European Railroad Discussion > Some pictures of the 103 class

Hello,

with the recent post from dwatry about the class 103 of the former Deutsche Bundesbahn I thought I might share some more recent pictures of this class.
There were two subclasses of the 103. The second batch was one meter longer, about three feet, to allow for more space in the cab. I actually met an instructor who hated this loco because he had to lean over all the time to see what his apprentices were doing. When the end of the 103 was nearing it were apparently not the poor runners that were scrapped, it were those which had their inspection dates expiring. However, a very limited number of locos lingered on. One service operated from Cologne to Flensburg on Fridays, back on Sundays for a while. Some kind of revival came in 2013 when three locos were put back in regular service, namely 103 113, 103 235, 103 245. The first two in Frankfurt, the latter in Munich. From what I know it was not without some grief that this happened. At the time a museum of the Deutsche Bahn in Koblenz-Lützel was being set up. Some volunteers had made one 103 fully operational in their time off. DB Fernverkehr (the long distance subsidiary) was still the legal owner of the beast though. So here you go. The two locos in Frankfurt worked Intercitys from Cologne to Stuttgart and Ulm. The one in Munich ran one service to Ulm, and some services to Austria. The end for 103 113 and 103 235 came December 2015. The 103 in Munich lingered on. From what I know the 113 and 245 are operational. 103 222 has a new owner and a different livery. 103 224 was recently acquired by TRI, Torsten Richter, a contractor for passenger services. It is supposed get a full refurbishment. It is a replacment for 103 132, which cannot really be rebuilt.

1: 103 113 with IC 118 from (Innsbrck-) Stuttgart to Münster. The train is seen in September 2014 near Nackenheim (Mainz) with the Rhine river in the background. Needless to say that a few visits were in order to get the shot right. May it be a truck, or some clouds blowing the picture.
2: 103 235 again with IC 118 has just passed through Oberwesel on its way to Münster in June 2014.
3: 103 113 with IC 119 on its way to Innsbruck near Wiesloch-Walldorf which is south of Heidelberg in November 2014.

More to come
 

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Some more,

Friday nights one service which was scheduled to be operated by one of the 103 was IC 182. It originated in Zürich and sported Swiss coaches. It arrived in Frankfurt around 10 p.m., not the best in terms of sunlight.

1: 103 113 arrives in Frankfurt with IC 182 in tow. Only the lights on the platforms were available.
2: The engineer talks to the some of the train crew. From what I could surmise he was only too happy to be in the cab of the unit. I actually met a guy from Chile who made his trip to the station just to see a 103 class on one of my own trips to the station.
3: 103 113 with train 78668, a light run, in Heidelsheim just east of Mainz on 12.12.2015. The last revenue trip over it was taking the coaches north, and going in retirement in Koblenz-Lützel afterwards.

More to come

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Hello,

some addendum to the first two pictures in above post. They were taken in August 2014 in Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof.

1: Maybe the person taking the picture of the 103 in Frankfurt in October 2015 had one made by Märklin circling on a table layout. Tthe units still turn heads today, not only of railfans.
2: The one 103 in Munich was not so easily accessible. Going there involved one or two nights in a hotel. I opted for an overnight train which took me there in time for the first train from Austria to Munich on Saturdays during the skiing season. (Never too old doing funny things.) I have set myself up in March 2015 on the Austrian banks of the Inn river. Across the river 103 245 in charge of IC 1280 has just left Kufstein and is back in Germany taking home some skiers.
3: The following Sunday IC 1284 passes Nieraudorf on its way from Kufstein to Munich.

Still some more

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Still more,

1: Life after retirement. 103 113 in February 2018 is on its way from Koblenz to Hamburg to get her wheels trued and pick up some other stuff. She is passing the station of Estorf in between Nienburg/Weser and Minden. The line is in kind of a remote area, nicknamed Natobahn, NATO-railway. It was electrified when the Iron Curtain was still up to afford seamless service from the coast inland. This was to be one of the very few pictures I would take that day. A semi express service which does not stop at this station but is supposed two run on a two-hourly headway was canceled altogether except for one train in the morning. Pretty much all operators face a shortage of operating personell these days. At times this results in wholesale canceling of services. Luckily I was there by car driven by a fellow railfan from the area. A local bus service would have operated though.
2: In September 2020 103 245 took a special from Gießen to Nuremberg. A  good number of people was lined up along the way. Here the special has just passed Himmelstadt shortly before arriving in Würzburg on its way to Nuremberg.
3: 103 222 was acquired by Railadventure in 2014. I happend upon her near Hellmitzheim, halfway between Würzburg, and Nuremberg the same day 103 245 was out. 

Enjoy

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Nice!

Posted from iPhone

I was in Munich in April 2016 and swear I saw a 103. Could it have been at that date ?

The 103 was a very handsome loco. Many thanks for these superb photos. chris uk.

Very, very nice -- both the photos and the locomotive.  I was frequently in Germany back in the 103s' prime and admired them greatly then. 

Gordon

Great photos all.
I love to see photos from Germany ove the years.
I got to visit German for 10 days back in September 2002.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

Thanks for the news and the find photos!

Hello train1265,

it is quite possible that you saw 103 245 in Munich. She may still have operated at that time, though only occasionally. This sure would have been a hit and miss thing. She was also sitting in the yard for a while before being moved inside to keep her out of the elements.

Cheers
kbs651

Hello Bob,

compared to today Germany was still paradise then, trains and otherwise... Visiting for only ten days does not really do her justice, though. It is similar to trying to cover the Feather River Canyon and Donner Pass in about the same time. I kind of tried, and lost.

Cheers

kbs651

KBS651,

Nicest 103 shots that I've seen awhile. I lived outside Wiesbaden for more than a decade and 103 class always seemed to show up from time to time including a daily IC to/from Stuttgart. My other favorite was the 110's that were fading away in the early 2000's including on some local services at Wiesbaden. I added a video clip here for something on the vintage aviation side of things. One of the Dubendorf JU-52s used to show up at Mainz-Finthen for weekend scenic flights.....lots of very elderly German men seemed to show up for a ride into the past. (This clip was May 2013)

Germany was easy to chase trains or planes......look on line and see what was running on a weekend or just pick a mainline or airport and see what showed up. Other than trains Germany was/is a great place to live.

Well done photo story!
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/11/21 02:02 by crusader5619.

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Great series of a unique, enigmatic and very handsome loco type. When i think 'German railways' I think 103 class!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/11/21 02:29 by exhaustED.

Excellent, what a great set.

Great memories of an iconic locomotive

Posted from Android

Great photos of the 103 class in the beautiful maroon and cream livery. 

Rich