DB Class V 60
Encyclopedia
The DB Class V 60 is a German
diesel locomotive
operated by the Deutsche Bundesbahn
(DB) and later, the Deutsche Bahn AG
(DB AG), which is used particularly for shunting duties, but also for hauling light goods trains. Seventeen locomotives were bought used by the Norwegian State Railways and designated NSB Di 5. Also the Yugoslav Railways bought used units, and designated them JŽ 734; they were subsequenty designated Series 2133 by the Croatian Railways
.
s. As a result, in 1951, a diesel shunter was designed, almost all the major locomotive firms being involved in its development and production. The new class was initially called the V 60. In 1955 the first prototype locomotives, V 60 001–004, were delivered by Krupp
, Krauss-Maffei
, Mak
and Henschel
, each having different engines. Later that same year orders for the first production locomotives were issued; they were to have GTO 6 or GTO 6A motors from Maybach
. Several of the locomotives were given a stronger frame
and had a higher adhesive weight of 53 tonnes instead of 48.3–49.5 tonnes. In addition these engines could carry up to an extra 6 tonnes of ballast for heavy duties, however they continued to be classed as V 60s. A total of 942 locomotives of this class were built. In 1968 the V 60s, like all other DB locomotives were given computer readable numbers. At this point the class was divided into Classes 260 (light variant) and 261 (heavy variant).
(NSB) saw a need for shunters to replace the aging Di 2
units and chose to buy seven used V 260 from DB in 1985 and given the designation NSB Di 5. Two years later NSB bought another ten units, but one of them was only used for spare parts. The locomotives were numbered 5.861–877. They were scrapped between 1996 and 1998—none have been preserved.
and designated Class 2133. There were two subtypes: 2133-0 with traction effort 118 kN, and 2133-1 with traction effort 132 kN.
The frame is fully welded. The transmission is under the driver's cab, which itself is not quite in the centre of the vehicle. Under the front end is the motor and cooling system, under the rear end the brake compressor and main air reservoir, the fuel system and a tank. The driver's cab is sound-proofed, the footplate is at the front and the loco can be operated from either side.
The drive is achieved using a 12 cylinder Maybach
GT06-diesel motor
capable of producing 478 kW (650 PS). This engine is a evolutionary development of the type G05, which was installed from 1932 in various railcars including the Flying Hamburger
. The locomotive is driven by means of a hydraulic transmission
by Voith via a jackshaft
and coupling rods
to the three axles, a concept that had also been used on earlier shunting engines such as the Class V 36.
The centre axle has about 30 millimeters of side play. Between the second and third axle there is a jack shaft.
The locomotives have shunting and running gears.
In order to start the diesel motor, it has to be pre-heated. The first batches had a small coke oven (later ones used an oil burner) and, for that reason, the locomotive carried up to 150 kg of coke
. The Class 362/363 engines had an electrically-controlled preheater and heat retention system.
The locomotives had a compressed air through brake, an auxiliary brake and a hand brake that braked the third axle.
After the V 60 had been in service for about 25 years, in 1982 the DB tested a variety of shunting engines under the Class 259, which were to be the successors of the V 60. They were unable to decide on one, however, so that in the following years several measures were carried out in order to improve the economy of the V 60.
In 1987 the engine was classified as a minor locomotive (Kleinlok
) and reclassified. Class 260 became Class 360 and the 261s became 361s. Its categorisation as a Kleinlok saved staff costs, because the railway no longer had to employ "engine drivers", only "Kleinlok operators", whose training was cheaper. The installation of radio control enabled one-man shunting movements using remote control; the fully radio controlled models were called the Class 364 (light class) or 365 (heavy class), however the only loco in Class 364 was soon renumbered to 365 700.
Since 1997 the Maybach motors have been replaced during refurbishment by Caterpillar 12-cylinder engines generating 465 kW (632 PS), this conversion only being done on engines with radio control. These locos are designated as Class 362 (light variant) and 363 (heavy variant).
