The V 65: A Rare Rod-Coupled Diesel from Kiel

Only fifteen were ever built for the Deutsche Bundesbahn. Yet the V 65, a compact rod-coupled diesel from Kiel, tells a bigger story: how post-war Germany moved from steam to diesel, and how a locomotive designed for private railways found its way into the national fleet.

Built in Kiel for light duties

In the 1950s the Deutsche Bundesbahn needed diesel locomotives for light branch-line services and medium-heavy shunting. The fifteen V 65s were delivered by MaK in Kiel in 1956, shortly after the first examples of the far more numerous V 60 had entered service.

The V 65 was not a clean-sheet design. It was a lightly modified version of the MaK 600 D, a four-axle locomotive that MaK had been building since 1953 for private railways. The 600 D belonged to MaK’s first post-war standard programme, the family of locomotives now known as the MaK rod-coupled locomotives.

What made it different

Two details set the V 65 apart. The first was its slow-running MaK engine, turning at only 750 revolutions per minute. The second was the Beugniot lever linking the axles. With four coupled axles on a long wheelbase, a rigid locomotive would struggle in tight curves. The lever, together with sideways play in the outer wheelsets, let the V 65 run through curves far more smoothly.

A small class with a long life

When the Deutsche Bundesbahn introduced its new numbering system in 1968, the V 65 became Class 265. Two locomotives have survived. V 65 001 worked for the Meppen-Haselünne railway before it was taken over by the Osnabrücker Dampflokfreunde, who use it as a museum locomotive. V 65 011 belongs to the DB Museum and is on loan to the Bochum-Dahlhausen Railway Museum.

The class even appeared on screen: in the opening scenes of the 1962 film Die Tür mit den sieben Schlössern, V 65 005 and V 65 007 can be seen standing in the station.

The V 65 in Gauge 1

Gauge 1, known in Germany as Spur 1, runs on 45 mm track at a scale of about 1:32. At that scale a 10.74-metre locomotive becomes roughly 34 centimetres long, large enough to show every coupling rod and lever in motion, yet short enough for compact shunting layouts.

Our own V65 is an M&L Gauge 1 model, a 1:32 scale replica of the original, built around 25 years ago and still a regular on the layout. Fittingly, it carries the number V 65 011, the same as the preserved locomotive at Bochum-Dahlhausen. You can see it running, alone and together with an E160, in the Scale RC Garage videos.

Sources: Wikipedia – DB Class V 65 · Aartalbahn – MaK 600 D. Have more details or photos of the V 65? Get in touch.