The DB Baureihe 120 is a class of

electric locomotive An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or g ...

s operated by

DB Fernverkehr DB Fernverkehr AG (German for "DB Long-Distance Traffic") is a semi-independent division of Deutsche Bahn that operates long-distance passenger trains in Germany. It was founded in 1999 in the second stage of the privatisation of Deutsche Bahn, ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. From 5 July 2020, almost all locomotives (except for one from the 120.2 subseries) have been withdrawn.

Background and design

The locomotives' prototypes, delivered in 1979 (Mark 120.0), were one of the first electric locomotives with three-phase motors controlled by

thyristor A thyristor () is a solid-state semiconductor device with four layers of alternating P- and N-type materials used for high-power applications. It acts exclusively as a bistable switch (or a latch), conducting when the gate receives a current ...

-based

power electronics Power electronics is the application of electronics to the control and conversion of electric power. The first high-power electronic devices were made using mercury-arc valves. In modern systems, the conversion is performed with semiconducto ...

. This principle, mainly devised by the german branch of swiss-based

Brown, Boveri & Cie Brown, Boveri & Cie. (Brown, Boveri & Company; BBC) was a Swiss group of electrical engineering companies. It was founded in Zürich, in 1891 by Charles Eugene Lancelot Brown and Walter Boveri who worked at the Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon. In 1 ...

lay the foundation for all current electric and diesel-electric rail engines. For this, the Mark 120 is often acclaimed as milestone in locomotive technology. They were based on experiments made in the 1970s with diesel-electric test platforms (Mark DE 2500/ DB Mark 202). In Norway, a new four-axle Locomotive, Mark El-17, was launched during 1983 with top speeds up to . The design was intended to be the first truly universal locomotive, capable of pulling fast passenger trains as well as heavy freight trains. While the electric equipment exceeded expectations, the mechanical part suffered from its lightweight construction necessitated by the heavy electronics of the time. After extensive tests, a series of 60 locomotives (Mark 120.1) were ordered in 1984 and delivered in 1986–1988. Original plans to build up to 2,000 machines were ultimately ended by DB's privatisation. The 120s went to DB Fernverkehr, the other divisions of Deutsche Bahn ordered locomotives that featured technologies from the 120, but were not direct successors. However, the mark 120 engines formed the foundation for the power cars of the german high-speed trains

ICE 1 The ICE 1 is the first batch-produced German high-speed train and one of six in the Intercity Express family. Revenue service at speeds up to started in 1991. It was raised to in May 1995 and temporary reduced to again, as a result of ...

and

ICE 2 The ICE 2 is the second series of German high-speed trains and one of six in the Intercity-Express family since 1995. The ICE 2 (half-) trains are even closer to a conventional push–pull train than the ICE 1, because each train consist ...

Technical data

Gallery

Image:Dresden_Hbf_120_143.JPG, 120 143 in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

Image:120-002.jpg, 120 002 in

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg ...

1984 Image:120 502-0 DB Systemtechnik, Dresden Hbf.jpg, DB-AG BR 120 (''DB Systemtechnik''), Summer 2006 in Dresden Main Station Image:DB 120 134.JPG, 120 134 arrives at Köln Hbf Image:DB 120 502.JPG, 120 502 leaves Köln Hbf on a Bahntechnik train.

External links

Spec Sheet; French
{{German electric locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1979 Electric locomotives of Germany 15 kV AC locomotives Bo′Bo′ locomotives

120 120 may refer to: *120 (number), the number * AD 120, a year in the 2nd century AD *120 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC *120 film, a film format for still photography * ''120'' (film), a 2008 film * 120 (MBTA bus) * 120 (New Jersey bus) * 120 (Ken ...

Brown, Boveri & Cie locomotives Henschel locomotives Krauss-Maffei locomotives Krupp locomotives Standard gauge locomotives of Germany Mixed traffic locomotives