Electric Superiority

Visited the Bochum Dahlhausen Railroad Museum with *Kotbaum today, also stumbling across ~janvandyk and another guy whose name I can't remember.

The museum is celebrating its 35th birthday, with the motto of the current exhibition being "Electric locomotives from east and west". The regular festivities take place on Saturday and Sunday, while this Friday was reserved for the photographers. The engines were lined up in front of the roundhouse, with each one of them being pulled onto the turntable and rotated in front of a rather large crowd of railfans. There were also parades and short passenger/freight trains, but since the museum has no catenary system, it was reserved for diesel and steam. They also had two railbuses and a battery powered EMU running up and down the museum trackage.

Sadly, my photos were rather crappy, so I probably won't upload more than a handful, despite having taken over 800 pics today. This is one of my favourites, despite the bothersome sign, showing a beautifully restored E18 type electric of the former DRG (Deutsche Reichsbahn Gesellschaft). First built in the 1930s, these machines clearly showed their superiority in terms of speed, being able to run at 150kph (93mph), with an hourly power rating of 4075hp.

Their sister class E19 was even able to do 180kph (112mph), having been designed for a top speed of 225kph (140mph). Sadly though, they never tested that, as WW2 put a stop to all developments, requiring simple and cheap steam engines, not complex electrics that use up lots of precious metal. The question was not whether they had sufficient power to reach those speeds though. The problem lay with the braking system, as the stopping distance of 1 kilometer (signal spacing) could not be attained, even with the very modern (at that time) dynamic brakes that the E19 was equipped with.

The devastation caused by the war also meant that the top speed of these locos couldn't be properly utilized, but they were still a rather crucial in terms of showing the feasibility, efficiency and high speed of electric traction. Drivers were also rather happy to operate these, being among the first locomotives that allowed them to be seated while driving. Not to mention a lack of wind, dirt, noise and smoke when compared to the cab of a steam engine.

The specimen we see here was built in 1939, owned by the DB Museum Nürnberg, currently in full working order.