DRG Class E 18
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The
Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft 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 ...
(DRG) Class E 18 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 gas ...
s built in
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 ...
and
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
between 1935 and 1955. With exception of Class E 19 it was Deutsche Reichsbahn's fastest electric locomotive. After 1945 most of the surviving locomotives were operated by
Deutsche Bundesbahn The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB (German Federal Railway) was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) on 7 September 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG). The DB remained ...
(DB), although a few passed to
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) and Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB). In addition to the 55 locomotives built in Germany, a further 8 locomotives of a modified design were built in Austria in 1939 as ''Class E 18.2'' (later ÖBB class 1018).


Development

dates back to the year 1881, when near Berlin the first public line was taken into service in Berlin. German WP article on electric traction Despite successful test runs with three-phase current electric railcars up to a top speed of in 1903, the German state railways decided to use single-phase alternating current because the overhead line of three-phase current was very complicated. The first mainline electric locomotives were all equipped with large, slow-going single electric motors. Obviously the large single engines and the resulting power transmission by connecting rods made for poor operation characteristics at high speed. Nevertheless, it was not before 1913 that first electric main line locomotives with nose-suspended, fast-going single motors were commissioned. This development was further delayed by
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The decisive breakthrough was finally made in the 1920s, as large numbers of electric trainsets were developed for the electrification of the
Berlin Stadtbahn The Berlin Stadtbahn ("city railway") is a major railway thoroughfare in the German capital Berlin, which runs through Berlin from east to west. It connects the eastern district of Friedrichshain with Charlottenburg in the west via 11 intermedia ...
in 1928. Accordingly, also in 1928 the first electric main line express locomotive entered service. Class E 17 was a huge success, with a total of 38 units produced. The smaller was derived for lighter service in the less mountainous middle German regions. However, during the mid-1930s DRG decided to speed up its express train services over the that Class E 17 was admitted for. The newly developed Class E 18's basic layout was accordingly based on Class E 17. The electric design was based on the newer Class E 04. With respect to the higher speeds new class E 18's shape was streamlined. The Class E 18 was capable of operating a train at on level track, and up to at on a 2%
gradient In vector calculus, the gradient of a scalar-valued differentiable function of several variables is the vector field (or vector-valued function) \nabla f whose value at a point p is the "direction and rate of fastest increase". If the gradi ...
. Another innovation was that the Class E 18 was the first electric locomotive with an engineer's seat. Earlier models were operated standing.


Service


Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft

In 1935 two prototypes were taken into service and tested by DRG. As no major changes were necessary, serial production began shortly afterwards. From the start these powerful locomotives took over most of the express services on electrified lines. Originally intended for service on the
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
-
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
main line, due to a different layout of the overhead lines in middle Germany (
World War II 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 ...
prevented the planned modification). Most locomotives were used in southern Germany. Some also served in
Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...
. During the development of the following Class E 19, DRG undertook several trial runs with Class E 18 in 1935 and 1936 on which a top speed of was achieved. With regards to the power, top speed and elegant design in 1939 during the
Universal Exposition A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...
in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
a Gold Medal was awarded to Class E 18. Eight locomotives based on the E 18 series were ordered by Bundesbahn Österreich (BBÖ) in 1937 for the electrification of the Salzburg to Linz line. These were built in Austria (by Lokomotivfabrik Floridsdorf) to a modified specification. To cope with the steeper gradients in Austria's mountainous geography these units were equipped with stronger motors (developed for class E 19) and their top speed was reduced to by a different gear transmission ratio, resulting in a significantly higher tractive effort. By 1939 when the units were delivered, Austria was occupied by Germany and the locomotives were delivered to DRG as Class E 18.2 (numbers E 18 201-208). With 61 units so far delivered, DRG ordered an additional series of another 48 units, but these were not delivered due to the war . During the war seven units were lost to air attacks and two to accidents. The seven units deployed in Silesia were in 1945 transferred to
Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
in order not to leave them to the advancing
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
.


