DB Class 210
Encyclopedia
The Class 210 of the Deutsche Bundesbahn
(DB) consisted, briefly, of a series of eight diesel locomotives, with a top speed of 160 km/h intended for operations on express trains. The locomotives were peculiar in that an additional gas turbine engine was able to provide extra power when needed. The additional turbine made it, at the time, the strongest four axle German diesel locomotive.
Derived from a prototype, classified as DB Class V 169
(later named Class 219), the locomotives had a ten year service life, from ~1970 to ~1980, at which point they were rebuilt as a subclass of the conventional DB Class 218
.
Another set of locomotives the Class 210.4 also had the '210' number, being rebuilt from DB Class 218s in the late 1990s for faster (160 km/h) express passenger operations.
was tested by the German railways: Its higher fuel consumption compared to the DB Class V 200.0 made it uneconomical for the Deutsche Bundesbahn to consider introducing similar locomotives and afterwards reciprocating diesel engines were the primary source of non-electric traction on German raillines.
In the 1960s, the first locomotives of the V160 series went into service; these were originally designed for medium-duty service. For more demanding applications such as express passenger work and freight trains on non-electrified routes (such as the winding route from Munich
to Lindau
) the Deutsche Bundesbahn considered an enhanced performance version of these locomotives; for this reason, the concept of a locomotive of V160 series with a gas turbine as a booster was investigated. The gas turbine had the advantage of low weight and size - particularly important if it was to be included in the standard body of a V160 class locomotive.
Because the turbine would only be activated when additional power was required (such as accelerating from speeds above 25 km/h and on inclines) the effect of the high fuel consumption of the turbine would be minimised. The output from the turbine was to be input on an additional stage on the hydraulic transmission. This concept was successfully tested in the DB V 169 001 locomotive built in 1965 (as of 1968, the reporting name was 219 001).
However, the Deutsche Bahn decided that the successor to this locomotive should have a more powerful gas turbine and the AVCO Lycoming
T 53-L13 was selectede which had already been selected for use in the Bundeswehr
Helicopter Bell UH-1 D. The Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz factory (see Deutz AG
Motorenfabrik Oberursel
(now part of Rolls-Royce Germany) made the engines for the German Army under license, and was able to maintain and repair the turbines.
Thus from 1970 onwards the Class 210 was born.
; They have the same engine 12 cylinder engine from MTU
of type MA 12 V 956 TB 10, and the same electrical system and roughly the same chassis.
The Class 210 was however geared for a higher maximum speed of 160 km/h and therefore had an additional hydrodynamic brake as well. For the same reason modifications to the drive shaft were made as well as an increased brake pad.
Since the gas turbines optimum performance was at a speed of 19250 rpm, the output was geared down to 6000 rpm for the hydraulic drive. The main diesel and gas turbine (as in the Class 219 001) had two independent drive shafts with the output connected by gears. Each hydraulic chamber could be filled and emptied independently.
The turbine was based on a 845 kilowatt design but was throttled back in order to prevent damage to the other components. The main power was supplied by the diesel - the gas turbine was either on or off, or on idle mode. The chimney like exhaust for the turbine on the locomotive roof was the main distinguishing feature between a Class 210 and similar but conventionally powered locomotives such as the Class 218.
and were in scheduled operation. This included work in the Allgaeu region, and trains such as the TEE Bavaria
from Zürich
to Munich
or Lindau
.
At first the locomotives entirely met the performance expected of them, however, the train heating in the winter was a little weak, so that then often two locomotives of series 210 for heavy trains were needed.
The Bw. Kempten had a special maintenance shop built for the gas turbines, with the staff trained in the maintenance of Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz machines. When major repairs were needed, the affected turbine was transported to the manufacturer in a special container. To avoid having any locomotive out of operation the Bundesbahn held in stock two gas turbines (in total 10), for the eight locomotives, and the turnaround time for turbine replacement was six hours.
The on 23 March 1978, a turbine failed catastrophically: 210 003 was in travelling on the Kempten-east track under full power when a turbine impeller broke. As a result all the turbines were inspected - some were found to have signs of fatigue and were exchanged, by 13 October 1978 all the machines went back into service with the gas turbine engines in operation. Unfortunately, shortly afterwards on 31 December 1978 on route to Eichenau
, a compressor impeller broke and cut a fuel line - leaving the turbine room of the locomotive on fire.
