Luttermöller axle

As Luttermöller final drive refers to a construction that promotes Kurvenläufigkeit of steam locomotives.

Locomotives with several interconnected by coupling rods axles or wheel sets can pass good tight curves less. To remedy this, the director of the Orenstein & Koppel -Werke in Berlin, Dr. Luttermöller, named after him final drive constructed. In this case the outer of a plurality of successively arranged pinion sets are not connected to the crank pin of coupling rods outside of the wheel, but through centrally disposed on the axles of the wheel sets gears. The axes are slidably mounted on the frame to a certain extent transversely to the center of the rail, as well as the gear wheels can move against each other. For a frictionless poorer cornering is achieved.

For the Hamburg port railway, with its narrow curves, the five-coupled series was built with two 87 Luttermöller end axles. The 16 locomotives of this type were, however, in 1954 again discarded because the vehicles at higher speeds tended to run hot and could therefore be used only for shunting. From the private South Harz Railway Company (SHE) in 1928 at Orenstein & Koppel a five-axis meter gauge steam locomotive with the system Luttermöller for the narrow gauge railway Walkenried-Braunlage/Tanne procured ( road number 61). It proved to be so good on the twisty track that has been converted in 1930, two Malletlokomotiven by Henschel from 1925 to the Luttermöller system (operating numbers 56 and 57). Henschel had to gain by Orenstein & Koppel, the license to use the Luttermöller drive.

Further application found the Luttermöller axle of narrow gauge railways in Java (Indonesia).