Das Boot

In the second half of the 1970s, the GDR was in need of new diesel locomotives with more than 2000 HP and an axle load of 16 metric tons. The logical choice would have been building more of the rather successful class 118 locomotives, but according to the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, the GDR wasn't allowed to build locomotives this large. The logical choice would have been the soviet union, but their M62 "Taiga drum" and "Ludmilla" locomotives were just too heavy.

In the end, romanian FAUR was tasked with developing the 118 to the updated 119, which got the nickname "U-Boot" (submarine) thanks to the circular engine room windows. 119 158 here in Vienenburg is an example of that class.

The class was never well-loved. With 2700 HP it had plenty of power, but it had both conceptual and quality control issues, and at times 20-30% of them could be found in repair shops. After the german re-unification, when they got relabeled as 219, they weren't kept for extremely long anymore either. Some got rebuilt extensively as the new class 229, but this was way too expensive. This particular example was a second shot at modernizing them, with a new cab and a digital destination display in the window, but ultimately there was no interest in that either. It now belongs to DB Museum, displaying its old number and paint scheme again.

Some examples are still used for MOW trains and the like. A further few are now museum locomotives. Last but not least, twelve got exported - back to Romania.

On my homepage