1883 Classification System
Up to 1 April 1883 the Prussian state railways or acquired private railways designated their locomotives with names and/or numbers. From that date the following numbering scheme was introduced into all the railway divisions.
| 1 to 99 | uncoupled locomotives |
| 100 to 499 | four-coupled passenger train locomotives |
| 500 to 799 | four-coupled goods train locomotives |
| 800 to 1399 | six-coupled goods train locomotives |
| 1400 to 1699 | four-coupled tank locomotives |
| 1700 to 1899 | six-coupled tank locomotives |
| 1900 to 1999 | special locomotives |
This scheme applied to all state railway divisions and state-managed private railways. Locomotive numbering was organised according to the above system. However a locomotive could only be identified exactly by using the divisional name and running number in combination.
Because of the increasing numbers of locomotives being procured, the classification scheme and its range of numbers were no longer sufficient. However the numbering system was not immediately replaced. As a result, numbering chaos arose as individual divisions used spare numbers and unique designations for new locomotives.
Read more about this topic: List Of Prussian Locomotives And Railbuses, Locomotive Classification
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