Although the fire was quickly extinguished in Fürstenfeldbruck
station, and the locomotive spared serious damage the Deutsche Bundesbahn had to cease use of the turbines and investigate - it was found that the frequent restarting of the turbines was shortening their lifespan - leading (i.e. a shorter than expected time between failures than what was expected from examples of use in helicopters whose turbines were in continuous operation.)
An effort was made to prevent further accidents, by undertaking maintenance more frequently, and replacing more often - however the costs of this, coupled with the already high fuel costs of operations meant that the locomotives became uneconomic; as a consequence, the DB decide to remove the gas turbines and converted the entire class to convertional reciprocating engine operations - these rebuilt locomotives were desgnated DB Class 218.9
added. As part of the changes the maximum speed was reduced from 160 km/h to 140 km / h. The dates of conversion are shown in the table:
From then on, the heavy passenger trains of the Allgäu lines were pulled with two Class 218 locomotives. The converted gas-turbine locomotives initially stayed at Bw. Kempten and were used in the same roles as other Class 218 locomotives. From 1983, the locomotives were stationed at Bw. Braunschweig
, and from 2001 at Stendal
.
Between the years of 2004 and 2006, all locomotives of the series 218.9 were decommissioned and later scrapped.
The locomotives do not have turbines, but the reclassification was done to reflect the fact that they have a 160 km/h top speed, as did the original Class 210.
The modifications were made because in 1996 the inter-city connection from Hamburg to Berlin needed to run faster but the route had not then been fully electrified. The locomotives were numbered 210.430 to 210.434 and 210.456 to 210.462 - 12 in total, stationed at Lübeck
Deutsche Bundesbahn
The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany on September 7, 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft '...
(DB) consisted, briefly, of a series of eight diesel locomotives, with a top speed of 160 km/h intended for operations on express trains. The locomotives were peculiar in that an additional gas turbine engine was able to provide extra power when needed. The additional turbine made it, at the time, the strongest four axle German diesel locomotive.
Derived from a prototype, classified as DB Class V 169
DB Class V 169
The DB Class V 169 consisted of a single example: V 169 001, derived from the DB Class V 160 family, with an additional gas turbine booster engine. It can be considered the prototype for diesel locomotives with a gas turbine as an additional drive; specifically the DB Class 210...
(later named Class 219), the locomotives had a ten year service life, from ~1970 to ~1980, at which point they were rebuilt as a subclass of the conventional DB Class 218
DB Class 218
The DB Class 218 are a class of 4 axle, diesel hydraulic locomotives acquired by the Deutsche Bundesbahn for use on main and secondary lines for both passenger and freight trains....
.
Another set of locomotives the Class 210.4 also had the '210' number, being rebuilt from DB Class 218s in the late 1990s for faster (160 km/h) express passenger operations.
History and background of Gas Turbine locomotives
In the 1950s the Swiss Federal gas turbine locomotive, the Am 4/6 1101SBB-CFF-FFS Am 4/6 1101
The Am 4/6 1101 was a gas turbine-electric locomotive of the Swiss Federal Railways . It was built by Brown, Boveri & Cie in 1938 and delivered to SBB-CFF-FFS for experimental services on non-electrified lines....
was tested by the German railways: Its higher fuel consumption compared to the DB Class V 200.0 made it uneconomical for the Deutsche Bundesbahn to consider introducing similar locomotives and afterwards reciprocating diesel engines were the primary source of non-electric traction on German raillines.
In the 1960s, the first locomotives of the V160 series went into service; these were originally designed for medium-duty service. For more demanding applications such as express passenger work and freight trains on non-electrified routes (such as the winding route from Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
to Lindau
Lindau
Lindau is a Bavarian town and an island on the eastern side of Lake Constance, the Bodensee. It is the capital of the Landkreis or rural district of Lindau. The historic city of Lindau is located on an island which is connected with the mainland by bridge and railway.- History :The name Lindau was...
) the Deutsche Bundesbahn considered an enhanced performance version of these locomotives; for this reason, the concept of a locomotive of V160 series with a gas turbine as a booster was investigated. The gas turbine had the advantage of low weight and size - particularly important if it was to be included in the standard body of a V160 class locomotive.
Because the turbine would only be activated when additional power was required (such as accelerating from speeds above 25 km/h and on inclines) the effect of the high fuel consumption of the turbine would be minimised. The output from the turbine was to be input on an additional stage on the hydraulic transmission. This concept was successfully tested in the DB V 169 001 locomotive built in 1965 (as of 1968, the reporting name was 219 001).