In 2001 one engine was equipped with a Caterpillar V8 engine run on natural gas and tested in the Munich area; it was designated as Class 760. It has since been scrapped.
Of the 942 locomotives originally supplied to the DB, many are still active. Those without radio control were gradually retired by early 2003, of the radio controlled locos around 400 were still working for the DB in 2004, several of which have ended up in private or industrial railways in Germany and elsewhere, as well as the state railways in Turkey
, the former Yugoslavia
(e.g. the Croatian Railways HŽ series 2133) and Norway
(17 engines as NSB Di 5). In 2008 over 70 were owned by German private and industrial lines, of which the majority were working in construction logistics and in local goods services.
Locomotive number 362 362 is the first V 60, that has clocked up 50 years of services in the DB/DBAG - it entered service on 12 April 1957 and is currently (2008) the third oldest locomotive in DB AG service.
Identical or similar locos were and are also used by other state railways. As early as the 1960s they were delivered to places like Greece
(Hellenic State Railways
, class A-101) or Turkey, or built under licence as in Belgium
. Even Israel
ran very similar engines.
The museum locomotive V 60 150 was burnt up in the great fire at the Nuremberg Transport Museum
's locomotive shed.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
diesel locomotive
Diesel locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine, a reciprocating engine operating on the Diesel cycle as invented by Dr. Rudolf Diesel...
operated by the Deutsche Bundesbahn
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) and later, the Deutsche Bahn AG
Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
(DB AG), which is used particularly for shunting duties, but also for hauling light goods trains. Seventeen locomotives were bought used by the Norwegian State Railways and designated NSB Di 5. Also the Yugoslav Railways bought used units, and designated them JŽ 734; they were subsequenty designated Series 2133 by the Croatian Railways
Croatian Railways
Croatian Railways is the national railway company of Croatia. It was formed after the dissolution of Yugoslavia and Yugoslav Railways.Croatia is a member of the International Union of Railways . The UIC Country Code for Croatia is 78.-Railway network:...
.
History
The DB had a shortage of small shunterSwitcher
A switcher or shunter is a small railroad locomotive intended not for moving trains over long distances but rather for assembling trains ready for a road locomotive to take over, disassembling a train that has been...
s. As a result, in 1951, a diesel shunter was designed, almost all the major locomotive firms being involved in its development and production. The new class was initially called the V 60. In 1955 the first prototype locomotives, V 60 001–004, were delivered by Krupp
Krupp
The Krupp family , a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, have become famous for their steel production and for their manufacture of ammunition and armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th...
, Krauss-Maffei
Krauss-Maffei
The Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co KG or simply Krauss-Maffei is an injection molding machine manufacturer and defence company based in Munich, Germany...
, Mak
Maschinenbau Kiel
Maschinenbau Kiel GmbH designed, manufactured and marketed marine diesel engines, diesel locomotives and tracked vehicles under the MaK brand name. The three primary operating divisions of Maschinenbau Kiel GmbH were sold to different companies in the 1990s.Rheinmetall acquired the military...
and Henschel
Henschel & Son
Henschel & Son was a German company, situated in Kassel, best known during the 20th century as a maker of transportation equipment, including locomotives, trucks, buses and trolleybuses, and armoured fighting vehicles and weapons....
, each having different engines. Later that same year orders for the first production locomotives were issued; they were to have GTO 6 or GTO 6A motors from Maybach
Maybach
Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH is a German luxury car manufacturer. It was founded in 1909 by Wilhelm Maybach and his son. The company was originally a subsidiary of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH and was itself known as Luftfahrzeug-Motorenbau GmbH until 1912.Today, the ultra-luxury car brand is owned by...
