The Royal Bavarian State Railways had, at different times, three different goods wagon classification systems that roughly correspond to the early, middle and late period of the state railway era in Bavaria:
Epoch Ia - the early period from 1867 to 1892. The time when the main line network was established. Epoch Ib - the middle period from 1893 to 1912. The boom time for the branch lines. Epoch Ic - the late period from 1913 to 1920. The war years and aftermath until the formation of the Deutsche Reichsbahn.
In practice Epoch Ic may have extended into the mid-1920s because it would have taken time for practices to change and for wagons to be repainted. In Bavaria, this may have taken longer than elsewhere, because they were part of the independent 'Bavarian Group Administration', the only one of its kind in the Reichsbahn. The following sections explain the goods wagon classification schemes in the 3 epochs.
Epoch Ia (1867- 1892) – the first wagon classification scheme
The first numbering system was introduced in 1867 and used capital letters for the various types of goods wagon as follows:
A = goods vans
B or BD = flat wagons for MOW-work – Bahndienstwagen
C = vans with steam boilers for train heating – Heizwagen
D or DW = guards vans for P and G trains – Dienstwagen
E = open wagons with high sides
F = open wagons with low sides, long
G = open wagons with low sides, short
H = timber trucks
J = luggage vans without guards compt – Gepäckwagen
K = double-deck livestock vans
L = low-sided open wagons for stone transport
M = peat wagons
N = horse vans
O = cattle wagons, covered or open
Photographs indicate that, initially, not all letters were used in their final meaning, but the system was fully developed by 1877 after the nationalization of the Bavarian Ostbahn. It was refined using indices – Roman or Arabic numbers – to designate old wagons built before 1859 or new, longer, vehicles built after 1880. E.g. an A I was an old, 6-wheeled, goods van for a load of 120 cwt whilst an A³ was a 10 m long “modern” van for 15t load (10t was ‘normal’). The owner inscription was K.Bay.Sts.B. with a rather square crowned Bavarian coat of arms (white and blue lozenges). An old-fashioned Antiqua-type was used.
Epoch Ib (1893-1912) – the second classification scheme
In 1893 the K.Bay.Sts.B. introduced the intermediate system with capital letters showing the main type and small letters showing things like loading length, load, height of the sides etc. It was similar, but not identical, to the Prussian system; in particular the use of the small letters was quite different. The following table gives the type designations in combination with type description and the number range:
V = livestock wagons (19001 – 20000) – Viehwagen
G = goods vans (30001 – 50000) – Gedeckte Güterwagen
O = open wagons (50001 – 70000) – Offene Güterwagen
H = timber trucks (70001 – 76000) – Holzwagen
S = platform wagons (76001 – 80000) – Schienenwagen
Special wagons, railway-owned (80001 – 85000) Special wagons, private-owned (85001 – 90000) Wagons of private railways (90001 onwards)
Examples of small letters used:
l, p for long and very long vehicles
d, h for low and high sides
w, m for < and > 10t max load respectively
e, f, y etc. for special features of certain wagon types
Peculiarities of this system were also that double capitals were not only used for 8-wheeled vehicles, but also for 4-wheelers with 20 tons load and more (e.g. OOm(u), a 4-wheel iron coal wagon). Triple capitals - SSS - were used for heavy load 12-wheel well wagons. The owner inscription was K.Bay.Sts.B., now without a coat of arms. A type without serifs was used. In 1909 the German state railways agreed upon the joint use of their freight stock, and founded the German State Railway Wagon Association (Deutscher Staatsbahnwagenverband or DSV). Besides the standardization of goods wagons, standardized wagon numbering, based on the Prussian system, was introduced. As far as can be traced today, the Bavarians waited until 1912/13 before applying it to old wagons, because the yearly amendments to the wagon roster book (of 1903) say “future” for the new standardized designations. Furthermore, the standardized designations were altered for some wagon types between 1909 and 1912, when they were given their final meaning. (e.g. for Rungenwagen, SmlRu was planned first, but they became Rm eventually).