However, the Deutsche Bahn decided that the successor to this locomotive should have a more powerful gas turbine and the AVCO Lycoming
Lycoming
Lycoming Engines is a U.S. aircraft engine company, known primarily for its general aviation engines. For most of its history Lycoming has been part of the AVCO group as AVCO Lycoming. In 1987 AVCO was purchased by Textron to become Textron Lycoming...
T 53-L13 was selectede which had already been selected for use in the Bundeswehr
Bundeswehr
The Bundeswehr consists of the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities...
Helicopter Bell UH-1 D. The Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz factory (see Deutz AG
Deutz AG
Deutz AG is an engine manufacturer, based in Cologne, Germany.-History:The company was founded by Nikolaus Otto, inventor of the four-stroke internal combustion engine, in 1864 as N. A...
Motorenfabrik Oberursel
Motorenfabrik Oberursel
Motorenfabrik Oberursel A.G. was a German manufacturer of automobile, locomotive and aircraft engines situated in Oberursel , near Frankfurt , Germany. During World War I it supplied a major 100 hp-class rotary engine that was used in a number of early-war fighter aircraft designs...
(now part of Rolls-Royce Germany) made the engines for the German Army under license, and was able to maintain and repair the turbines.
Thus from 1970 onwards the Class 210 was born.
Technical
Except the turbine and transmission modifications the Class 210 are basically identical to the DB Class 218DB Class 218
The DB Class 218 are a class of 4 axle, diesel hydraulic locomotives acquired by the Deutsche Bundesbahn for use on main and secondary lines for both passenger and freight trains....
; They have the same engine 12 cylinder engine from MTU
MTU Friedrichshafen
MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH is a manufacturer of commercial internal combustion engines founded by Wilhelm Maybach and his son Karl Maybach in 1909...
of type MA 12 V 956 TB 10, and the same electrical system and roughly the same chassis.
The Class 210 was however geared for a higher maximum speed of 160 km/h and therefore had an additional hydrodynamic brake as well. For the same reason modifications to the drive shaft were made as well as an increased brake pad.
Since the gas turbines optimum performance was at a speed of 19250 rpm, the output was geared down to 6000 rpm for the hydraulic drive. The main diesel and gas turbine (as in the Class 219 001) had two independent drive shafts with the output connected by gears. Each hydraulic chamber could be filled and emptied independently.
The turbine was based on a 845 kilowatt design but was throttled back in order to prevent damage to the other components. The main power was supplied by the diesel - the gas turbine was either on or off, or on idle mode. The chimney like exhaust for the turbine on the locomotive roof was the main distinguishing feature between a Class 210 and similar but conventionally powered locomotives such as the Class 218.
Operations
Since the DB V 169-001 (DB 219 001) had already proven sufficiently that a locomotive of this type would work the Class 210 went into normal operations fairly quickly - between the end of 1970 and the beginning of 1971 the locomotives began operations, by the end of 1971 all eight locomotives had been introduced to the railway centre (Bahnbetriebswerk or Bw.) at KemptenKempten im Allgäu
Kempten is the largest town in Allgäu, a region in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. The population was ca 61,000 in 2006. The area was possibly settled originally by Celts, but was later overtaken by the Romans, who called the town Cambodunum...
and were in scheduled operation. This included work in the Allgaeu region, and trains such as the TEE Bavaria
Trans Europ Express
The Trans Europ Express, or Trans-Europe Express, is a former international railway service in Europe. At its maximum extent, in 1974, the network comprised 45 trains, connecting 130 different cities.-Origin:...
from Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
to Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
or Lindau
Lindau
Lindau is a Bavarian town and an island on the eastern side of Lake Constance, the Bodensee. It is the capital of the Landkreis or rural district of Lindau. The historic city of Lindau is located on an island which is connected with the mainland by bridge and railway.- History :The name Lindau was...
.
At first the locomotives entirely met the performance expected of them, however, the train heating in the winter was a little weak, so that then often two locomotives of series 210 for heavy trains were needed.
The Bw. Kempten had a special maintenance shop built for the gas turbines, with the staff trained in the maintenance of Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz machines. When major repairs were needed, the affected turbine was transported to the manufacturer in a special container. To avoid having any locomotive out of operation the Bundesbahn held in stock two gas turbines (in total 10), for the eight locomotives, and the turnaround time for turbine replacement was six hours.