Deutsche Bundesbahn

After the war 34 units passed to the
Deutsche Bundesbahn The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB (German Federal Railway) was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) on 7 September 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG). The DB remained ...
in West Germany, to which were added a further 5 locomotives purchased from East Germany in 1952 and 2 newly built Class E 18s commissioned in 1955. In 1968 Class E 18 was renumbered to DB Class 118. Even though the first production-series Class E 10 locomotives (top speed ) entered service in 1956, it was not until the after the deployment of the new Class 103
TEE A tee is a stand used in sport to support and elevate a stationary ball prior to striking with a foot, club or bat. Tees are used extensively in golf, tee-ball, baseball, American football, and rugby. Etymology The word tee is derived from the ...
production-series locomotives in 1970 that Class 118 was withdrawn from main line express services. They were then used for regional services and charter trains until being retired between 1976 and 1984.


Deutsche Reichsbahn

Those Class E 18s which were left in Eastern Germany had a rather adventurous history after the war. The five units which were in usable condition were seized by the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
in 1946 as war reparations. When they were returned in 1952 (in a poor condition),
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) sold them to West Germany's Deutsche Bundesbahn. This was partly due to the fact that much of East Germany's railway system and most of its electrification equipment had also been transferred to the Soviet Union in the early years of Soviet occupation, thus leaving little work for electric locomotives. However, during the second half of the 1950s DR began to restore electrification to its lines and therefore needed fast electric locomotives. Six damaged E 18 locomotives had been stored at the AEG factory in Hennigsdorf since the war, from which three usable units were re-assembled in 1958-60. They were converted to a top speed of in 1969. One of these locomotives was wrecked in 1969, but the other two were renumbered as DR Class 218 in 1970. The two surviving Class 218 were in service until
German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
, but were taken out of regular service shortly thereafter.


Österreichische Bundesbahnen

After the war, the newly reformed Austrian Federal Railways (now named Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB)) renumbered the seven remaining usable Class E 18.2 to ÖBB Class 1018 (1018.01-05, 07 and 08). In addition to these, one working locomotive (1018.101) was assembled from the parts of war-damaged E 18 046 and E 18 206. The ÖBB also inherited the German E 18 42, which became the solitary ÖBB Class 1118 (1118.01). These two mavericks retained German gear transmission ratios, and were ÖBB's fastest locomotives until Class 1042.5 was commissioned in the late 1960s. The ÖBB locomotives received some modernisations (e. g. new cabfront windows, with two windows instead of the original three), and the last examples remained in service until the early 1990s.


Preserved

Of the 55 Class E 18 locomotives built, six have been preserved. No. E 18 03 is in the DB Museum Koblenz. E 18 08 is owned by the Garmisch ''Stiftung Bahn-Sozialwerk'' and is stored at
Augsburg Railway Park The Augsburg Railway Park (''Bahnpark Augsburg'') is a railway museum in Augsburg on part of the former Augsburg locomotive shed owned by the Deutsche Bahn. Following reconstruction work, the park officially reopened on 13 April 2009. In the futu ...
. E 18 19 is privately owned and is kept in the former
Bahnbetriebswerk A ''Bahnbetriebswerk'' is the equivalent of a locomotive depot (or motive power depot) on the German and Austrian railways. It is an installation that carries out the maintenance, minor repairs, refuelling and cleaning of locomotives and other ...
at Glachau. The town of Gemünden am Main is seeking to turn E 18 24 into a worthy monument with its long tradition as a railway hub, but at present it is being restored in Weimar by the ''TEV Thüringer Eisenbahn''. E 18 31 (formerly in the DR fleet) belongs to the
Dresden Transport Museum The Dresden Transport Museum (German: Verkehrsmuseum Dresden) displays vehicles of all modes of transport, such as railway, shipping, road and air traffic, under one roof. The museum is housed in the Johanneum at the Neumarkt in Dresden. The Jo ...
and is stored in shed P. No. E 18 47 is owned by the
Nuremberg Transport 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 ...
.


Notes


References


Sources

* * * * *


External links


Reminiscences about the Class E 18, in German


{{DRG locomotives Electric locomotives of Austria Electric locomotives of Germany 15 kV AC locomotives 1′Do1′ locomotives E 18 Krupp locomotives AEG locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1935 Standard gauge locomotives of Austria Standard gauge locomotives of Germany Mixed traffic locomotives