The 98 727, designed as a so-called Mallet locomotive, was put into service on February 28, 1903 under the Bavarian State Railroad number 2527 and was subsequently based in Passau. Taken over by the Deutsche Reichsbahn in 1925, it was designated 98 727. After 40 years of service, it was last assigned to the Landshut depot, where it was taken out of service in 1943 and sold to Südzucker AG, Regensburg plant. There, it served in shunting operations as works locomotive No. 4 until 1971 and received a new boiler in 1958, which was manufactured by the Jung locomotive factory according to the old drawings. Its nickname also dates from this period of service: it was decorated with the advertising figure “Susi” for a sugar manufacturer’s advertising campaign. When a new diesel locomotive took over service in 1972, Südzucker donated the 98 727 to the Museumsbahn e.V.. This makes the locomotive the longest-standing vehicle in the museum’s collection.
In voluntary work, the locomotive was restored for track use and then used in front of special trains of the railway museum, among others on the Kahlgrundbahn or in 1973 on the Gaubahn Ochsenfurt – Weikersheim. During the anniversary parades in Nuremberg in 1985 on the occasion of the celebration “150 Years of German Railways”, it pulled a Bavarian local train.
After the celebrations marking the 150th anniversary of the Krauss-Maffei company in 1988, a serious rear-end collision occurred during an event on the Tegernsee railroad at Schaftlach station, as a result of which some functionally relevant parts of the locomotive were severely damaged. After a repair by the club’s own workshop, the locomotive could still be used for some time. After that, it unfortunately had to be parked for a long time.
Since the summer of 2006, the Zuckersusi has been undergoing extensive restoration, although the work has had to be interrupted time and again due to scarce personnel and financial resources. However, it is our declared goal that the “mascot” of the railroad museum will soon be able to steam again. We have documented the progress of the work so far below.
This progress could not have been realized without your active donations and endowments, e.g. in the form of a rivet sponsorship, in recent years. For this we thank you very much!
Since 2022, the work has also been financially supported from the public purse by the Hessian Museum Association with a five-digit sum.
But there is still work to be done to get 98 727 back into service:
The work can often be carried out by the volunteers thanks to our well-equipped workshops. Nevertheless, expensive materials must be procured and companies must also be commissioned for some services.
For the further refurbishment we therefore still need your financial support. Help us to ensure that this railroad rarity will soon make railroaders’ hearts beat faster again!
Donation account of the Museumsbahn e.V.:
Sparkasse Darmstadt
IBAN: DE68 5085 0150 0000 6088 58
BIC: HELADEF1DAS
Intended use: “Susi”
Your donation is tax deductible.
Video: Youtube/Powered by Steam
The boiler has arrived at Bilfinger Berger BIS Industrial Services (Frankfurt). There, the boiler bottom (picture below left) and part of the bootjack plate (picture
The lower part of the long boiler must be replaced. Fabrication and installation of the replacement part will be carried out by Bilfinger Berger BIS
Originally, only half of the smoke chamber was to be replaced. Now we have decided to replace the entire smoke chamber (bottom left). We want
© Bahnwelt 2024. All rights reserved.
For better reading, the masculine form is used for personal names and personal nouns on this website. Corresponding terms apply in principle to all genders for the purpose of equal treatment. The abbreviated form of language is for editorial reasons only and does not imply any valuation.
Sie erhalten in Kürze eine E-Mail an die von Ihnen angegebene E-Mail-Adresse. Bitte bestätigen Sie Ihre Newsletteranmeldung über den darin enthaltenen Link.
