Functions
In contrast to the Bahnbetriebswerke, that are responsible for routine, everyday tasks, Ausbesserungswerke specialise in major repairs, general inspections and the refurbishment of exchangeable components. In addition they handle the conversion and modernisation of vehicles, as well as the construction of new vehicles in some cases. On top of the maintenance of vehicles, most Ausbesserungswerke also carry out the manufacture of turnouts, the construction of signal gantries, platform roofing and similar steel structures. Depending on the particular specialisation of an individual Ausbesserungswerk it may also be described as a Reisezugwagenwerk (coach works), Güterwagenwerk (goods wagon works) or Weichenwerk (turnout works).
A Bahnbetriebswerk is the equivalent of a locomotive 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 motive power. In addition it organises the deployment of locomotives and crews. In the Deutsche Bahn, a Bahnbetriebswerk is known today as a Betriebshof; the ÖBB refer to it as a Zugförderungsstelle (Zf). Many other countries simply use the term 'depot'. The smaller facility, the Lokomotivstation akin to the British sub-depot or stabling point, is affiliated to a Bahnbetriebswerk.
A railroad switch (AE), turnout, or [set of] points (BE) is a mechanical installation enabling railway trains to be guided from one track to another, such as at a railway junction or where a spur or siding branches off.
History
With the expansion of the railway network from the middle of the 19th century a large number of Ausbesserungswerke sprang up in the entire German speaking world. During the transition from maintenance-intensive steam traction to the more maintenance-friendly electric and diesel locomotives, as well as the increasing rationalisation of workshop operations, the number of Ausbesserungswerke needed could be reduced significantly. Today the Deutsche Bahn only retains the Ausbesserungswerke at Neumünster (coaches), Cottbus (diesel locomotives), Chemnitz (components), Paderborn-Nord (goods wagons), Witten (turnout works), Bremen (diesel locomotives), Kassel (diesel railcars), Krefeld-Oppum (electric railcars), Dessau (electric locomotives), Fulda (components), Nuremberg (electric railcars), Meiningen (historic vehicles, goods wagons and snow clearing equipment), Eberswalde (goods wagons), Zwickau (goods wagons) and Wittenberge (coaches). In addition, there are Hauptwerkstätten for the Berlin S-Bahn at Berlin-Schöneweide and the Hamburg S-Bahn at Hamburg-Ohlsdorf.
A steam locomotive is a type of railway locomotive that produces its pulling power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning combustible material – usually coal, wood, or oil – to produce steam in a boiler. The steam moves reciprocating pistons which are mechanically connected to the locomotive's main wheels (drivers). Both fuel and water supplies are carried with the locomotive, either on the locomotive itself or in wagons (tenders) pulled behind.
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.
A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotive have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving wheels.
The Deutsche Bahn AG aside, the Austrian Federal Railways, Swiss Federal Railways and large private railways have their own Hauptwerkstätten. In Weiden, Stendal and Delitzsch Ausbesserungswerke belonging to the DB AG and its predecessors have been transferred to private ownership.
The Austrian Federal Railways is the national railway system of Austria, and the administrator of Liechtenstein's railways. The ÖBB group is owned entirely by the Republic of Austria and is divided into several separate businesses that manage the infrastructure and operate passenger and freight services.
Swiss Federal Railways is the national railway company of Switzerland. It is usually referred to by the initials of its German, French, and Italian names, either as SBB CFF FFS, or used separately. The Romansh version of its name, Viafiers federalas svizras, is not officially used.
A private Ausbesserungswerk in Unterhausen (Bavaria) at Neuburg an der Donau maintains goods vehicles, mainly tank wagons.
Neuburg an der Donau, literally Newcastle on the river Danube, is a town which is the capital of the Neuburg-Schrobenhausen district in the state of Bavaria in Germany.
The Deutsche Reichsbahn, also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the name of the German national railway system created after the end of World War I from the regional railways of the individual states of the German Empire. The Deutsche Reichsbahn has been described as "the largest enterprise in the capitalist world in the years between 1920 and 1932", nevertheless its importance "arises primarily from the fact that the Reichsbahn was at the center of events in a period of great turmoil in German history."
