I did say black is beautiful, did I not?

[NGT6 1315]

Evening all!

 

Hot on the heels of the DBS class 182 from a few days ago, here is another offspring from the Siemens Eurosprinter family which I believe is worth presenting . Well, I grant you that it fundamentally is just a variant of the ES 64 U2 type, but a particularly interesting one! Once again, I should also like to proceed right to the specifics of this variant.

 

Among the total of 437 ES 64 U2 type engines, there are sixty which are owned by leasing company MRCE Dispolok - formerly a Siemens subsidiary which was 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 does not want or have to go as far as actually buying engines. Originally, Dispolok engines were painted bright yellow and silver, so as to provide a neutral appearance and enable engines to be re-leased on short notice - although long-term customers could specify to have company-specific decoration applied, either in the shape of bodyside advertisements, or indeed a fully-fledged livery - as Austrian operator Wiener Lokalbahnen chose to specify.

 

Now, fifteen of MRCE Dispolok's engines have been fitted with a special equipment package between 2005 and 2008 - this package 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. Quite fittingly, they are known as the "BosporusSprinter" type, which is a registered trademark. Their performance characteristics are identical to the remaining dual voltage ES 64 U2s, though.

 

I should mention that finding this model was not exactly easy and took several weeks of browsing and phoning around, until I eventually tracked one down at a model shop in Saxony! B) It was produced with reference number 62447, but is sold out on Roco's side.

 

As always, I also snapped my usual set of photos for the purpose of illustration...

 

 

 

 

The ES 64 U2 certainly is a familiar sight nowadays and does look quite sharp in MRCE's black livery, in my opinion. Roco's model represents engine ES 64 U2-067 which was originally built as ES 64 U2-045 in 2004 with the works number 21049 and underwent its refit between August and September 2007. The BosporusSprinter refits were carried out at the Ferencváros repair works of the Hungarian state railways. All in all, engines ES 64 U2-038 through 052 were thus refitted.

 

 

 

In case you're wondering about the inner pantograph: Originally, the ÖBB's class 1116 engines were meant to be fitted with a third pantograph with a 2,060 mm head for Hungary as the OHLE geometry there was different when the ES 64 U2 was first introduced. Engines 1116 001 through 025 were such fitted initially, but the Hungarians eventually adapted their OHLE to the Austro-German geometry, rendering the wide pan unnecessary and leading to its removal by 2005. However, the mounting position for a third pantograph is present on all ES 64 U2s, and was made use of for the BosporusSprinter modification. The pantograph now mounted there is meant for use on parts of the Romanian network as well as in Bulgaria and Turkey, and has a 1,600 mm wide head, whereas the other two pans have the usual 1,950 mm heads. There also are several ÖBB and MRCE ES 64 U2s fitted for Switzerland, which have a 1,450 mm wide pantograph on this third mounting position.

 

The inscriptions seen here on the Cab 1 end indicate the engine to have had its last overhaul completed on 23 June 2004 (this having been its acceptance checkup), and to carry the designation 182 567-8 for operation under the LZB cab signalling system, which cannot handle engine numbers like "ES 64 U2-067". The country certification grid is quite impressive, if you ask me, containing references to all the countries mentioned in the third paragraph. Next to it, there is a pair of text boxes which says, "By special agreement" in nine languages.

 

 

 

 

On the Cab 2 side, there are the usual service weight and braking weight indications, again amended by descriptions in nine languages. There also is the NVR number, reading as 91 80 6182 567-8-D-DISPO. Also note the wheelsets still featuring the 1st generation noise absorbers, and the pickup antennas for the Hungarian EVM 120 train protection system between the snow plough and the bogie.

 

 

 

 

Looking at the front which has been given a red and white high visibility panel. Also note the left buffer shroud displaying only "SIEMENS" as a cutout, whereas earlier ES 64 U2 type engines had shrouds with a "SIEMENS KRAUSS MAFFEI" cutout.

 

 

 

 

And a look at the roof, highlighting the third pantograph again.

 

 

Well, that's it for now - good night!

[Taigatrommel]

Great to see you got hold of one. Great looking.

 

There must be so much work involved getting a loco certified for so many systems, not just simply making the loco work but fitting in cab signalling etc. I must admit to wondering how much of a saving it presents time wise over loco changes at each border, assuming agreements mean the whole train doesn't need a customs inspection.

[NGT6 1315]

That's a good question you're asking indeed, Rich. It would seem somebody in a position of authority decided it was, in fact, worth the effort, but I, too, would be interested in seeing the data they used for making this decision. Very unlikely I ever will, of course, but all that technical and administrative background involved in getting a loco certified for so many countries should make for some interesting reading for tech buffs.

 

By the way - in case anybody would like to know what those multilingual inscriptions read like: "Service weight", for example, is "Dienstgewicht" (shortened to "Dienstgew") in German; "Önsúly" in Hungarian; "Masă in serviciu" in Romanian; "Službena težina" in what I would think is Croatian; "Служeбнa маÑа" in either Serbian or Bulgarian (or both); and "Seyir aḡırlıḡı" in Turkish.

[Allegheny1600]

Hi Dominik,

That is one stunning loco there, i'll keep my eyes open for one but not holding my breath!

If these locos are certified for Greece, have you ever seen any indication they have worked there and are any of the inscription in Greek!?!

This is the reason i'm particularly interested - Greece being a country i am collecting items for the "one day" layout!

Cheers,

John E.

[NGT6 1315]

If these locos are certified for Greece, have you ever seen any indication they have worked there and are any of the inscription in Greek!?!

 

I haven't seen any photos of them having worked anything scheduled on Greek tracks yet - as for the inscriptions, I seem to have misplaced my loupe, so I haven't checked out all of them yet. Far as I can see, the braking inscriptions are not written out in Greek, however.

 

By the way: The head on the 1,600 mm pantograph required some work as Roco used a standard 1,950 mm head there. However, clipping off about two millimetres from both the protective horns and the contacts on either end did the trick. It may, of course, not be accurate down to fractions of a millimetre, but it does look the part .