Last updated • 1 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
The Versuchs- und Entwicklungsstelle Maschinenwirtschaft in Halle, Germany, (VES-M Halle) was a railway research and development department working for the engineering head office of the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) in East Germany after the Second World War. It worked closely with the Railways Institute (Institut für Eisenbahnwesen).
Amongst other things, all rolling stock intended for deployment on the DR railway network, whether built in Germany or abroad, was thoroughly tested here. Loading tests with measurement trains on the open line, starting tests on the Berlin outer ring and other task were carried out by this special division of the Deutsche Reichsbahn.
Even the fastest, still operational steam locomotive, the DR 18 201, which used to have the DR number 02 0201-0, was used by VES-M Halle before the merger of the DR and DB. It was designed here for high-speed trials and was made, to a large extent, by converting existing engines and components.
For high speed runs an electric locomotive class, the E 18 was also used. The 'Germanisation' of diesel locomotives of Russian and Romanian origin was also carried out here.
The first head of the VES-M in 1951 was the locomotive engineer, Max Baumberg.
In 2008, a permanent exhibition about the VES-M Halle was opened at the DB Museum in Halle.
The Deutsche Reichsbahn, also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was 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 Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) on 7 September 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG). The DB remained the state railway of West Germany until after German reunification, when it was merged with the former East German Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) to form Deutsche Bahn AG, which came into existence on 1 January 1994.
The Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft's BR 01 steam locomotives were the first standardised (Einheitsdampflokomotive) steam express passenger locomotives built by the unified German railway system. They were of 4-6-2 "Pacific" wheel arrangement in the Whyte notation, or 2′C1′ h2 in the UIC classification. The idea of standardisation was that it would reduce maintenance costs; i.e. if a BR 01 whose engine shop was in, say, Berlin broke down in Dresden, instead of having to ship the necessary part from Berlin and take the locomotive out of service, a part from the Dresden shop could be used as all of the engines, parts, and workings were exactly the same and produced nationwide. Thus it was a "standard" product for engine shops.
Leipzig Hauptbahnhof is the central railway terminus in Leipzig, Germany. At 83,460 square metres (898,400 sq ft), it is Europe's largest railway station measured by floor area. It has 19 overground platforms housed in six iron train sheds, a multi-level concourse with towering stone arches, and a 298 metres (978 ft) long facade. The two Leipzig City Tunnel platforms were inaugurated in December 2013.
The DR Class 243 is a universal electric locomotive of the Deutsche Reichsbahn which is used for general rail service. Deutsche Bahn lists the locomotive as Class 143. The locomotives of class 143/243 still belong to the most successful class of German electric locomotives.
The Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG) Class E 18 is a class of electric locomotives built in Germany and Austria between 1935 and 1955. With exception of Class E 19 it was Deutsche Reichsbahn's fastest electric locomotive. After 1945 most of the surviving locomotives were operated by Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB), although a few passed to Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) and Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB).
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 Deutsche Reichsbahn Class 01.10 was a series of express steam locomotives. Developed at the end of the 1930s it was part of the standard locomotive programme (Einheitsdampflokomotiven). Modernized in the 1950s, the class lasted almost until the end of steam operation at the West German Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB).
The German term Rekonstruktionslokomotive meant 'reconstruction locomotive' and was introduced in 1957 by the Deutsche Reichsbahn in the GDR.
The two German DRG Class 61 steam engines were express train locomotives specifically built by Henschel for the Henschel-Wegmann train in service with the Deutsche Reichsbahn. The Henschel-Wegmann train was an initiative of the German locomotive construction industry, intended to be able to demonstrate a powerful steam locomotive-hauled train alongside the emerging express diesel multiple units, such as the Hamburg Flyer.
The German Class 03.10 engines were standard steam locomotives (Einheitsdampflokomotiven) belonging to the Deutsche Reichsbahn and designed for hauling express trains.
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 DR Class 83.10 was a newly designed (Neubaulok) steam locomotive built for the Deutsche Reichsbahn in East Germany after the Second World War and was introduced into service in 1955 and 1956.
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.
The German express locomotive, number 18 201 of the Deutsche Reichsbahn in East Germany, appeared in 1960–61 at Meiningen Steam Locomotive Works as a conversion of the Henschel-Wegmann train locomotive 61 002, the tender from 44 468 and parts of H 45 024 and Class 41. It is the fastest operational steam locomotive in the world.
A Kleinlokomotive or Kleinlok is a German locomotive of small size and low power for light shunting duties at railway stations and on industrial railways. Most are powered by diesel engines, but Kleinloks with steam, petrol, or electric engines were also produced.
The DR 130 family of locomotives comprises the DR Class 130, DR Class 131, DR Class 132 and DR Class 142, in USSR locomotive called TE109 and TE129.
The class IV h (four-h) locomotives of the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway (German: Großherzoglich Badische Staatseisenbahnen, G.Bad.St.E.) were express locomotives with a 4-6-2 (Pacific) wheel arrangement. They later passed to the Deutsche Reichsbahn, who classified them as class 183.
The DR Class V 180 of the Deutschen Reichsbahn was a class of the largest diesel locomotives built in the German Democratic Republic. The manufacturer was Lokomotivbau Karl Marx Babelsberg (LKM).
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
