And a good morning once again!

I admit that the decision for purchasing the model we’re going to look at today was, first and foremost, made on the basis of my having been strangely intrigued by an operational practice introduced by DB Regio on several RegionalBahn (stopping service) lines covering areas of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia over the past few years. This involved pairing up Siemens ES 64 U2 type locomotives – in ÖBB service, and officially only there, known as „Taurus” – with „y” Stock coaches – also known as Halberstadt type regional coaches with central vestibules, thus creating a strange but intriguing contrast of old and new.

I therefore wanted to assemble one of these train formations, using a suitable ES 64 U2 type locomotive – known in Germany as class 182 – from Roco, and „y” Stock coaches from Brawa and – for the driving trailer – Roco. For the coaching stock, Richard „Taigatrommel” Bucknall of this parish came to the rescue by offering me just those coaches I'll require, while for the locomotive, Roco came forward with an interesting variant earlier this year. This model, marketed with reference #73534, represents one of the small number of MRCE Dispolok ES 64 U2s still wearing the original silver and sulphur yellow livery.

The coaches will be described on this blog in a couple of weeks after receiving them and getting their lettering updated!

In order to mention this up front, I should like to refer you to my background posting, „Eurosprinteristics,” for more information and technical descriptions of Eurosprinter type locomotives.

Among the total of 437 ES 64 U2 type locomotives, there are sixty which are owned by stock lessor MRCE Dispolok – formerly a Siemens subsidiary called Siemens Dispolok, unsurprisingly, and then merged with Mitsui Rail Capital Europe per 1 April 2008 – and meant to be hired by whichever TOC might be in need of modern motive power but not prepared to buy them. Therefore, Dispolok took care to prepare their locomotive fleet in a neutral livery which could be easily adapted to any particular wishes a customer might desire.

The silver and yellow original livery has mostly disappeared from the MRCE Dispolok fleet, and been replaced with an all-over black livery offering an equally neutral appearance. Of course, customer so inclined can also specify MRCE locomotives to be repainted, especially for long-term contracts. It’s also interesting to note that Austrian operator Wiener Lokalbahnen Cargo, who have had a number of MRCE ES 64 U2s on long-term lease, have modified the original Dispolok livery to match their own corporate identity, replacing the yellow with cream white and the silver with dark blue.

Also, fifteen of MRCE Dispolok's locomotives have been fitted with the „BosporusSprinter” equipment package between 2005 and 2008, enabling them to operate more or less throughout the Balkans. Specifically, these locos are certified for Austria, Germany, Hungary, Croatia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Bosnia, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey, and therefore probably the farthest-reaching electrics on the European continent. These locos carry a third pantograph with a 1,600 mm head, utilising an additional mounting position provided in the ES 64 U2’s design. Originally, a batch of ÖBB 1116s carried a 2,060 mm pan on this position which at the time was required for compatibility with the Hungarian OHLE before it was matched to the Austrian/German geometry, while several Dispolok ES 64 U2s are also known for being fitted with a 1,450 mm third pantograph for Switzerland.

Technical specifications

Length, width and height – 19.28, 3 and 4.25 m/63.3, 9.8 and 13.9 ft

Service weight – 86 tonnes without and 88 tonnes with ETCS onboard equipment/84.6 and 86.6 long tons

Power output – 6,400 kW/8,583 hp

Initial tractive effort – 300 kN

Maximum speed – 230 kph/143 mph

The model we’ll be looking at now is one of those more or less recent variants which Roco have provided with a redesigned chassis, featuring coupler extension mechanisms and LED lighting. As previously mentioned, this model is offered with reference #73534, representing 182 595, or ES 64 U2-095, in the original silver and yellow livery and with the Swiss equipment package.

Undoubtedly (at least to my mind), the ES 64 U2 series is among the most visually attractive locomotives to have been rolled out around the turn of the 21st century. The silver-and-yellow Dispolok livery, while fairly straightforward, does, in my opinion, not diminish that fact a bit.

182 595 was built in 2002 with works number 20784 and put into service on 8 July that year.

The lettering seen here on the Cab 1 end indicate the locomotive to have had its last revision completed at the Deutsche Bahn workshops at Dessau (abbreviated LDX) on 18 August 2010, and to carry the designation 182 595-9 for operation within the LZB cab signalling system, which cannot handle locomotive numbers like "ES 64 U2-095".

Also note the small silhouette of Germany, Austria and Switzerland on the cab flanks, representing the countries this specific locomotive and her similarly outfitted sisters can operate in. In addition, you can make out the ETCS transceiver suspended from the loco's running frame just ahead of the transformer, which is one of the modifications carried out by Roco on this recent release of their long-running ES 64 U2 model.

I did highlight the PZB magnets, mounted at the bottom of the bogie frames, with some aluminium paint, though of course, these devices become dirty fairly quickly.

On the Cab 2 side, there are the usual service weight and braking weight indications. There also is the NVR number, reading as 91 80 6182 595-9-D-DISPO.

The braking weights read as follows:

R+E 180 t

P+E 100 t

R 140 t

P 67 t

G 67 t

FspBr 25 t – this being the spring-loaded parking brake, or "Federspeicherbremse" in German.

In between the transformer and Bogie 2, you can see the suspension framework for the Integra-Signum magnets and ZUB 121/262 balise readers to make the locomotive compatible with the classic Swiss train protection systems.

The trackside Integra-Signum magnets are always set in pairs, with the device set to the left of the left hand running rail being a transmission magnet and the one on the track's centreline an exciter. The corresponding magnets on rolling stock are the exciter magnet aligned with the trackside exciter magnet, and the pair of receiver magnets outside the running rails.

The ZUB balise readers are set inside to align with the trackside balises, also available as a pair like the Integra-Signum receiver magnets.

Note that I highlighted the visual brake indicators, just next to the inner wheelset, with dots of green paint, indicating the brakes to be released.

It is interesting to note that among the originally liveried Dispolok ES 64 U2s, 182 595 is peculiar in having had the frontside body panel, which originally was the same shade of silver as the body flanks, painted over in what trainspotters tend to describe as a whitish-silvery light grey. This paint was applied around the existing lettering for unknown reasons, leaving the original silver colour in place underneath the frontside lettering. I suppose you can take this as proof that even on highly standardised modern locomotives, there can yet be a multitude of peculiarities.

Also note the left buffer shroud displaying only "SIEMENS" as a cutout, whereas earlier ES 64 U2s had shrouds with a "SIEMENS KRAUSS MAFFEI" cutout. The right buffer shroud has an integrated grille, behind which the horns are located.

This top-down roof view shall highlight the arrangement of three pantographs on 182 595, with the narrower Swiss-spec pan being on the inner mounting position. The circuit breaker is located towards Cab 2. On the rooftop, I highlighted the busbar attachment clamps with some aluminium paint.

Thanks for reading and have a good day!