DR Class 119

DB M 820 SR or
JMW 12KVD21-AL4 or
JMW 12KVD21-AL5

TransmissionhydrodynamicTrain heatingElectricLoco brakeCompressed air KNORR & DAKO driver's and auxiliary brake valves

Performance figures
Maximum speed	120 or 140 km/h (75 or 87 mph)
Power output	990 kW (1,350 PS; 1,330 hp) / 1,100 kW (1,500 PS; 1,480 hp) / 1,380 kW (1,880 PS; 1,850 hp) / 1,500 kW (2,040 PS; 2,010 hp) (×2)
Tractive effort:
• Starting	220 kN (49,000 lbf) / 270 kN (61,000 lbf)

Career
Numbers	DR: 119 001 – 119 200 DR/DB: 219 003 – 219 200 DB: 229 ...
Retired	by 2006

The DR Class 119 was an East German Deutsche Reichsbahn diesel locomotive that was built in Romania, more or less as Design by committee of several communist countries. When the Deutsche Bahn AG formed up in 1993 it was redesignated as DB Class 219.

They were nicknamed "U-boats", "Karpatenschreck" ("Carpathian Terror") or "Ceaușescus Rache" ("Ceaușescu's revenge"), due to the numerous technical problems the engines suffered before redesign.^{[citation needed]}

History

The Class 119 was basically a development of the successful Class 118. In the late 1970s the DR needed locomotives with electric train heating, an axle load (Achsfahrmasse) of under 16 t and a power output of over 2,000 horsepower. As a result of the Comecon agreements, the East German economy was not allowed to build diesel locomotives with more than 1,500 horsepower. The locomotive builders of the Soviet Union could only supply heavy engines - the Classes 130-132 and 142. The only engine builder, who also wanted to use the "construction kit" (Baukasten) principle was the "23rd August" Locomotive Works, Bucharest, in Romania. The Romanian manufacturer declared itself also ready to install diesel engines produced in East Germany. The installation of such engines did not happen, however, because there were coordination problems in East Germany's national planning commission. In order the fulfil the order, the Bucharest factory installed engines under licence from the West German manufacturer, MTU.

Other countries in Comecon also received subcontractor orders. East Germany itself supplied inter alia hydrodynamic transmissions and axle motors.

The DR procured 200 locomotives from 1976 to 1985. The locomotive drive was, however, plagued by shortcomings and problems from the start. In its early days, 50% of the locomotives were in the workshops at any one time. After 1990, several attempts were made to improve the unreliable locomotives through conversions or modernizations. However, these attempts proved to be too expensive. By 2001 they were sold or scrapped.

Literature

Köhler, Kurt; Stange, Andreas (2004). Die Baureihen 119, 219 und 229 Rumänische Dieselloks für die Deutsche Reichsbahn (in German). Freiburg: EK-Verlag. ISBN 3-88255-129-1.
Buchner, Mathias, ed. (2002). Die Baureihe 219 - Unterwegs mit den Reichsbahn-"U-Booten" (in German). Eisenbahn-Bildarchiv, EK-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-88255-340-6.
Schönheit, Walter (2002). "Baureihe 219. Im Führerstand". Lok Magazin (in German). 41 (255). München: GeraNova Zeitschriftenverlag GmbH: 52–55. ISSN 0458-1822.
Endisch, Dirk (2003). ""U-Boote" tauchen ab. Baureihe 219/229". Lok Magazin (in German). 42 (259). München: GeraNova Zeitschriftenverlag GmbH: 6–9. ISSN 0458-1822.
"Modernisierung einer Lokomotive der Baureihe 219". Eisenbahn-Revue International (in German). 6: 251–ff. 2001. ISSN 1421-2811.

External links

Media related to DR Class 119 at Wikimedia Commons
The Class 219/229 in numbers, facts and pictures
The BR 119 of the Deutsche Reichsbahn
Bahn-Galerie.de - Classes 219 and 229 Archived 22 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine
DR Class 119 from Romania