. Several of the locomotives were given a stronger frame
Locomotive frame
A locomotive frame is the structure that forms the backbone of the railway locomotive, giving it strength and supporting the superstructure elements such as a cab, boiler or bodywork. The vast majority of locomotives have had a frame structure of some kind...
and had a higher adhesive weight of 53 tonnes instead of 48.3–49.5 tonnes. In addition these engines could carry up to an extra 6 tonnes of ballast for heavy duties, however they continued to be classed as V 60s. A total of 942 locomotives of this class were built. In 1968 the V 60s, like all other DB locomotives were given computer readable numbers. At this point the class was divided into Classes 260 (light variant) and 261 (heavy variant).
Norwegian State Railways
In the 1980s, the Norwegian State RailwaysNorwegian State Railways (1883–1996)
The Norwegian State Railways was a state-owned railway company that operated most of the railway network in Norway. The government agency was created in 1883 to oversee the construction and operation of all state-owned railways in Norway...
(NSB) saw a need for shunters to replace the aging Di 2
NSB Di 2
NSB Di 2 was a diesel-hydraulic locomotive used by the Norwegian State Railways . The 54 delivered locomotives had three axels and were used as shunters throughout the entire NSB system.-History:...
units and chose to buy seven used V 260 from DB in 1985 and given the designation NSB Di 5. Two years later NSB bought another ten units, but one of them was only used for spare parts. The locomotives were numbered 5.861–877. They were scrapped between 1996 and 1998—none have been preserved.
Croatian Railways
In 1985, the Yugoslav Railways (JŽ) bought some used locomotives. They were designated JŽ 734. After the split, they were transferred to the Croatian RailwaysCroatian Railways
Croatian Railways is the national railway company of Croatia. It was formed after the dissolution of Yugoslavia and Yugoslav Railways.Croatia is a member of the International Union of Railways . The UIC Country Code for Croatia is 78.-Railway network:...
and designated Class 2133. There were two subtypes: 2133-0 with traction effort 118 kN, and 2133-1 with traction effort 132 kN.
Technology
The V 60 (260/261) is 10.45 metres long and can run at speeds of up to 60 km/h.The frame is fully welded. The transmission is under the driver's cab, which itself is not quite in the centre of the vehicle. Under the front end is the motor and cooling system, under the rear end the brake compressor and main air reservoir, the fuel system and a tank. The driver's cab is sound-proofed, the footplate is at the front and the loco can be operated from either side.
The drive is achieved using a 12 cylinder Maybach
Maybach
Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH is a German luxury car manufacturer. It was founded in 1909 by Wilhelm Maybach and his son. The company was originally a subsidiary of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH and was itself known as Luftfahrzeug-Motorenbau GmbH until 1912.Today, the ultra-luxury car brand is owned by...
GT06-diesel motor
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
capable of producing 478 kW (650 PS). This engine is a evolutionary development of the type G05, which was installed from 1932 in various railcars including the Flying Hamburger
DRG Class SVT 877
The DRG Class SVT 877 Hamburg Flyer – sometimes also Flying Hamburger or in German Fliegender Hamburger – was Germany's first fast diesel train, and is credited with establishing the fastest regular railway connection in the world in its time...
. The locomotive is driven by means of a hydraulic transmission
Hydraulics
Hydraulics is a topic in applied science and engineering dealing with the mechanical properties of liquids. Fluid mechanics provides the theoretical foundation for hydraulics, which focuses on the engineering uses of fluid properties. In fluid power, hydraulics is used for the generation, control,...
by Voith via a jackshaft
Jackshaft
A jackshaft is a device for turning the wheels of a locomotive. It is essentially an axle with no wheels. Each end of the jackshaft has a crank pin and a counterweight. The driving wheels are then connected by side rods. The name may come from a combination of "jack," a slang term for a locomotive,...
and coupling rods
Coupling rod
right|thumb|connecting rod and coupling rods attached to a small locomotive driving wheelA coupling rod or side rod connects the driving wheels of a locomotive. Steam locomotives in particular usually have them, but some diesel and electric locomotives, especially older ones and shunters, also have...
to the three axles, a concept that had also been used on earlier shunting engines such as the Class V 36.
The centre axle has about 30 millimeters of side play. Between the second and third axle there is a jack shaft.
