Depot
As a Bahnbetriebswerk , also in short Betriebswerk (abbreviation: Bw ) is a system used by the German railways which is used for maintenance , minor repairs, the addition of operating materials and the cleaning of locomotives and railcars. In addition, the deployment of the locomotives and locomotive personnel is organized. In the Deutsche Bahn today are Bahnbetriebswerke as depots in the ÖBB but as Zugförderungsstellen ( IF ) or Zugförderungsleitungen ( ZfL called). In many other countries the term depot is often used simply . Organizationally and operationally, the smaller locomotive stations (also operational sites or locomotive yards ) were affiliated to the depot .
history
First company workshops
In the railway sector in the German-speaking area , the first workshops for the maintenance, repair and provision of railway vehicles, especially locomotives, were referred to as company workshops .
In the first facilities of this type from 1835, the locomotives initially delivered from England were also assembled, for example in the operating workshop for the locomotives of the first mechanically operated Ludwigseisenbahn Nürnberg-Fürth with the first operational locomotive in Germany , which opened on January 7, 1835 . the eagle .
John Stanley Blenkinsop, son of the locomotive designer John Blenkinsop , was the first to recognize that well-equipped workshops and suitable staff are needed for smooth rail operations. The Herzoglich Braunschweigische Staatseisenbahn transferred the technical management of the company to him, after which their first workshop was built in 1838 , in which, in addition to routine tasks, new locomotives were built. In 1845 it became clear to John Blenkinsop that it was much cheaper to maintain locomotives at regular intervals than to fix something when a technical problem occurred. This laid the foundation stone for the later standard tasks of railway depots.
Since the range of action of the first steam locomotives was only up to 80 kilometers, systems for maintaining the locomotives were built at all larger stations, where mainly the coal and water supplies could be replenished, as well as cleaning and disposal of the ashtrays and the smoke chambers . Such systems were also built at branch stations.
In the advanced stage of development of the railways, there was also the conversion of company workshops into larger main workshops equipped for more demanding tasks , which are now referred to as "repair shops". Little by little, all the other German railway companies structured their maintenance and repair facilities along the lines of the Ludwig Railway and the Braunschweigische Staatsbahn.
Further workshops of this time were
- the Gießen depot, built in 1850 as a workshop,
- the Meiningen railway depot , built in 1863 by the "Werra-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft" as a workshop, which was converted into a main workshop on April 1, 1902 ,
- the Augsburg workshop , built around 1906 for the Royal Bavarian State Railways , now a museum
- the Barmen-Rittershausen workshop, replaced by the Wuppertal-Langerfeld depot in 1911 ,
- the Remscheid-Lennep depot, built around 1890 as the Lennep depot,
- the Treuchtlingen depot , built around 1880 as the Royal Bavarian depot Treuchtlingen ,
- the Stolberg depot, built as the Stolberg workshop in 1898
Land railroad time
Since the 1860s, all railway companies have separated the areas of operational service (use of locomotives) and vehicle maintenance. In addition, the first repair shops, called main workshops at the time, came into being. With the founding of the German Reich , the above-mentioned system was adopted by everyone, and many private railways were nationalized, which finally made this system prevalent.
Deutsche Reichsbahn 1920–1945
With the takeover of the German state railways by the State Treaty of April 30, 1920, the organization of the operating machine service was standardized throughout Germany. The Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) also formed various Reichsbahn directorates and machine offices . On August 1, 1935, there were 27 Reichsbahndirectors and 132 machine offices.
The new organizational rules introduced in the 1920s proved their worth, but the number of depots fluctuated considerably. The DR converted large locomotive stations into their own depots. With the founding of the Deutsche Reichsbahn, that changed suddenly. A fifth of the reparation payments to the victorious powers of the First World War should be generated by the DRG. In order to be able to accomplish this, rationalization measures had to be taken, especially savings were made in almost all areas. In addition, the administration had to be tightened, which led to the subsequent closure of all smaller depots. At the same time, so-called large railway depots were created. Medium-sized and small offices were often incorporated into these depots. This resulted in huge depots that had a large number of maintenance systems. Examples of this are the Dresden-Friedrichstadt depot and the plants in Hamburg-Altona , Hamm and Osnabrück . These were often responsible for the maintenance of over 150 locomotives.
German Federal Railroad 1949–1993
In 1950 the Deutsche Bundesbahn began converting small depots into branch offices. This development was accelerated by the change in traction, because diesel and electric locomotives required significantly fewer personnel. The decline in freight and passenger transport also made some of the depot capacity unnecessary. From 1956 to 1969, the Deutsche Bundesbahn dissolved a total of 77 depots. The end of the steam locomotive era at the DB led to further closures.