The Harz Narrow Gauge Railways is a railway company that operates a 1,000 mmmetre gauge network in the Harz mountains, in central Germany. The company was formed after the Second World War as a merger of two earlier companies. It owns about 140 kilometres of track, connecting the principal towns of Wernigerode, Nordhausen and Quedlinburg and several smaller settlements in the area. Much of the network is steeply graded and picturesque, but its most popular destination is the Brocken, the highest mountain in the region. The company runs a significant number of its trains with steam haulage, mostly employing 1950s vintage 2-10-2 tank locomotives, hauling traditional open-platform bogie carriages. The company is mainly owned by the various local authorities whose territories it serves.
Vossloh AG is a rail technology company based in Werdohl in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The SDAX-listed group has achieved sales of around €930 million in 2016 with more than 4,000 employees.
The different railway companies in Germany have used various schemes to classify their rolling stock.
DB Class V 200.0 was the first series production diesel-hydraulic express locomotive of the German Deutsche Bundesbahn and - as Am 4/4 - of the SBB-CFF-FFS in Switzerland.
The Bavarian Railway Museum is a railway museum based in the old locomotive sheds at Nördlingen station in Bavaria, Germany. It is home to more than 100 original railway vehicles and has been located in the depot at Nördlingen since 1985.
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 and Halle. The Nuremberg Transport Museum is one of the oldest technical history museums in Europe.
The Darmstadt-Kranichstein Railway Museum a railway museum in the German city of Darmstadt. It is also the largest railway museum in the state of Hesse.
The Freilassing Locomotive World is a railway museum in the Berchtesgadener Land, which is operated with the cooperation of the town of Freilassing and the Deutsches Museum. The museum is located on the site of the former Freilassing locomotive shed which belongs to the Deutsche Bahn AG and houses part of the Deutsches Museum's railway collection. The second part of the collection is in the transport centre of the Deutsches Museum on the Theresienhöhe in Munich.
The Augsburg Railway Park 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 future, 29 historic locomotives from the EU member countries and also Switzerland will be exhibited in the roundhouse and on the turntable, the so-called Europa Roundhouse, which are protected historical buildings. In addition to the roundhouse there are also three historical steam locomotive halls with a workshop atmosphere and a historical smithy.
German Kleinlokomotiven like the DRG Kö II were developed as locomotives with a low weight and driving power for light shunting duties. There were two classes, based on engine power. The Class II were engines which developed more than 40 HP.
The Lokomotiv-Versuchsamt Grunewald or LVA was a facility established from 1920 to 1945 at Berlin-Grunewald in Germany that conducted trials on railway vehicles. The office used the facilities of the railway repair shop (Ausbesserungswerk) at Grunewald on the Berlin Stadtbahn southwest of Berlin's Westkreuz station.
A Bahnbetriebswerk is a German railway depot where the maintenance of locomotives and other rolling stock is carried out. It is roughly equivalent to a locomotive shed, running shed or motive power depot. These were of great importance during the steam locomotive era to ensure the smooth running of locomotive-hauled services. Bahnbetriebswerke had a large number of facilities in order to be able to carry out their various maintenance tasks. As a result, they needed a lot of staff and were often the largest employers in the area.
The DB Museum in Koblenz was opened on 21 April 2001 as the first remote site of the Nuremberg Transport Museum. It is run by volunteer workers as part of the Stiftung Bahn-Sozialwerk (BSW), a kind of railway workers social service organisation, and has its origins in a BSW's 'Group for the Preservation of Historical Railway Vehicles' at Koblenz.
The single track Wangerooge Island Railway is an unelectrified narrow gauge railway with a rail gauge of 1,000 mm located on the East Frisian island of Wangerooge off the northwestern coast of Germany. It is the most important means of transport on the island and is the only narrow gauge railway operated today by the Deutsche Bahn.
The Regentalbahn is railway company based in Bavaria, and is owned by Ferrovie dello Stato and the Luxembourg infrastructure fund Cube, through the German holding company of Netinera. It runs railway infrastructure, as well as regional and long-distance passenger services in Bavaria and Saxony with links into the Czech Republic, and Germany-wide goods trains.
The Passauer Eisenbahnfreunde or PEF is a German railway society with the aim of preserving historic railway vehicles in working order in order to operate them.
Railway workshops are railway facilities in which rolling stock is repaired. While often colocated with engine sheds to perform routine tasks as well as major repairs, in some countries separated concepts exist with railway workshops being specialized in major repairs and general inspections.
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