VES-M Halle

The Versuchs- und Entwicklungsstelle Maschinenwirtschaft in Halle, Germany, (VES-M Halle) was a railway research and development department working for the engineering head office of the

Deutsche Reichsbahn The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'', also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the German national railway system created after the end of World War I from the regiona ...

(DR) in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It worked closely with the Railways Institute (''Institut für Eisenbahnwesen''). Amongst other things, all rolling stock intended for deployment on the DR railway network, whether built in Germany or abroad, was thoroughly tested here. Loading tests with measurement trains on the open line, starting tests on the Berlin outer ring and other task were carried out by this special division of the Deutsche Reichsbahn. Even the fastest, still operational

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

, the

DR 18 201 The German express locomotive, number 18 201 of the Deutsche Reichsbahn in East Germany, appeared in 1960–61 at Meiningen Steam Locomotive Works as a conversion of the Henschel-Wegmann train locomotive 61 002, the tender from 44 468 and parts ...

, which used to have the DR number 02 0201-0, was used by VES-M Halle before the merger of the DR and DB. It was designed here for high-speed trials and was made, to a large extent, by converting existing engines and components. For high speed runs an electric locomotive class, the E 18 was also used. The 'Germanisation' of

diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...

s of Russian and Romanian origin was also carried out here. The first head of the ''VES-M'' in 1951 was the locomotive engineer, Max Baumberg. In 2008, a permanent exhibition about the ''VES-M Halle'' was opened at the

DB Museum The Nuremberg Transport Museum (') is based in Nuremberg, Germany, and consists of the Deutsche Bahn's own DB Museum and the Museum of Communications ('). It also has two satellite museums at Koblenz-Lützel (the '' DB Museum Koblenz'') and Hall ...

in Halle. {{authority control Buildings and structures in Halle (Saale) Former research institutes History of Saxony-Anhalt Defunct railway workshops Railway workshops in Germany Research institutes in Germany