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Description
I love such fabulous works of engineering:

A non-Bügelfalte class 110, a rare sight, with this specimen having reached a service life of 51 years now. 110 200, built in 1958, seen here pulling a chartered train through Oberhausen Central.

While these engines are in fact rather bland boxes on wheels, they were very well thought out, being part of the "Einheitsbaureihen" of the former Bundesbahn. Class 110 for fast passenger trains, class 140 (no e-brakes and different gearing than 110) for medium freight, six axle class 150 for heavy freight, and the light class 141 for regional traffic. If you look these engines up on Wikipedia, you'll see that they look pretty similar, and use the same array of parts and components.

Now this came in very handy on several occasions. For example: When the class 141 went out of service, for being slow and weak for today, their MU controllers were removed and installed in 110s, which could then be used for faster regional trains, after havin been forced out of their usual field by newer multiphase engines. Likewise, when they scrapped run down 140s but needed freight engines, they took the 140's trucks, and put them under 110s. The class 139 was born, a freight engine that now also has electric brakes. There were many instances where using the same construction methods and parts came in very handy, making it possible to swap components between engines with no trouble at all, contributing to the fact that some of these engines are still running after half a century of service.

Description
I love such fabulous works of engineering:

A non-Bügelfalte class 110, a rare sight, with this specimen having reached a service life of 51 years now. 110 200, built in 1958, seen here pulling a chartered train through Oberhausen Central.

While these engines are in fact rather bland boxes on wheels, they were very well thought out, being part of the "Einheitsbaureihen" of the former Bundesbahn. Class 110 for fast passenger trains, class 140 (no e-brakes and different gearing than 110) for medium freight, six axle class 150 for heavy freight, and the light class 141 for regional traffic. If you look these engines up on Wikipedia, you'll see that they look pretty similar, and use the same array of parts and components.

Now this came in very handy on several occasions. For example: When the class 141 went out of service, for being slow and weak for today, their MU controllers were removed and installed in 110s, which could then be used for faster regional trains, after havin been forced out of their usual field by newer multiphase engines. Likewise, when they scrapped run down 140s but needed freight engines, they took the 140's trucks, and put them under 110s. The class 139 was born, a freight engine that now also has electric brakes. There were many instances where using the same construction methods and parts came in very handy, making it possible to swap components between engines with no trouble at all, contributing to the fact that some of these engines are still running after half a century of service.