European Railroad Discussion > DB - electrics - 1972

Electric operations in the Hamburg area in 1972 were limited. Lines to the northwest (Sylt), north (Kiel) and northeast (ferry to Denmark) were all still diesel. With a rare steam train. The line east to Berlin was diesel in the West German portion of about 30 miles. As I noted several days ago, the thru passenger train to Berlin was steam operated by Deutsche Reichsbahn.

Main lines south of Hamburg were largely electric to Hannover (southeast) and Bremen (southwest). Also the S-Bahn & U-Bahn lines were electrified.

1-3: Beginning with the 103 class. These were the premier power of DB intercity trains in 1972, capable of 125 mph. In the cream and red wine colors, there were attractive units.

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4-5: Class 103 on Inter City trains
6: Arriving Hamburg-Altona

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7: Class 110 were used in DB passenger trains in almost all catagories.
8: Class 110 on a commuter train
9: Class 110 on a long distance train

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10 - 11: Class 112 were similar to Class 110, but I think had a high speed gearing, and the "Inter City" paint job.

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12 - 14: Class 140 seems to have been the electric loco for all uses: freight or passenger. Class 140 is shown in Hamburg on passenger and freight trains. Then in Luneberg on a local passenger train.

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15: Class 140 at Luneberg on local passenger train
16: Class 140s passing each other on the south side of Hamburg
17: Electric loco at Hamburg-Altona on long distance passenger train

Since north Germany is flat, we did not see the big heavy six axle electrics that were common in the more mountainous southern German areas.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/14 13:44 by MEKoch.

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DB's class 103 electric locomotive, now you're talking what an iconic locomotive it was. They had a cult following by German, British and other railfans alike. They looked the part and they had the power to back it up!
Last time I looked there were still a couple of locos that were saved from the scrap yard and were in departmental service being used on test trains.
Happy days indeed!

Best regards,
Keith G, London, UK

There are several 103s in regular service. Most popular is a Dortmund to Stuttgart RT with an OB consist traveling in daylight along the Rhine.

A wonderful set of images. One of my great regrets is that I never got to see DB operations in this era. And yes, the class 103 electrics were iconic and had a far-flung following, extending to not a few railfan friends I know in this corner of the world.

Glad to know a few remain in regular service. Hmmmm......

More, please, if you can. Just marvelous.

MC
Columbia, Missouri USA

The remaining serviceable 103 are not in regular service and not in test trains. They are in regularly revenue trains for preventing from humidity failures.

Erwin from Austria


CIT1023 Wrote:
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> DB's class 103 electric locomotive, now you're
> talking what an iconic locomotive it was. They had
> a cult following by German, British and other
> railfans alike. They looked the part and they had
> the power to back it up!
> Last time I looked there were still a couple of
> locos that were saved from the scrap yard and were
> in departmental service being used on test
> trains.
> Happy days indeed!
>
> Best regards,
> Keith G, London, UK

Pic 14, 15 and 16 are not 140 but 141.
140: 7 windows or shutters, 3600 kW, 120 km/h
141: 5 windows or shutters, 2400 kW, 120 km/h
110: 7 windows or shutters, 3600 kW, 150 km/h, some locos higher speeds

Erwin from Austria

Out of the four operable class 103 locomotives, two operate out of Frankfurt, one out of Munich and one is not longer owned by DB, but by Railadventure. As Erwin pointed out, the DB locomotives are used on regular trains a couple of days per week to prevent storage damage. The two pictures below show the Munich based 103 245 on an Intercity train (IC) to Nuremberg on August 19, 2014.

E111

spandfecerwin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The remaining serviceable 103 are not in regular
> service and not in test trains. They are in
> regularly revenue trains for preventing from
> humidity failures.
>
> Erwin from Austria
>
>
> CIT1023 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > DB's class 103 electric locomotive, now you're
> > talking what an iconic locomotive it was. They
> had
> > a cult following by German, British and other
> > railfans alike. They looked the part and they
> had
> > the power to back it up!
> > Last time I looked there were still a couple of
> > locos that were saved from the scrap yard and
> were
> > in departmental service being used on test
> > trains.
> > Happy days indeed!
> >
> > Best regards,
> > Keith G, London, UK

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Hi E111 - your second pic is great with the old switch tower behind the 103.
Thank for sharing.

Phil