The on 23 March 1978, a turbine failed catastrophically: 210 003 was in travelling on the Kempten-east track under full power when a turbine impeller broke. As a result all the turbines were inspected - some were found to have signs of fatigue and were exchanged, by 13 October 1978 all the machines went back into service with the gas turbine engines in operation. Unfortunately, shortly afterwards on 31 December 1978 on route to Eichenau
Eichenau
Eichenau is a municipality in the district of Fürstenfeldbruck, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated 20 km west of Munich .Eichenau was officially named in 1907 as a separate settlement to the community of Alling. Its location is due to the railway station on the line Munich to Lindau...
, a compressor impeller broke and cut a fuel line - leaving the turbine room of the locomotive on fire.
Although the fire was quickly extinguished in Fürstenfeldbruck
Fürstenfeldbruck
Fürstenfeldbruck is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Fürstenfeldbruck. it has a population of 35,494. Since the 1930s, Fürstenfeldbruck has had an air force base....
station, and the locomotive spared serious damage the Deutsche Bundesbahn had to cease use of the turbines and investigate - it was found that the frequent restarting of the turbines was shortening their lifespan - leading (i.e. a shorter than expected time between failures than what was expected from examples of use in helicopters whose turbines were in continuous operation.)
An effort was made to prevent further accidents, by undertaking maintenance more frequently, and replacing more often - however the costs of this, coupled with the already high fuel costs of operations meant that the locomotives became uneconomic; as a consequence, the DB decide to remove the gas turbines and converted the entire class to convertional reciprocating engine operations - these rebuilt locomotives were desgnated DB Class 218.9
Conversion to Class 218.9
As well as the removal of the turbine, exhausts, controller etc the hydraulic gearbox was also changed, and to make up the balance of weight ballastBallast
-Objects:* Ballast tank, a device used on ships and submarines and other submersibles to control buoyancy and stability* Ballast weights, metallic plates used to bring auto racing vehicles up to the minimum mandated weight...
added. As part of the changes the maximum speed was reduced from 160 km/h to 140 km / h. The dates of conversion are shown in the table:
| Date of rebuilding |
Previous Classification number |
New Classification number |
|---|---|---|
| 8 February 1980 | 210 007 | 218 907 |
| 30 May 1980 | 210 003 | 218 903 |
| 2 October 1980 | 210 005 | 218 905 |
| 4 December 1980 | 210 006 | 218 906 |
| 10 February 1981 | 210 001 | 218 901 |
| 24 February 1981 | 210 002 | 218 902 |
| 22 April 1981 | 210 008 | 218 908 |
| 22 July 1981 | 210 004 | 218 904 |
From then on, the heavy passenger trains of the Allgäu lines were pulled with two Class 218 locomotives. The converted gas-turbine locomotives initially stayed at Bw. Kempten and were used in the same roles as other Class 218 locomotives. From 1983, the locomotives were stationed at Bw. Braunschweig
Braunschweig
Braunschweig , is a city of 247,400 people, located in the federal-state of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser....
, and from 2001 at Stendal
Stendal
Stendal is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of Stendal District and unofficial capital of the Altmark. Its population in 2001 was 38,900. It is located some west of Berlin and around east of Hanover...
.
Between the years of 2004 and 2006, all locomotives of the series 218.9 were decommissioned and later scrapped.
DBAG Class 210.4
The DBAG had twelve locomotives of Class 218 rebuilt to have a top speed of 160 km/h between September 1996 and January 1999. In January 1999 the locomotives were classified as a new subseries: Class 210.4.The locomotives do not have turbines, but the reclassification was done to reflect the fact that they have a 160 km/h top speed, as did the original Class 210.
The modifications were made because in 1996 the inter-city connection from Hamburg to Berlin needed to run faster but the route had not then been fully electrified. The locomotives were numbered 210.430 to 210.434 and 210.456 to 210.462 - 12 in total, stationed at Lübeck
Lübeck
The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World...
Additional sources
- Unterschiede in der V160-Familie (Differences in the V160 family) deutsche-lokomotiven.de very brief information on Classes 210 and 210.4
- Allgemeine Infos - Baureihe 210/219 (General Information - Series 210/219) v160.de General description.
- Baureihe 210 (Class 210) lokomotive-online.de brief information