In German railway engineering, norms (Normalien) are standards for the design and production of railway vehicles. In the 1880s and 1890s, Prussian norms were developed for the locomotives, tenders and wagons of the Prussian state railways under the direction of the railway director responsible for railway engineering, Moritz Stambke. Later, these were largely adopted by the other state railways (Länderbahnen) in Germany.

Engineering drawings These norms are defined by engineering drawings to 1:40 scale on individual sheets and show the locomotives and wagons as full design drawings, referred to by their sheet (Musterblatt) numbers. The first drawings date from 1878. In 1885 the Minister for Public Works tasked the Hütte Academic Institute with the publication of the norms. The drawings were regularly updated as technical developments occurred. The last Prussian drawings were issued in 1923.

Goods wagons The design drawings for goods wagons were of special importance. The wagons built to these specifications appeared in large numbers and formed the bulk of the German wagon fleet until well after the Second World War. The 1973 DR Goods Wagon Handbook still contained most of the DSV wagon classes as well as the former Prussian Class IId wagons. The most important types are listed in the following table. Note that group IIb are goods wagons based on old designs, IIc goods wagons under 15 ton maximum load and IId goods wagons with at least 15 tons maximum load. A-group wagons are those built to the standard drawings of the DSV. Wagons according to sheets with other nos. are special designs, of which some were also built in large numbers.

Description Sheet No. Payload State Railway Class DRG Class from 1922 DB Class from 1952 to 1909/14 from 1909/14Goods van 8 10 t Gl G Gw Magdeburg – IIb 1 10 or 12.5 t Gl G Gw Magdeburg Gw 01 IIb 3 15 t Gml Gm G Hannover or Stettin – IId 8 15 t 10 t Gml Gnl Gm N G Hannover/Stettin Gwh Magdeburg G 02 – A2 15 t – Gm, Nm G(h) Kassel/München G(h) 10Goods van (facultative wagon) with end platforms for occasional passenger transport IIb 1a 10 t Gnl Ni Giwh Magdeburg –Six-wheeled goods van for express goods IIc 13 10, later 15 t G(n)l N Gh Hannover – IIc 13II 6, later 15 t G(n)wl Nwl für Sz Glpwhs Dresden G(w)h(s) 05 Large-capacity goods van (container glass wagon) Ce5 15 t Gml Gml Gl Dresden Gl 06 A9 15 t – Gml Gl Dresden Gl 11Double-deck livestock van for small animals IIc 1 10 t Vel Ven Vpwh Altona Vwh 04 IIc 1a 10 t Ve(n)lz Venz Vwh Altona Vwh 04 IIc 1b 10 t Ve Ven Vpwh Altona Vwh 03 IId 10 15 t Ve(n)mlz Venmz Vh Altona Vh 04 A8 15 t – Venmz Vh Altona Vh 14Livestock van for cattle and horses IIc 2 10 t V(n)l Vn Gvwh Magdeburg –Open livestock wagon for cattle and horses IIc 3 10 t VO(n)l VO Ovw Karlsruhe −Lidded wagon (lime wagon) IIc 8 10 or 12.5 t Kr K Kw Elberfeld Kw 05 IId 4 15 t Km Km K Elberfeld K 06 A7 15 t – Km K Elberfeld K 15Open goods wagon sides 85 to 100 cm high, removable for military vehicle transport, end doors 10 10 t Olk[u] Ok[u] Ow Karlsruhe, Xow Erfurt – IIb 2 10 or 12.5 t Olk Ok Ow Karlsruhe – IId 3 15 t Omk Omk O Frankfurt/Würzburg O 01 A1 15 t – Omk O Halle O 10Coal wagon sides 108 to 130 cm high, end doors IIc 4 10 or 12.5 t Ork Ok Ow Karlsruhe – IIc 5 10 or 12.5 t Ork[u] Ok[u] Ow Karlsruhe – IId 1 15 t Omk[u] Omk[u] O Schwerin O 02 A6 15 t – Omk[u] O Nürnberg O 11Coke wagon sides 140 to 155 cm high, end doors IIc 7 10 or 12.5 t Oclk[u] Ock[u] Ocw Münster – IId 2 15 t Ocmlk[u] Ocmk[u] Oc Münster Oc 01 IId 2III 20 t Omlk[u] Ommk[u] Om Ludwigshafen Om 04 A10 20 t – Ommk[u] Om Breslau/Essen Om 12 Coal wagon sides 150 to 180 cm high, end doors Cc7 20 t Omk[u] Ommk[u] Om Ludwigshafen Om 04 Ce93, Ce95 20 t Omk[u] Ommk[u] Om Ludwigshafen Om 04 Ce146 20 t – Ommk[u] Om Ludwigshafen Om 04Bogie coal wagon sides 130 cm high, end door IId 7 (1st use) 30 t OOmk OOmk OO Oldenburg –Coal hopper wagon IIc 6 10 t Otr[u] Ot[u] Otw Mainz – IIc 12 12.5 t Otr[u] Ot[u] Otw Mainz –Long low wagon with wooden stanchions IIc 10 10 or 12.5 t Sl R Rw Stuttgart Rw 01 IId 5 15 t Sml Rm R Stuttgart R 02 A4 15 t – Rm R Stuttgart R 10Flat wagon (rail wagon) 13 m loading length Ce143 15 t Sml Sml S Augsburg S 05 A11 15 t – Sml S Augsburg S 14Bogie flat wagon (rail wagon) 12 to 18 m loading length IIc 9 20, later 25 t SS SS SSkw Köln – IId 6 30, later 35 t SSm SSm SSk Köln SSk 07 IId 6a 30, later 35 t SSml SSml SSk Köln SSk 07 IId 7 30, later 35 t SSml SSml SSk Köln SSk 08 IId 7II 35 t – SSml SS Köln SS 08 A3 35 t – SSml SS Köln SS 15 Ce168 38 t – SSml SSl Köln SSl 16Single bolster wagon (timber truck) IIc 11 10 t HHrsz Hsz Hosw Regensburg – IId 9 15 t HHmrsz Hmsz Hos Regensburg – A5 18, later 15 t – Hrmz H Regensburg H 10

