The Saxon Pride – A Truly Impressive Locomotive

The Saxons are a small but distinguished group of people, well known for doing things in their own way—and doing them well. It is no surprise, then, that the former Kingdom of Saxony once operated its own state railroad. Shortly before World War I, this railroad ordered one of the most powerful steam locomotives of its era from the Saxon Machinery Company in Chemnitz. With four powered axles, an output of 1,800 horsepower, and a service weight of 162 metric tons, it was a mighty express locomotive that could showcase its strengths especially in the hilly regions of Saxony.

Between 1918 and 1923, 23 units were delivered, with the new German State Railroad even ordering the final production series. Several of these powerhouses—designated as class 19.0—were initially deployed in Swabia as well. These elegant yet massive locomotives soon became known as the Saxon Pride and proved their worth particularly in their home territory.

After 1945, the GDR State Railroad also relied heavily on the ‘Nineteens,’ having many of them extensively overhauled and in some cases completely redesigned. Regular scheduled service for the class finally ended in 1958; decades of heavy express-train duty had left their mark.

Now, in miniature form, the Saxon Pride is returning as a Märklin model. This finely detailed and technically sophisticated locomotive will undoubtedly soon attract great attention as the ‘Märklin Pride’ of the model railroad world.

Prototype: Saxon Pride’ (Saxon Class XX HV) Class 19.0 Express train steam locomotive with a Saxon type 2´2 T31 coal tender, operated by the German State Railroad of the GDR (DR/GDR). The locomotive is presented as it appeared in Era IIIa, at the beginning of the 1950s, with large smoke deflectors and running under road number 19 016.

Highlights

• Completely new tooling.
• Especially intricate metal construction.
• A variety of separately applied details.
• Factory-installed smoke unit and dynamic smoke exhaust geared to the speed of the locomotive.
• Cab lighting and firebox flickering that can be controlled digitally.
• World of Operation mfx+ decoder with extensive operation and sound functions.
• Buffer height on the locomotive and tender conform to the NEM.
• Buffer capacitor to bridge over short areas without current.

Model: The locomotive has an mfx+ digital decoder and extensive sound functions. It also has controlled, high efficiency propulsion with a flywheel in the boiler. 4 axles powered. Traction tires. The locomotive and tender are constructed mostly of metal. The locomotive has a factory-installed smoke unit with dynamic smoke exhaust geared to the locomotive's speed. The locomotive has dual headlights that change over with the direction of travel, will work in conventional operation, and can be controlled digitally. The cab lighting and firebox flickering can be controlled separately in digital operation. Maintenance-free warm white and red LEDs are used for the lighting. Buffer capacitor included. The cab doors can be opened and there is an imitation of the curtains between the cab and the tender. There is a close coupling with a guide mechanism between the locomotive and the tender. There is a close coupler with an NEM pocket and a guide mechanism on the tender. The buffer height on the locomotive and tender conform to the NEM.

The minimum radius for operation is R2 437.5 mm / 17-3/16". Piston rod protective sleeves and brake hoses are included.

Length over the buffers 26.0 cm / 10-1/4".

Recommended to be run with minimum track radius R2 (437.5 mm), however with careful and reduced driving speed, it is possible to operate it on R1 (approx. 360 mm) curve.

A set of express train passenger cars and a passenger car as an add-on to go with this locomotive can be found under item numbers 42514 and 42522 in the Märklin H0 assortment.