Deutsche Reichsbahn 1949–1993
Initially, the Deutsche Reichsbahn in the GDR took the opposite route . Many smaller locomotive stations were initially raised to the status of depots, primarily to ensure better repair of the locomotives on site. It wasn't until the beginning of the traction change in the mid-1960s that a development similar to that of DB began. Smaller Bahnbetriebswerke were now closed, but they mostly remained in operation as locomotive operations. The existing systems were mostly adapted for diesel and electric locomotive maintenance, and new modern maintenance halls were only built in a few cases.
Deutsche Bahn AG from 1994
With the rail reform and the founding of Deutsche Bahn , the hundred-year-old operating concepts were completely restructured - the unity of operations and maintenance was abandoned. These two tasks were taken over by the Traction and Plants divisions. The depots have been renamed depots, these have always been under their own head. With this restructuring, the plants only became providers of maintenance tasks assigned by the traction division. With this complete reorganization, a wave of rationalization began at Deutsche Bahn, which led to the closure of factories and depots. In the area of the former Deutsche Reichsbahn even large depots were closed. For the use of new locomotives, for example the ICE , depots have to be laboriously converted over and over again in order to be able to service the new vehicles.
tasks
Railway depots are responsible for maintaining and carrying out minor repairs to the locomotives used in operation. In addition, the deployment of personnel in the transport service is planned and dispatched in the depot. At a certain rhythm (usually once or twice a week), an inspection and functional test of all components of the locomotive is carried out by the refinisher . Larger depots with the appropriate technical equipment also carry out major repairs such as replacing motors or machining the outline of the wheelsets themselves using an underfloor wheel set lathe.
Some railway depots had outposts, such as in larger train stations, in which several locomotives were kept for shunting or for operating branch lines. The locomotives were upgraded and serviced in the locomotive shed there. However, there were no repairs and no personnel planning. These branch offices were called Locomotive Deployment Centers.
Steam locomotive time
The work that had to be carried out on a steam locomotive for maintenance was once the most extensive . In addition to replenishing the company's supplies of water, coal and brake sand, the slag on the steam locomotives was removed from the grate and the smoke chamber cleaned on a daily basis. The oiling of all storage areas was also part of the daily work on a steam locomotive. It was also important to turn the locomotives with tender according to the intended direction of travel. Washing out the boiler was also one of the important maintenance work in the facility at a certain rhythm.
Diesel and electric locomotives
With the conversion of train transport from steam to diesel and electric locomotives , a comprehensive re-profiling of the depot was necessary. Systems that were only needed for the maintenance of the steam locomotives were no longer relevant. For the use of electric locomotives, the construction of additional overhead lines was necessary at the Bw'en and refueling facilities for the housing of diesel locomotives.
The scope of work in the maintenance of electric locomotives essentially includes replenishing the brake sand supplies, oiling the few lubrication points and axle drives, replacing the traction motor brushes, cleaning and replacing the various electrical switching elements, maintaining the pantographs and some functional tests - especially train protection devices , Drive control and power regulation.
On diesel locomotives, brake sand reserves must also be replenished, lubrication points must be supplied, and functional tests must be carried out on train protection devices and drive controls. Additional tasks include servicing the engine, gearbox and exhaust gas turbocharger, changing the oil fillings and various filters as well as the injection nozzles. Testing and maintenance work is also required for the electrical power supply systems for the locomotive and train.
Special purpose trains
In addition to the maintenance of all locomotives, some depots are also responsible for the maintenance of special-purpose trains, and the change in traction has not changed anything. The most important units are rescue trains (for recovering vehicles involved in an accident) and snow removal vehicles . Until the 1980s there were also fire fighting trains , but their tasks have now been taken over by railway fire departments. For a smooth operation in a depot, towing or shunting vehicles are required to move the wagons and non-drivable locomotives. Up until 20 years ago there were also other special vehicles, such as waste oil trains, which, however, have now all been taken out of service.
present
Modern diesel and electric locomotives now require very little maintenance due to the use of many low-maintenance and wear-free components. For this reason, in contrast to the steam locomotive era, there are now only a few depots left in which the maintenance and repair of an entire series is concentrated.
At Deutsche Bahn, the depots, known today as depots, are increasingly independent and divided between several business areas of DB AG. The "Technical Services" division is responsible for this at ÖBB . In most depots, services are also carried out for other companies, for example the maintenance of the vehicles of private railways. This is due to the fact that the construction of their own depot is often not affordable for private railway companies - this is why maintenance tasks are often outsourced to depots of state railways.
