Powerful and Elegant Queen of the Rails
They were once queens of the European rails: the four-cylinder express locomotives from Saxony, Baden, Württemberg, Bavaria, and also from Sweden. Inspired by the German rail stars, the Swedish State Railroad (SJ) had eleven class F Pacific express locomotives built by NOHAB between 1914 and 1916. Their design was based on the famous Württemberg Class C. In the process the Swedes also laid emphasis on an elegant, shapely appearance including a streamlined "wind splitter" cab. The class F locomotives soon conquered the important main routes Stockholm – Malmö and Stockholm – Göteborg, which however were already operated completely electrically in the Thirties. Starting in 1937, the powerful class F finally found a new home in Denmark. They ran there as the class E until well into the Sixties, their Danish copies even a bit longer. The impressive class F units were not forgotten in their old home of Sweden. As early as 1963 the Swedish Railroad Museum bought back the former road number F 1200, in 1999 followed road number F 1202. Currently, road number 1200 is shown perfectly restored in operational condition at the museum in Gävle. Its paint scheme reminds people of its prototype, the Württemberg steam locomotive queen of the class C. In real life the two majesties can no longer meet because all of the class C units were scrapped. Therefore, only the Märklin railroad still remains where both queens can celebrate a big appearance.
Prototype: Swedish State Railways (SJ) class F 1200 steam locomotive with a tender. The locomotive looks as it currently does in real life operationally based in Gävle, Sweden.
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