Other examples Other examples of Prussian norms are: Pwg Pr 92cSheet IIa 3BogiesSheet VId 7IIDiamond bogie VerbandsbauartSheet B23S 6 (straight driver's cab end wall)Sheet XIV-2aG 3Sheet 15, 16, III-3T 9.1Sheet III-4fT 10Sheet XIV-4bTender 4T18Sheet III-5eTender 4T21,5Sheet III-5hTender 4T21,5Sheet III-5lTender 4T31,5Sheet III-5m

See also History of rail transport in Germany

Literature and sources

Multiple authors (1974). Güterwagen Handbuch, Transpress VEB Verlag für Verkehrswesen, Berlin Behrends, H.; Hensel, W.; Wiedau, G. (1989). Güterwagen-Archiv (Band 1), Transpress VEB Verlag für Verkehrswesen, Berlin Carstens, S.; Ossig, R. (1989). Güterwagen. Band 1. Gedeckte Wagen, W. Tümmels, Nuremberg Carstens, S.; Diener H. U. (1989). Güterwagen. Band 2. Gedeckte Wagen – Sonderbauarten, W. Tümmels, Nuremberg Carstens, S.; Diener H. U. (1996). Güterwagen. Band 3. Offene Wagen, Eigenverlag, Hasloh Carstens, S. (2003). Güterwagen. Band 4. Offene Wagen in Sonderbauart, MIBA-Verlag, Nuremberg Carstens, S. (2008). Güterwagen. Band 5. Rungen-, Schienen- und Flachwagen, MIBA-Verlag, Nuremberg Deutsche Bundesbahn, EZA Minden (1951). Handbuch für Umzeichnung der Güterwagen, Minden Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft, Reichsbahn-Zentralamt (1928) Merkbuch für die Fahrzeuge der Reichsbahn. IV. Wagen (Regelspur). 1928 edition, Berlin Königl. Eisenbahn Zentralamt (1915). Merkbuch für die Fahrzeuge der Preußisch-Hessischen Staatseisenbahnverwaltung. 1915 edition, Berlin Troche, H. (1992) Die preußischen Normal-Güterzuglokomotiven der Gattungen G 3 und G 4. Kap. 17. Die Normalien-Güterwagen, EK-Verlag, Freiburg