The depots are demarcated areas that are usually not accessible to the public. The work takes place not only during the day, but mainly at night, when numerous locomotives are not needed for traction. ICE or other railcars are also parked in the depots, this area is not accessible, which is why there are usually significantly fewer graffiti problems with the locomotives than is often the case with the unprotected goods wagons.
Depots that still have buildings from the steam locomotive era often have expansion problems. Buildings that are under industrial heritage protection may not be demolished. Otherwise, depots are basically designed in such a way that expansion is possible on all sides. Already at the planning stage, it must be taken into account that there is enough additional ground available that can easily be purchased in the case of expansion plans.
Former depots are often never used again and run wild completely. Often the tracks are completely dismantled, only the listed buildings remain.
foreign countries
At the Austrian Federal Railways , depending on the scope of their tasks, railway depots were called train conveyance management - Zfl (Vienna North, Vienna East, Innsbruck, Bludenz, Villach) or as train conveyance point - Zfst (Mistelbach Lower Austria, Gmünd Lower Austria, Bregenz, St. Pölten-Alpenbahnhof).
In Switzerland, comparable facilities are called locomotive depots .
In Denmark, the term Remise is used for depots (for example Gedser remise , Tønder remise ).
literature
- Railway depot between yesterday, today and tomorrow , EK-Special 130, EK-Verlag GmbH, Freiburg 2018, ISBN 978-3-8446-7023-3 .
- Jan Reiners: This is how the depot works , Transpress Verlag, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-613-71279-2 .
- Walter Weikelt / Manfred Teufel: The technology of repairing steam locomotives , Transpress Verlag, Stuttgart, ISBN 3-613-71256-3 .
- Peter Koehler, Wolfgang List: Das Bahnbetriebswertk for the steam locomotive era, transpress 1987 alba, ISBN 3-87094-216-9
- Markus Tiedtke: Bahnbetriebswerke part 1, coaling and sanding , EK-Special 19, EK-Verlag GmbH, Freiburg
- Markus Tiedtke: Railway depot part 2, water march , EK-Special 24, EK-Verlag GmbH, Freiburg
- Markus Tiedtke: Railway depot part 3, turntables and locomotive sheds , EK-Special 34, EK-Verlag GmbH, Freiburg
- Volker Großkopf / Dirk Rohde / Markus Tiedtke: Bahnbetriebswerke Part 1, Small Locomotive Stations , Eisenbahn-Journal Anlagenplanung 2/2001, Verlagsgruppe-Bahn GmbH, Fürstenfeldbruck 2001, ISBN 3-89610-073-4
- Volker Großkopf / Dirk Rohde / Markus Tiedtke: Bahnbetriebswerke Part 2, medium-sized locomotive stations , Eisenbahn-Journal Anlagenplanung 4/2002, Verlagsgruppe-Bahn GmbH, Fürstenfeldbruck 2002, ISBN 3-89610-102-1
- Dirk Rohde / Markus Tiedtke: Bahnbetriebswerke Part 3, Large Locomotive Stations , Eisenbahn-Journal Anlagenplanung 4/2003, Verlagsgruppe-Bahn GmbH, Fürstenfeldbruck 2003, ISBN 3-89610-116-1
- Dirk Rohde / Markus Tiedtke: Bahnbetriebswerke Part 4, Groß-Bw , Eisenbahn-Journal Anlagenplanung 4/2004, Verlagsgruppe-Bahn GmbH, Fürstenfeldbruck 2004, ISBN 3-89610-129-3
- Huguenin, Bernard and Fischer, Karl: Ottbergen - classics of the steam locomotive era. Volume 1: From the beginning to the 1960s. Volume 2: 1970s to today. Self-published by the Modellbundesbahn, 2011, ISBN 978-3-00-033745-1 .
swell
- ^ Railway depot Giessen. In: bahnstatistik.de
- ^ Bahnbetriebswerk Treuchtlingen ( Memento from April 29, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ). In: lokfuehrerkameradschaft.de
- ^ Bw Stolberg. In: guidorademacher.de
- ↑ Book: How the Bahnbetriebswerk works , pp. 10–29
- ↑ Book: How the Bahnbetriebswerk works , pp. 126–139
See also
- List of depots in Germany until 1994
- List of German depots (railways) (current)
Web links
- Model railway show shows u. a. the Ottbergen depot 1975 - Museum quality on a scale of 1:87
- ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: photos relating to the care of historic vehicles in the depot of the Bavarian Localbahn Verein in Landshut )
- Pictures and information about some German depot