Speedy old Dame

A Bügelfalte 110 gently banks as it takes the curve towards Leverkusen, presumably with its top speed of 140kph, 88mph. The train consisted of six passenger coaches and eight double deck autorack carriages, filled with cars and motorcycles.

To me, this is the perfect field of activity for the 110, not the slow stop-everywhere commuters at the DB Regio, but the heavy car trains at the DB AutoZug. The sub par acceleration of this engine isn't that big a problem with these trains, and the 5000hp continuous power output can be played out while pulling heavier trains with high drag for long distances. Considering that the engine is 45 years old, it really shows how much care and engineering went into them. The technical design dates back to the 50s, when equipment was thoroughly planned and tested for years before entering serial production.

You may have noticed that it says 115 and not 110 on this engine, which is only for bureaucratic reasons, as the engine is used by AutoZug instead of Regio. But, as a fellow railfan on DSO said: If it's technically the same, then it's a 110 to me. Many older 110s were transferred to the AutoZug division, and the oldest mainline engine of the entire DB is also used by this division: 115 154, still in full service, was built in 1957, a service life of 52 years! I doubt that any of the modern stock will survive that long...