Full Steam ahead! - …that is the motto of the members of the »Society for the Preservation of the Locomotives of Maschinenfabrik Esslingen«.

Since its establishment in 2003, the registered club has been busy restoring a type T3 locomotive that it wants to bring back under steam by 2011.

As a passive club member, WEIS INDUSTRIES® GmbH & Co KG supports the work in Esslingen. The headquarters of the club are on the site of the former Esslingen machine factory and today’s Daimler AG production site in Mettingen. Here, members meet regularly to plan and implement their restoration activities.

The locomotive is a permanent loan from the city of Kornwestheim. There, the old steam engine served an entirely different purpose: it sat on a playground, where children could climb around on it pretending to be engine drivers. The times of rough play have left their mark on the historical vehicle – the »toy« got its share of dents and scratches.

Bit by bit, all of these damages are now being repaired by 18 active members.  They are current or former Daimler employees who want to use their technical know-how for making a dream come true.

Their primary source of support comes from passive members – WEIS INDUSTRIES® GmbH & Co KG among them – who provide tools, material, storage or transportation capacities and also financial help.

After its successful restoration, the T3, which was built in 1923 (serial number 4092) is slated for regular runs on the track between Rudersberg and Welzheim.

Additionally, the club members have also set their sights on preserving the historical heritage of Maschinenfabrik Esslingen. The archives harbor many old documents about the manufacturing of locomotives and the development of the machine factory until production was shut down in 1966.

Concrete plans are being made for the time after 2011: Dr. Hans-Thomas Schäfer, one of the club presidents, dreams of restoring a historical railway carriage.