A little story I'd share for those who care about the older German engines or old engines in general:

On my way home today, I noticed that two maintenance vehicles such as this one [link] that used to be parked on a dead end rail in Düsseldorf have disappeared. Judging by their general state (completely covered with graffiti, missing parts etc.) they were "z-gestellt", meaning that they were kept as reserves, not looked after for quite some time. Naturally, I thought that they would probably be around my place for scrapping, and went straight to the scrapyard after my train dropped me off at home. There was no sign of them, but just out of curiosity, I checked out the station from wich you can sometimes see engines scheduled for scrapping, but not yet pushed onto the scrapyard's rail. And what did I spot? Thats right, a class 140, a standard 4 axle freight engine built between 1957 and 73, so quite a classic and still seen in service.

I must admit to being guilty of trespassing, as I had to cross the rails to get to the engine, due to the fact that it was parked at a disused platform, that had its underground access tunnel sealed years ago. The oddest thing I noticed, was that someone has written "Ade!" on one end with chalk, which means "Farewell!". Yay, I'm not the only nutcase around here! So after taking pics from all directions, I wondered whether they left the doors unlocked, as there were pieces of paper saying that it was forbidden to remove any components, which would imply that someone could access it without problems. So I climbed up the steps, tried the door... and it was open! So I shot truckloads of pics inside, from the cab to the engine room. I'll upload them over the course of the next few weeks, after having done the usual tweaks, as I've got many ideas floating around in my head, concerning how to edit them to bring across the meaning I want it to have.

You can check out this engine in action here: [link] , [link] , [link] , [link]

My specimen, the 140 202-3 was built in 1958 according to the identification plate of the transformer, so its half a century old!!! Thats right, half a century old, now thats what I call sturdy and long lasting! Someone left the transfer papers lying around in the cab, and they said that the engine was transferred here from Nürnberg (NNR), but not under its own power. It will probably be scrapped in the course of next week, so I might try to visit it again, if its still standing at the platform instead of in the scrap dealer's yard.

The first pic will be uploaded in a few minutes


UPDATE:

Three pics up so far, [link] , [link] and [link] , but the reception was not as great as with some of my other pics. Still, I'll keep adding more pics as time passes. I visited the engine again today, and discovered two things. One was a sheet that contained the informations for the transfer, giving away that the engine was no longer operational, but could be towed safely up to a speed of 100 km/h, and that the brakes are still functional. I've taken some more pics until both of my batteries ran out, and took some souvenirs with me, just for the heck of not obeying the "taking stuff is forbidden signs" stuck to the windows. The deadline for tranfering the engine here ended today, so it might go straight to the scrap dealer, but it might also keep standing here a bit longer, as the dealer has a row of 143 in his yard that might keep him busy for some time. Anyways, more pics to come.

I just saw 's deviation [link] about another engine of this class, and he mentioned a link to a site [link] . According to it, my unit was built in 1961, though the id-plate on the transformer says 1958. Seems a bit strange that the transformer is supposed to be three years older than the engine, and I don't think that they swapped it out, as that would require some severe dismantling. I might try to find out how old the old girl really is, but no matter if its 61 or 58, its still a rolling piece of history.

If you want to find out whether or not an engine you once shot still lives or has already been scrapped, check this page out: [link] The already scrapped 110 337-3 can be found far in the background of this pic [link]