche Reichsbahn Gesellschaft (DRG) was formed, they took over only nine of the little engines. They became

98 301 to 98 309. Of these, seven survived to be taken over by the Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB); they were 98 301, 302 and 306 – 309. As early as 1925, engine 4515 was prepared for installation in the Nürnberg Verkehrsmuseum. It was sectioned in such a way that visitors could see the inner workings. Engine 98 307 remains operational (as of 1988) and is stationed at Bw Bamberg. Three of these engines were built for the Königlich Preussische Eisenbahn-Verwaltung (KPEV), designated as type T2 with engines 6081 and 6082 going to KED Altona but disposition of the Altona engines is unknown. Engine 6061 went to KED Eberfeld and after evaluation it was transferred to Dieringhausen and after a tragicomic accident it was taken out of service in 1917. It lived on at a harbor railway in Hamm/Westpfalen but without the distinctive "glass" enclosure. All three were jackshaft locomotives built in 1908.This version of t he Glaskasten served as the basis for the Märklin, Trix and Roco models.

The first of these engines without the jack-shaft was not delivered to the K.Bay.St.B. but rather to the Swiss Sensetalbahn in 1910 prior to its electrification. The following year another one of these was acquired by the Sensetalbahn in the canton of Bern. (This line is still operational in 1999.) In 1911, the K.Bay.St.B bought nine engines, numbers 4536 to 4544 with four more, 4545 to 4548, following in 1914. The 13 engines in this series were designated 98 310 to 98 322 by the DRG. Of these ten, 98 310 to 98 319, went to the DB where the last one was taken out of service in 1962.

After the end of World War 2, Lok 98 304 was located in the U.S. occupation zone in Austria and was therefore transferred to the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and was stationed in Salzburg where it served until 1959. It had been built in 1908 under shop number 5904 by Krauss & Co. and on while serving on the K.Bay.St.B. its road number was 4522. In 1953 the new ÖBB motive power numbering system was introduced and this locomotive assigned the ÖBB number 688.01.

European train enthusiast Sith Sastrasinh in New Jersey sent me an e-mail that sheds just a little more light on what happened to a few of the Glaskästen. If anyone has additional information, I will gladly make it public.

Locomotive, possibly 98 301 which was retired in 1960 is on display in the Nürnberg Railway Museum as a cut-away exhibit.

Engine 98 304 was left in Wörgl, Tirol at the end of World War 2. The ÖBB used this locomotive for switching at the Wien-West station until 1957. It was finally scrapped in 1959.

Locomotive 98 305 was sent to Norway in September 1943 and it is not known what became of it.

Almost a year earlier the last of locomotives with jackshaft drive, 98 307, was taken out of service from the route Spalt-Georgensmünd. Locomotive 98 307 was preserved intact in the Nürnberg Railway Museum.

The last of these locomotives, 98 320, was used as a works engine in Regensburg, Germany as late as September 1963.

During Eras I and II, each of the regional railroads, such as the Königlich Bayerische Staatsbahn (K.Bay.St.B.), had its own distinctive designation system for its locomotives. Some of these systems were simple while others used bits and pieces from several railroads.

Starting in 1901, the K.Bay.St.B. began to use a numbering system that included letters defining the intended service of the engine. S for Schnellzug or fast train, P for Personenzug or passenger train, G for Güterzug or freight train, and R for Rangierlok or switcher followed by the number of and powered axles. This the Glaskasten became PtL-2/2 which translates into a Passenger trainm, the lower case t is for tank engine and the capital L was adapted by the K.Bay.St.B from the Badische in the Pfalz region and stands for Local or regional rail service. The 2/2 refers to two axles both of which were powered.

As antique as the Glaskasten is, it does fit into at least three eras, provided you’re Epochen conscious. The box for my Märklin Austrian set indicates that the Lok and the two freight cars are representative of about 1953. The three manufacturers offering these models have all chosen to model the engine with the jackshaft. It does make for a more interesting sight as the little engine makes it way around a layout.

These tiny engines are not toys. They are operating scale model with much delicate detail that is not meant to be handled by a child, unlike earlier much more user-friendly engines offered by the three manufacturers..

The 9/88 issue of Eisenbahn Magazin did a side-by-side test of the Trix and Roco Glaskästen but it is beyond the scope of this article to go into details. In the comparison, the Trix model comes out ahead. If any readers are interested in the test report (in German only), please send me a SASE.

In 1988 Trix became the first company to offer a model of the Glaskasten. The model, catalog 22 401, carries the road numer 98 308 and is lettered according to Epoch II.

Roco offered a model of the Glaskasten shortly after Trix brought out theirs. At the time, the engine was part of a Bavaria set, catalog 43030. This one is lettered according to Epoch III..

43256 – PtL-2/2, Royal Bavarian Railways, No. 4510, green, Catalog 1990/91

43257 – 98.3, DR, 98 304, black, 1990/91

43255 – 98.3, DB, 98 307, black, 1990/91

DC only, Matching car set 44014 (Epoch I), also book on Glaskasten is Roco 84001.

Märklin (needs road number information; I'm working on it)

When Märklin began working with Trix in the early 1990s, the former became the third company to offer a Glaskasten. Since that day in 1990, there have been analog, digital and Delta versions of the little engine. The first engine was the analog 3387 in black, DB road number 98 308, and in the catalog from 1990 to 1995. Then came the digital 3687, also in black, from 1991 to 1993. It carried road number 98 307. Next came 3686, a PtL-2/2 in green and black with the road number 4531. This item was in the catalog from 1993 to 1996. For 1997, the Märklin/Trix collaboration produced the Wedding Train. The Glaskasten in that set was 3387.10. For 1999, Märklin appealed to the export market, specifically the Austrian segment with the set 29871. The set contains a Delta Glaskasten Koll No. 3387.20 and two detailed box cars with sliding doors

I sit here with my Koll's 2000 book in hand. Koll's number for your Lok appears to be 3387.20. 3387.10 was the Lok used in the Marklin/Trix Wedding set of 1997.

It appears that 3686, the Green version of the Glaskasten was never offered as a conventional Lok, as near as I can tell.

A black version was offered as 3387 and 3687.

K.Bay.St.B in 1908/09 28 engines numbered 4507 - 4535

DRG took over nine engines numbered from 98 301 – 98 309

DB took over seven engines numbered - 98 301, 302 and 98 306-309

Schweizer Sensetalbahn – three engines

K.Bay.St.B in 1911 nine engines - 4536 – 4544

K.Bay.St.B in 1914 four engines - 4545 - 4548

DRG took over 13 engines and renumbered them 98 310 – 98 322

DB took over ten engines numbered 98 310 – 98 319

Specifications for the PtL 2/2 "Glaskasten"  

Eisenbahn Magazin 9/88 contains the following four articles related to Glaskästen: "Gläsernes aus Bayern", page 47; "Glas Test", page 52; "Glaskastenwagenkunde", page 54 – 57; and "Schnecken-Rennen" Verglichen + gemessen, page 65 – 67

Märklin Magazin, 5/95, page 72;

Museum Lok, PtL 2/2 4529, Achsfolge - B n2t; Built by Krauss in 1908, factory number 5911.

Verkehrs Museum Nürnberg; Ingoldstadt

Eisenbahn Journal, "Die Nassdampf-Tenderlokomotiven der Preuss. Staatseisenbahnen", 1. Teil, 7/1984, page 35.

Continental Modeler "A Brief History of a Distinctive Prototype – The Glaskastens," by Graham Lightfoot., May/June 1989, pp. 342, 343.