European Railroad Discussion > Some heritage electrics in Germany

Hello everybody,

thank you. I am glad you enjoyed my previous post. There are also some electrics which did receive a fancy paint job.

1 - The electrics of the 101 class are more or less on their way out. The new timetable in early December will see quite some reduction in service of the class. They will be replaced by ICE-trains. For now the pair of trains 2082/2083 will continue to operate from Hamburg to the Alps. Because of track work the trains are off until spring 2024. The paint scheme of 101 013 is one of its kind. She is seen climbing north out of the valley after the stop in Steinach, where the connection to Rothenburg ob der Tauber is made; early spring 2022.
2 - The EMUs class 442 cover a fair amount of the service in the region to the northeast of Frankfurt am Main. With the change of schedule in December service will be transfered form the Deutsche Bahn to a different entity. (The EMUs are not that old. I do not know what will happen to them.) In hopes of catching one of the 111 class in a heritage paint scheme which also operate on the line I had left work a little early that day. Ah well, one of the EMUs travels across the viaduct in Assenheim. This is seen on the line from Hanau to Friedberg which bypasses Frankfurt to the east; spring 2023.
3 - The Deutsche Bahn, as other operators, are stretched thin for almost anything these days, engineers, trainmen, locomotives, tower operators, mechanical staff, you name it. 111 074 is leased from a business unit inside the Bahn which rents out equipment. The local business unit does not have sufficient equipment so they have to lease some equipment to cover their schedules. Just recently 111 074 was in charge of a local service Hanau - Friedberg - Giessen, seen near Assenheim.

More to follow



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/13/23 09:25 by kbs651.

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Second bit,

4 - For much of the time in 2023 Class 111 in one of the heritage paint schemes were operating some local trains from Hanau to Gießen. Depending on circumstances quite a few railfans made the track to see the trains. It was an easy trip for me, after lunchtime, or after breakfast. 111 111 in its S-Bahn (suburban train) livery is on the way to Friedberg outside of Bad Nauheim.
5 - Generally the locomotives were facing south. Occasionally they were at the north end. 111 174 is seen climbing up the hill from Butzbach.
6 - Next stop Kirch Göns and into the evening sun towards Giessen with a friendly greeting from the engineer. Daylight saving time sure has its advantages...

Enjoy

kbs 651



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/12/23 14:40 by kbs651.

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Great photos - thanks.  I spent a lot of time in Germany in 1980 and 1982 and the Class 111s were kind of the backbone of the DB service in those days.   Sad to see them reaching the end of their service life. 

Thanks for a very interesting set of images, and for the informative commentary Gut gemacht!

MC