Historic Railway, Frankfurt

The society was founded in 1978 and its aim is the preservation of historic, valuable railway materiel in working order, especially steam locomotives, as technical and cultural monuments.

The most famous and historically important is the DRG Class 01 express train, steam locomotive, number 01 118.

The locomotive was built by Krupp in Essen in 1934 under works number 1415 and is the only one of its class still in existence today that has seen unbroken operational service.

After the end of the Second World War it was left in the Soviet Zone of Occupation and was incorporated in the Deutsche Reichsbahn's fleet in East Germany, where it was given the computer number 01 2118-6 in 1970.

The engine underwent the required general inspections in 1991, 1995, 1999 and 2003 and can therefore continue to be used for special trips, that have taken it so far to France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Apart from the numerous photographs and films, that railway fans and train spotters have produced on her appearances, the locomotive played an important side role in the 2001 TV melodrama Geraubte Liebe ('Stolen Love'), that was shown by Hessischer Rundfunk.

When the tracks on the curve of the Bäderbahn (Homburger Damm) – a link line in west Frankfurt normally worked by the Taunusbahn – needed to be completely refurbished, the firm carrying it out decided on cost grounds, to charter the goods train locomotive from the Historic Railway, Frankfurt, as motive power for the heavy works trains.

Number 52 4867 hauled wagons laden with track ballast in a 64-hour continuous shift to the Frankfurt (Main) Höchst goods station.