A portrait of the class 87

Information about the original

The standard locomotive class 87 was designed espacially for operating on the Hamburg Harbour Railway. 16 units were build by Fa. Orenstein & Koppel. The locomitive had a max. speed of 28mph and a power of 940hp. The delivery began in 1928. The operating ended in the nineteen-fiftieth. The locomotives of the class 82 and 94 could resumed the jobs of the class 87. Unfortunately there is no exemplar preserved.
Because of the small radii at the Hamburg Harbour Railway the five-axial locomotive get a special traction system. The five axle were not powered by coupling rods as usual. Only the second and forth axle were powered by coupling rod with the third driving axle and the main rod. The first and fifth axle were transverse moveble mounted in the frame and were powered with the system "Luttermöller" by gearwheel from the second and forth axle. The boiler were similar to the class 86. Many other parts of the running gear were similar to the class 81 and 82.

The history of the model at MEHEV

At MEHEV, this locomotive was "put into service" in 1953. The first mission was the collection of donations for MEHEV. For this it was together with some freight cars for many years in a showcase in Hamburg Dammtor station and then set up in 2009 in the stairwell of the Museum of Hamburg History. After inserting a coin, the engine of the locomotive set in motion for a short time. In 2009, it was decided to remove the class 87 from the showcase and process it for use on our Model railway. This work is completed. The service in the display case for collecting donations has been taken over by a model of the class 93.

The model of the class 87

Our model was built by our club colleague Mr. Paul Haupt. It corresponds in all essential parts, as far as technically possible, to the model. Also, in our model, the drive axle is driven, of course not on the steam cylinder and rods but via an electric motor and a gear transmission. The transmission is designed so that the locomotive reaches a prototypical speed. The 2nd and 4th coupled axle are driven by Coupling rods as in the prototype. Also, in our model, the 1st and 5th coupled axle are pivotally mounted in the frame and are driven by the 2nd and 4th coupling axle via gears. The housing of the locomotive is made of brass sheet.
As part of the work-up by our club colleague, Mr. Wolfgang Denecke, a new main gearbox and a new e ngine were installed. The gears for driving the 1st and 5th coupled axle could continue to be used, but received a cover made of brass sheet to protect against contamination. The wheels of the locomotive had to be isolated against each other and against the frame. They were given new, hard chromed tires. These are attached isolated on the wheel stars. Current collectors are mounted on three wheelsets. For the lighting of the locomotive lanterns LED are installed. They are powered by a circuit board with a circuit for constant light with voltage and therefore shine even when the locomotive is stationary. We did not install a smoke generator.

Fotos