DB Class V 169

The V 169 001 was the prototype for diesel locomotives with a gas turbine as an additional drive. The locomotive was developed in 1965 from the series V 160. From the series V 169 the German Federal Railways has raised only a locomotive. Your computer just name from 1968 was 219001-5.

After a complete renovation it is today, but without the gas turbine, on the railways and public transport operators Elbe-Weser as EVB 420.01 in operation.

Development and testing

After 1963 the delivery of the Series V 160 had begun in larger numbers, the plans for further prototypes for testing the future unit type were erected. These should be equipped with an electric train heating. To this end, more engine power was needed than was previously installed in the V 160 engines could deliver. On the one hand, three copies were ordered 162 V, respectively, additionally with a smaller diesel engine, the Heizdiesel equipped. In addition, however, a locomotive was purchased with the V 169, which was a gas turbine to increase performance.

As gas turbine was chosen the LM - 100 PA 104 from General Electric, which should be used instead of kerosene with diesel though. For the locomotive, the turbine under license by Klöckner- Humboldt -Deutz, KHD short, was built at the plant in Oberursel ( Taunus). This is now the German part of the company of Rolls -Royce. So was obvious that KHD also received the order for the locomotive.

The KHD plant in Cologne delivered on June 4, 1965, V 169 001 from the factory number 57846. Then it was presented at the International Transportation Exhibition in Munich the public. Then one has yet completed the train heating, so that it was taken in January 1966 by the DB. As of March 1966, she then went on to the Allgäu Bahn München -Lindau in the testing. For this she was stationed at Bw Kempten. The construction at the V 169, to drive the generator for heating with a PTO from the flow transmission has proven itself here and was adopted for subsequent series locomotives of series 218 and 210. Similarly, the fundamental usefulness of the auxiliary drive has been proven with gas turbine. This drive was later constructed analogously to the regular production with gas turbine of the 210 series, which, however, a stronger turbine type Avco Lycoming T53 -L -13 received.

Operating the gas turbine according to the testing

With the release of the 210 series in 1971, the Kempten less powerful 219001-5 was overtaken on the Allgäu Railway. As in 1974, the gas turbine suffered a damage of the combustion chamber, it was expanded. The diesel was reduced to 1400 kW (1900 hp). The heating system of the locomotive was also shut down. With these modifications the engine in Kempten could no longer be used. The locomotive arrived in 1975 as a pure freight locomotive to the railway depot Gelsenkirchen- Bismarck and was used until the deadline of November 25, 1977 there. She was often seen at the top of the transfer trains to the Dutch border area; here she was regelmnäßig on the way to Winterswijk in use. In 1978 the locomotive of the DB was retired and was then turned off unprotected in Bremen until 1985 ( see picture above). The locomotive was sold to a track construction companies in Italy, processed and used mostly between Rome and Naples called T1591.

Reconstruction and operation at German private railway

Due to the German railway reform cheap and used locomotives with a permit for Germany were quite popular. So the company Railimpex brought the V 169 back to Germany and had them at the company Gmeinder in Mosbach recycle. In December 1998, she arrived there. The work-up involved the exchange of Maybach diesel engine with a Caterpillar engine, a revision of the current transmission and the installation of a new wiring. The work-up was completed on 6 April 2000. The former railway company in Waldhof Mannheim, short BGW, bought the locomotive for its freight and described it as a DH 280 01 It was painted in green and gray color scheme of the BGW. In the summer of 2000, she carried garbage trains from Hildesheim to Krefeld until they again had to because of a rear-end collision in September back to the company Gmeinder for repair. In February 2001, she was put back into operation. Then they drove, among other things Kalkzüge for BASF by Stromberg to Ludwigshafen. End of October 2001, she was on the railways and transport companies Elbe- Weser, short EVB, sold and used there in front of container trains between Hamburg, Bremerhaven and Bremen. From the year 2002, the EVB leads the train into their new numbering scheme than 420 01