User Guide

MICROSOFT TRAIN SIMULATOR ENGINEER’S HANDBOOK
HOW TO DRIVE A STEAM LOCOMOTIVE | 38
GÖLSDORF SERIES 380
The Gölsdorf Series 380 steam locomotive is one of 47 locomotive types designed by famed Austrian
locomotive designer Karl Gölsdorf. The 380 is the freight cousin of the Series 310 passenger locomo-
tive; both are well-known for their remarkably high boiler position, aesthetic conical shape and
functional form.
The 380 is a four-cylinder, compound locomotive. This means
the steam is used twice before being exhausted. Steam first
enters the smaller, high-pressure cylinders located between the
frame rails and drives connecting rods attached to a crankshaft
on the third axle. The exhausted steam is then routed to the
larger, low-pressure cylinders located outside the frame rails and
drives connecting rods attached to the third drive wheels.
The major differences between the Series 380 and the 310 are
the number and size of the drive wheels. The 380 has ten 55-
inch driving wheels while the 310 has six 82" wheels. This
greatly affects the performance of each locomotive. A passenger
locomotive like the 310 operates best with fewer, large-diameter
driving wheels that enable high-speed runs. The tradeoff is a
lower tractive effort that limits the length of passenger trains
because of a lower pulling ability. With the 380, these character-
istics are reversed. The 380 uses its smaller wheels to pull the
heavy freight trains. The ten smaller wheels make the 380’s
tractive effort significantly higher than the 310’s.
The 380’s high tractive effort makes it a natural for pulling
the Orient-Express passenger train through the mountainous
regions of Austria.
Wheel Classification
The wheel arrangement of
the Gölsdorf 380 is classi-
fied using the German
system, which counts the
number of leading, driving,
and trailing axles. Numbers
are used for non-powered
axles, and letters are used
for powered (“driving”)
axles, with A equal to 1, B
equal to 2, and so on. The
380 is classified as 1E,
meaning that it has one
non-powered leading axle,
five powered axles, and no
trailing axles. Using the
Whyte system, which is
favored in the U.S. and
U.K., the 380 would be
a 2-10-0.