The locomotives have shunting and running gears.
In order to start the diesel motor, it has to be pre-heated. The first batches had a small coke oven (later ones used an oil burner) and, for that reason, the locomotive carried up to 150 kg of coke
Coke (fuel)
Coke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made.- History :...
. The Class 362/363 engines had an electrically-controlled preheater and heat retention system.
The locomotives had a compressed air through brake, an auxiliary brake and a hand brake that braked the third axle.
Operations
The engines were not just used for shunting, but also for light goods and passenger train services. They were even employed hauling departmental trains.After the V 60 had been in service for about 25 years, in 1982 the DB tested a variety of shunting engines under the Class 259, which were to be the successors of the V 60. They were unable to decide on one, however, so that in the following years several measures were carried out in order to improve the economy of the V 60.
In 1987 the engine was classified as a minor locomotive (Kleinlok
Kleinlokomotive
A Kleinlokomotive or Kleinlok is a German locomotive of small size and low power for light shunting duties at railway stations and on industrial railways. It is usually powered by a diesel engine...
) and reclassified. Class 260 became Class 360 and the 261s became 361s. Its categorisation as a Kleinlok saved staff costs, because the railway no longer had to employ "engine drivers", only "Kleinlok operators", whose training was cheaper. The installation of radio control enabled one-man shunting movements using remote control; the fully radio controlled models were called the Class 364 (light class) or 365 (heavy class), however the only loco in Class 364 was soon renumbered to 365 700.
Since 1997 the Maybach motors have been replaced during refurbishment by Caterpillar 12-cylinder engines generating 465 kW (632 PS), this conversion only being done on engines with radio control. These locos are designated as Class 362 (light variant) and 363 (heavy variant).
In 2001 one engine was equipped with a Caterpillar V8 engine run on natural gas and tested in the Munich area; it was designated as Class 760. It has since been scrapped.
Of the 942 locomotives originally supplied to the DB, many are still active. Those without radio control were gradually retired by early 2003, of the radio controlled locos around 400 were still working for the DB in 2004, several of which have ended up in private or industrial railways in Germany and elsewhere, as well as the state railways in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, the former Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
(e.g. the Croatian Railways HŽ series 2133) and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
(17 engines as NSB Di 5). In 2008 over 70 were owned by German private and industrial lines, of which the majority were working in construction logistics and in local goods services.
Locomotive number 362 362 is the first V 60, that has clocked up 50 years of services in the DB/DBAG - it entered service on 12 April 1957 and is currently (2008) the third oldest locomotive in DB AG service.
Identical or similar locos were and are also used by other state railways. As early as the 1960s they were delivered to places like Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
(Hellenic State Railways
Hellenic State Railways
Hellenic State Railways or SEK was a Greek public sector entity which was established in 1920 and operated most Greek railway lines until 1970.-History:...
, class A-101) or Turkey, or built under licence as in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. Even Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
ran very similar engines.
The museum locomotive V 60 150 was burnt up in the great fire at the Nuremberg Transport Museum
Nuremberg Transport Museum
The Nuremberg Transport Museum is based in Nuremberg, Germany, and consists of the Deutsche Bahn's own DB Museum and the Museum of Communications . It also has two satellite museums at Koblenz-Lützel and Halle...
's locomotive shed.
Sources
- Arno Bretschneider, Manfred Traube, Die Baureihe V 60. Das Arbeitstier der DB, Eisenbahn-Kurier Verlag, Freiburg, 1997, ISBN 3-88255-804-0
- Horst J. Obermayer: Taschenbuch Deutsche Diesellokomotiven. Mit Kleinlokomotiven. Franckh, Stuttgart 1972, ISBN 3-440-03932-3
- Rolf Löttgers: Bundesbahn-Rangierhobel. Eisenbahn Magazin 9/2007, S. 60–62
See also
- List of Deutsche Bundesbahn locomotives and railbuses
- List of Deutsche Bahn AG locomotives and railbuses