About the German made steam engine designated Br56.
Between 1934 and 1941 the DRG converted a total of 691 Prussian-built Class 55.25–56 steam locomotives; to make a new Class 56.2–8. The carrying axle enabled higher speeds and the engine could even be used as a passenger locomotive. In addition the average axle load was lower, so that these locomotives could also be used on branch lines. The conversion entailed moving the boiler up and forward.
The Deutsche Bundesbahn took over 368 of the 410 remaining engines after the Second World War and retired them by 1968. The East German Deutsche Reichsbahn retired their last locomotives by 1970.
The engines left in Poland after 1945 were given the PKP classification Tr5. One locomotive, the Tr5-65, is preserved at Wolsztyn.