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Description
From the previous shot:

MEG loco 301, which brought a 30-40 car scrap train to Opladen, with Trier being its final destination.

Took five pics with different exposures, so I tried to merge them into an HDR pic. And if you know me, you might know that I don't like to overdo editing. I like to keep it subtle. As a result, this shot doesn't scream HDR at you, but you can see areas that receive different amounts of light equally well. The colours seem a bit off, but I'm too lazy to play around with that right now.

As described previously, this is a former Deutsche Reichsbahn class 119, current Deutsche Bahn class 229. Back in the 1970s, the GDR sought a locomotive similar to its successful class 118 from the 1960s, keeping the same low axle load but increasing the power output. However, according to Comecon rules, the GDR was not allowed to build locomotives that produced more than 1500hp. Normally, they'd import locomotives from the Soviet Union, but the machines they could offer were all too heavy, exceeding the maximum axle load for branchlines.

In the end, 200 locomotives were ordered from Romania, and soon, they received the nickname "Karpatenschreck", aka Carpathian terror, or "Ceauşescus Rache", aka Ceauşescus' revenge. This was due to the fact that they were hideously unreliable. As some German engineers noted, it was only after the first 28 locomotives had been built that one could call it serial production, rather than prototypes. Even before they entered service, numerous flaws and technical shortcomings had to be addressed, a process that was later referred to "Germanisation".

Once in service, breakdowns became so frequent that 50% of these spent their time being repaired at the depot instead of hauling trains. Prime movers had to be swapped so often that some machines inadvertedly became spare part donors, rather than working locomotives. And since these things had two prime movers, there was a lot of replacing to be done. They were using up spare parts faster than those could be produced! Thankfully though, the GDR had a life-saving trump up its sleeve: When ordering the locomotives, it was specified that they must be able to accept replacement prime movers from GDR production. And as expected, they didn't just swap the motors, but just about all other components that caused problems earlier on. Reliability greatly improved after this, but the fleet still suffered from failure rates of 20-30%.

When Germany was reunified, these locos were still kept in service for some time, as electrification in the East wasn't as widespread as in the West. As time passed though, they were no longer needed, with most of them being retired by 2001. 12 were sold to Romania (how ironic) and Bulgaria, four were kept for maintenance trains, two of which were retired shortly afterwards, one going to a museum, the other one to the scrapyard. Six units were preserved by museums, while the MEG (Mitteldeutsche Eisenbahn GmbH) bought four of them, this one being among those. As of now, two are still in service, with the other two being spare part donors.

Description
From the previous shot:

MEG loco 301, which brought a 30-40 car scrap train to Opladen, with Trier being its final destination.

Took five pics with different exposures, so I tried to merge them into an HDR pic. And if you know me, you might know that I don't like to overdo editing. I like to keep it subtle. As a result, this shot doesn't scream HDR at you, but you can see areas that receive different amounts of light equally well. The colours seem a bit off, but I'm too lazy to play around with that right now.

As described previously, this is a former Deutsche Reichsbahn class 119, current Deutsche Bahn class 229. Back in the 1970s, the GDR sought a locomotive similar to its successful class 118 from the 1960s, keeping the same low axle load but increasing the power output. However, according to Comecon rules, the GDR was not allowed to build locomotives that produced more than 1500hp. Normally, they'd import locomotives from the Soviet Union, but the machines they could offer were all too heavy, exceeding the maximum axle load for branchlines.

In the end, 200 locomotives were ordered from Romania, and soon, they received the nickname "Karpatenschreck", aka Carpathian terror, or "Ceauşescus Rache", aka Ceauşescus' revenge. This was due to the fact that they were hideously unreliable. As some German engineers noted, it was only after the first 28 locomotives had been built that one could call it serial production, rather than prototypes. Even before they entered service, numerous flaws and technical shortcomings had to be addressed, a process that was later referred to "Germanisation".

Once in service, breakdowns became so frequent that 50% of these spent their time being repaired at the depot instead of hauling trains. Prime movers had to be swapped so often that some machines inadvertedly became spare part donors, rather than working locomotives. And since these things had two prime movers, there was a lot of replacing to be done. They were using up spare parts faster than those could be produced! Thankfully though, the GDR had a life-saving trump up its sleeve: When ordering the locomotives, it was specified that they must be able to accept replacement prime movers from GDR production. And as expected, they didn't just swap the motors, but just about all other components that caused problems earlier on. Reliability greatly improved after this, but the fleet still suffered from failure rates of 20-30%.

When Germany was reunified, these locos were still kept in service for some time, as electrification in the East wasn't as widespread as in the West. As time passed though, they were no longer needed, with most of them being retired by 2001. 12 were sold to Romania (how ironic) and Bulgaria, four were kept for maintenance trains, two of which were retired shortly afterwards, one going to a museum, the other one to the scrapyard. Six units were preserved by museums, while the MEG (Mitteldeutsche Eisenbahn GmbH) bought four of them, this one being among those. As of now, two are still in service, with the other two being spare part donors.