DR series E 251

DR class E 251 DB class 171
prototype
Numbering:	before 1970: E 251 001-015 from 1970: 251 001-015 from 1992: 171 001-015
Number:	15th
Manufacturer:	LEW Hennigsdorf
Year of construction (s):	1965
Axis formula :	Co'Co '
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Length over buffers:	18,640 mm
Service mass:	124.0 t
Wheel set mass :	020.7 t
Top speed:	80 km / h
Hourly output :	6 × 610 kW (3660 kW)
Continuous output :	3300 kW
Starting tractive effort:	373 kN
Performance indicator:	29.5 kW / t
Power system :	25 kV, 50 Hz
Power transmission:	Overhead line
Number of traction motors:	6th
Drive:	Pawbearing drive
Brake:	One-way air brake with additional brake and electrical resistance brake K-GP-E mZ
Train control :	none (Sifa from 1998)

The electric locomotives of the DR series E 251 (from 1970: 251, from 1992: series 171) did not meet the standard of the locomotive park of the Deutsche Reichsbahn and later of the Deutsche Bahn AG due to their different technical characteristics with regard to the power system .

They were only used on the Blankenburg (Harz) - Königshütte ( Rübelandbahn ) route. Since this route has steep gradients, but a desirable connection to the traction current network for isolated operation would have been very complex, the Deutsche Reichsbahn electrified the route in 1965, deviating from the rest of the German traction current network, instead of 15 kV at 16⅔ Hz with 25 kV at 50 Hz.

The 15 Co'Co ' machines were supplied by Lokomotivbau Elektrotechnische Werke “Hans Beimler” Hennigsdorf and listed as E 251 001 to 015 on the Reichsbahn.

commitment

Of the former 15 locomotives, 11 were used in freight traffic on the Rübelandbahn until December 2004 . They were by then in Bw Blankenburg stationed. Passenger traffic with the 171 series was discontinued in 2000 because the Federal Railway Authority required the installation of a door control (TB0) for the operation of passenger trains. A solution for TB0 was not worked out for cost reasons. A Sifa was also only installed in these vehicles from 1998, as the auxiliary man required for steep sections initially made it unnecessary.

With the exception of 171 001 and 171 002, which have been restored to their original condition and are under monument protection, almost all locomotives were transferred to the former Zwickau depot, where they were waiting to be sold to South-East Europe. Since tests with the 171 008 in Romania did not bring the desired success and the intended sale did not materialize, the machines in Zwickau were scrapped in 2011.

Mechanical part

Externally, the six-axle locomotives are strongly based on the four-axle series E 11 and E 42 , but mechanically and electrically there is little in common. The frame and box form a welded construction. The cross members at the respective ends contain both the pulling and pushing devices as well as the permanently installed snow plows. The locomotive body is supported on the bogies by four coil springs mounted in spring cups . In the bogie itself, the wheel sets are cushioned by leaf springs and rubber elements. The suspension springs of wheelsets 2 and 3 as well as 4, 5 and 6 are connected by compensating levers. The bogie frames are connected with a compensating coupling so that the locomotive is supported at four points. In addition, a bogie is floating and can move several cm to the side. The axes, especially the central axes, can be moved sideways. Since the top speed of 80 km / h is lower than that of the sister series 211 and 242, paw-bearing drives were used.

Electrical part

The main transformer is designed as an oil transformer with forced oil circulation and external ventilation. The high-voltage switchgear has 34 continuous speed levels. The six shaft current series motors are fed by two silicon rectifiers . All machines have an electrical resistance brake. The hourly output is 3660  kW , the starting tractive effort 373  kN .

The heating voltage for the wagon train is different from what is otherwise usual in Germany, but in accordance with international standards, 1500 volts at 50 Hertz.

Color schemes

Originally the fifteen machines, like all DR electric locomotives, were painted green with a black frame and gray roof, the bogies were red. From the mid-1970s they were painted a burgundy red with a wide ivory-colored decorative stripe, the bogies a gray one.

The decorative stripe was later made much narrower on the side walls. After the transition to Deutsche Bahn AG, it was first painted in oriental red, then in traffic red .

The machines 171 001 and 171 002 can now be found again as museum locomotives in green colors with red bogies.

Whereabouts

The E 251 001 and 002 are now designated museum locomotives and are under monument protection. After both machines had stood in front of the Blankenburg (Harz) depot for several years , the E 251 001 was transferred to Lutherstadt Wittenberg. The 171 012 came into the care of the Thuringian Railway Association. There they take care of the maintenance of the locomotive, which is presented at various festivals. All other examples of the 171 series were transferred to the former Zwickau depot after the operational stock was dissolved by the then Railion Deutschland AG.

The locomotive train (consisting of 171 011, 009, 003, 008, 004, 014, 013 and 005) arrived in Halle on April 13, 2005, from where it continued to Zwickau on April 21, 2005. On February 9, 2006, the 171 008 was transferred from Zwickau to Dresden-Friedrichstadt, where the wheel sets were machined on the underfloor lathe. Then she was taken to Regensburg-Hafen and continued on to Romania . There it was rented to the Logistic Center Bulgaria Branch and was dismantled in 2011.

This fate was also intended for the other machines in Zwickau; they were also to be used by a Railion subsidiary in Romania. In 2010, however, the vehicles parked in Zwickau were sold to a scrap dealer in Espenhain . The locomotives 171 003 to 007, 009, 010, 013, 014 and 015 were dismantled in Blankenburg and Espenhain.

171 001 - as a technical monument in the delivery condition (green) - Lutherstadt Wittenberg

171 002 - as a technical monument in the delivery condition (green) - Blankenburg (Harz)

171 003 - traffic red - scrapped

171 004 - traffic red - scrapped

171 005 - oriental red - scrapped

171 006 - scrapped

171 007 - scrapped

171 008 - traffic red , Pirdop in Bulgaria, locomotive had been transferred to Timişoara in Romania to carry out tests for further use of the series - scrapped