PIKO premieres BR 91.3 steam locomotive in TT scale at sold-out event

PIKO’s new BR 91.3 DR in TT scale arrived with the kind of crowd model railroad releases rarely get: a completely sold-out premiere at Schauplatz Eisenbahn in Chemnitz, with visitors traveling from all over Germany. For buyers, that turnout matters because it shows the locomotive is not just another catalog line, but a release aimed at a scale that is increasingly treated as a headline platform, not a side note.

The May 27 unveiling was staged as a full public presentation rather than a simple product reveal. PIKO said radio and television crews, including MDR and Sachsen-TV, were on site, while CEO Rainer Landwehr and Product Manager Matthias Fröhlich joined Museum Director Dr. Claudius Noack and his team for technical discussions, photos and filming. The program also included a live recording of “PIKO kurz & kompakt – Fröhlich erklärt” and guided tours through the depot, giving the launch a heritage setting that fit the prototype.

That prototype is one of the reasons the BR 91.3 makes sense in TT. PIKO identifies the locomotive as the Prussian T 9.3, a robust tank engine ordered from 1901 onward, with more than 2,000 examples procured by the Prussian State Railways. Reference figures put total Prussian State Railways production at 2,052 or 2,055 locomotives, with additional engines for Alsace-Lorraine and Mecklenburg. Later classified by the Deutsche Reichsbahn as Class 91.3–18, the type ran at up to 65 km/h and stayed in service long enough to become a familiar sight across several eras.

For pre-order decisions, the details to check are the ones PIKO has already flagged in its TT webshop listing. The BR 91.3 DR is being pitched as a 2026 novelty with new tooling, DR cab and DRG lamps, a coal bunker extension, a Knorr-type air pump and digitally switchable lighting. PIKO says delivery to specialist retailers is due at the end of May, and a ČSD version is planned later in 2026, which broadens the model’s appeal beyond DR-only collections. A retailer listing places the TT locomotive at a recommended price of 269.00 euros, putting it squarely in premium territory.

The sold-out Chemnitz premiere gave the launch the strongest signal yet that TT steam still has room to grow when the subject is right. PIKO is not simply filling a gap with a new tank engine; it is building a multi-scale family around a historically important prototype, and the BR 91.3 in TT now has the kind of introduction that should help it land exactly where it is meant to run, on serious layouts with room for a short, purposeful steam locomotive.