DBBR 218

[Clive martin]

Does anyone know if the DB BR 218 class locomotives are still in service i have looked at wickapedia but they only state as of 2009 ,from watching you tube i guess some have found new private owners and some examples might be preserved,

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Yes, there are still a few around. More details in the recent article below.

 

https://eisenbahnseite.de/br-218/

 

[Clive martin]

Thank you for your reply claude its good news that some of these fine locomotives are still in service they are real icons of the German railways they are a Great looking and fantastic sounding machine!

[Ian Morgan]

They were frequently seen around Munich when I was there 15 years ago:

 

 

and Fuessen (for Neuschwanstein castle)

 

 

and also at the temporary station for the Berlin Air Show 2004

 

[Vecchio]

If I am not wrong I think it was the prototype for the first model Roco made for the German market. Must have been in the 70th...

[michl080]

My favourite as you can see in my avatar :-)

 

There are still quite a lot around, many of them in Southern Germany where many lines rely on Diesel.

 

The German Wikipedia arcticle DB-Baureihe_218 has a nice listing. All green marked engines are still "betriebsfähig" = operational.

 

In fact, all ICE-stations I have seen so far have one ready to salvage broken down ICE-trains. These were renumbered with 218 8xx numbers.

 

Here is a picture of 218 825 in Stuttgart. Although picture has been taken some years ago, there are still engines keeping watch.

 

 

 

and finally, my favourite playground for this powerful machines, the Geislinger Steige between Stuttgart an Ulm, one of the most prestigious lines in the 19th century with its 1:50 slope.

 

 

 

all the best from Germany,

Michael

 

 

 

Edited August 15, 2022 by michl080

[D9020 Nimbus]

3 hours ago, Vecchio said:

If I am not wrong I think it was the prototype for the first model Roco made for the German market. Must have been in the 70th...

You are wrong—Roco modelled the similar 215 in both H0 and N. The 218 was in the Fleischmann range, also in both scales. More recently, Roco have produced an H0 218 from new tooling.

[Vecchio]

Well for the non German stock collector they look pretty much the same... 

[Clive martin]

On 15/08/2022 at 17:40, Vecchio said:

Well for the non German stock collector they look pretty much the same... 

 

[Clive martin]

I i can understand you thinking the class 215 could have been a 218,i will be happy to be corrected if i am wrong ,but my understanding is these locomotives are part of the v160 series all built to the same basic design ,but with variations ,for example steam heating boilers etc  i think some machines are built on longer frames to carry extra equipment,the BR 218 machines are the final class of the v160 series,i hope my information  is helpfull and not to inacurate!

[michl080]

Clive,

 

you are correct, but there are a lot more variations of the V160 series,  e.g. 210,215,216,217,218,219 and 225. :-)

 

The 215 class has steam heating and MTU-engines between 1900 and 2500hp,

the 218 class has electical heating and MAN-engines with 2500 hp.

Many of them received upgraded engines.

 

The most exotic variant is the class 219 that had a 2150hp MTU 16 cylinder Diesel and additionally a 900hp gas turbine.  Only one of them  was build.

 

Michael

[Claude_Dreyfus]

A few pictures from my holidays over the last couple of weeks, confirming the 218s, and their various cousins, are still very much in evidence. Sadly, although plentiful, they never seemed to be in the right place for my camera, and the bulk of the pictures were taken either at a distance or from a moving train.

 

215 082-9 at Montabaur

 

An unidentified pair at Frankfurt

 

A push-pull set arrives at Munich. Just abut discernible is the 218 at the other end. Sadly, my train was about to arrive, so I could not get a picture...or even an identity!

 

Also unidentified example at Stuttgart with what looks to be a track recording train.

 

218 831-6 is stabled at Stuttgart

 

225 005-8 and 225 811-9 both looking a little sad at Karlsruhe (not helped by the fact this was photo was taken through a carriage window).

 

225 004-1 looks in better fettle, also Karlsruhe.

[Gordonwis]

8 hours ago, Claude_Dreyfus said:

A few pictures from my holidays over the last couple of weeks, confirming the 218s, and their various cousins, are still very much in evidence. Sadly, although plentiful, they never seemed to be in the right place for my camera, and the bulk of the pictures were taken either at a distance or from a moving train.

 

 

 

 

225 004-1 looks in better fettle, also Karlsruhe.

 

 

Note that this loco is not DB ( I do like the way that most German 3rd level railway operators use a logo of some sort but place it just where the DB logo used to be - very useful for modelling multi-timespan

 

225 004 is now with the ever-expanding Swiss company Widmer Rail Services (WRS)

 

.

Edited September 25, 2022 by Gordonwis