The East German
electric locomotive
An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or ga ...
s of DR Class E 251 ''(from 1970: 251, DBAG Class 171)'' were not standard engines either within the
Deutsche Reichsbahn's or subsequently the
Deutsche Bahn's fleet, due to the different specification of their electrical system. They were only used on the
Blankenburg (Harz)
Blankenburg (Harz) is a town and health resort in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, at the north foot of the Harz Mountains, southwest of Halberstadt.
It has been in large part rebuilt since a fire in 1836, and possesses a castl ...
–
Königshütte (
Rübeland Railway
The Rübeland Railway (german: Rübelandbahn) is a railway link from Blankenburg via Rübeland and Königshütte to Tanne in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It was built by the Halberstadt-Blankenburg railway (HBE) between 1880 and 1886 ...
) line. Because this line had
steep inclines, but connecting this isolated branch to the main
traction network would have been very expensive, the Deutsche Reichsbahn electrified it in 1965 with a
25 kV 50 Hz
Railway electrification systems using alternating current (AC) at are used worldwide, especially for high-speed rail. It is usually supplied at the standard utility frequency (typically 50 or 60Hz), which simplifies traction substations. The dev ...
system, which was different from the usual German catenary supply of
15 kV 16⅔ Hz. The 15
Co’Co’ engines were supplied by
LEW
Lew or LEW may refer to:
People
* Lew (given name)
* Lew (surname)
Places
* Lew, Oxfordshire, England
* River Lew, in Devon, England
Transport
* LEW Hennigsdorf, a rail vehicle factory in Hennigsdorf, Germany
* Lew (locomotive), a British narro ...
and registered with the Reichsbahn as E 251 001 to 015.
Service
Of the original 15 locomotives, 11 were deployed until December 2004 in charge of
goods train
Rail freight transport is the use of rail transport, railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers.
A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of Railroad car#Freight cars, freight cars (US) or goods wagon ...
s on the Rübeland Railway. Until that point they were stabled at
Bw Blankenburg. Apart from 171 001 and 171 002, which were returned to their original state and placed under conservation protection, almost all locomotives are in the old Bw Zwickau, where they are awaiting future duties in southeast Europe. Class 171-hauled passenger services hauled ended in 2000 because the
Federal Railway Office
The German Federal Railway Authority (german: Eisenbahn-Bundesamt, ) has been the independent federal authority for the regulation of the railways in Germany since 1 January 1994. It is under the supervision and direction of the Federal Minis ...
required the installation of
door opening systems (''Türsteuerung'' or ''TB0'') on passenger trains. A TBO option for the trains was not followed through for cost reasons. Neither were the engines equipped with ''
Sifa
Sifa is a type of deadman's control system used on German-influenced European railways.{{cite web , url = http://www.virtualmarket.innotrans.de/index.php5?id=1022238&highlight=&fid=523&offset=0&Action=showProduct , title = Deadman's control sys ...
'' until 1998, because the additional crew member required on steep inclines initially meant that ''Sifa'' was not needed.
Electrification of this engine's main route with a 25 kV catenary system had eventually to be carried out both for noise and environmental protection reasons and it was even joined for a while in 2004 by locomotives of classes
185
Year 185 ( CLXXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lascivius and Atilius (or, less frequently, year 938 ''Ab urbe con ...
and
189
Year 189 ( CLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Silanus and Silanus (or, less frequently, year 942 ''Ab urbe c ...
. However, in 2005 there was a changeover to diesel locomotives of
classes 233 and
241
Year 241 ( CCXLI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gordianus and Pompeianus by the Romans (or, less frequently, year ...
operated by Railion as well as the
Blue Tiger. Previously of the transport duties were allocated to the ''
Osthavelländische Eisenbahn'' (today ), so the provision of electric locomotives by Railion was now no longer sufficiently economic.
The introduction of DB Railion locomotives of Classes 233 and 241 ended on 31 March 2006, because the ''Fels-Werke'' factory switched all its contracts from 1 April 2006 to the and its Blue Tiger fleet.
Livery
Originally all 15 engines were painted green. From the middle of the 1970s, however, they were resprayed bordeaux red with a wide, ivory-coloured stripe. This was later painted much narrower on the sides. The DB also had the engines repainted in the livery of the time.
File:DR Class 171 locomotive no. 171014-4.jpg, Loks 171 014-4 und E 251 002 in Rübeland
File:171 005 Die Rübelandbahn near Elbingerode, Oct 1995..jpg, 171 005 1995
File:Die Rübelandbahn May 1990.jpg, 251 005 im Mai 1990
Preserved
Nos. E 251 001 and 002 are today designated as museum locomotives and are based in Blankenburg. Both locos are protected which is also the reason for their remaining in Blankenburg. All other engines of Class 171 were transferred to Zwickau following the termination of their service by Railion Deutschland AG. The locomotive train (comprising 171 011, 171 009, 171 003, 171 008, 171 004, 171 014, 171 013 and 171 005) reached Halle on 13 April 2005 and then continued to Zwickau on 21 April 2005. There the engines were stored in Shed II of the old Bw Zwickau. On 9 February 2006 no. 171 008 was towed by 232 701 from Zwickau to Dresden-Friedrichstadt, where its wheelsets were worked on the underfloor lathe. It was then taken by several diesel locomotives of various classes to Regensburg-Hafen. From there the first locomotive of Class 171 made its way to
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...
. There it has been hired to the Logistic Center Bulgaria Branch. This fate was planned for the remaining locomotives in Zwickau, they were to be likewise operated by a Railion subsidiary in Romania. However this has not yet happened and the engines remain in Zwickau. By contrast a museum home was found for no. 171 012. She has gone into the possession of the TEV (Thuringian Railway Society) who will look after the maintenance of the engine and present it at various events. Nos. 171 006, 007, 010 and 015 were dismantled.
Current overview of the remaining locomotives (as at: September 2007)
*171 001 – green – Blankenburg (Harz) - returned to original delivery state to become a technical monument
*171 002 – green – Blankenburg (Harz) - returned to original delivery state to become a technical monument
*171 003 – traffic red (''verkehrsrot'') – Zwickau
*171 004 – traffic red (''verkehrsrot'') – Zwickau
*171 005 – orient red (''orientrot'') – Zwickau
*171 006 – red – scrapped
*171 007 – red – scrapped
*171 008 – traffic red (''verkehrsrot'') – Timișoara in Romania (tests to be carried out to determine whether to send the rest)
*171 009 – orient red (''orientrot'') – Zwickau
*171 010 – red – scrapped
*171 011 – orient red (''orientrot'') – Zwickau
*171 012 – bordeaux red – TEV Weimar
*171 013 – traffic red (''verkehrsrot'') – Zwickau
*171 014 – traffic red (''verkehrsrot'') – Zwickau
*171 015 – red – scrapped at Aw Dessau
Sources
*
{{German electric locomotives
Railway locomotives introduced in 1965
E 251
Electric locomotives of Germany
171
Year 171 ( CLXXI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Herennianus (or, less frequently, year 924 ''Ab urbe co ...
Standard gauge locomotives of Germany
Freight locomotives
LEW locomotives