Bahnbetriebswerk
Encyclopedia
Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
, 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 (also Einsatzstelle or Lokbahnhof) akin to the British sub-depot or stabling point, is affiliated to a Bahnbetriebswerk.
N.B. The shortened form Betriebswerk is also used and both are commonly abbreviated to Bw or BW. The plural is Bahnbetriebswerke.
Beginnings
On 7 January 1835 the first Bahnbetriebswerk in GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
was opened. It looked after locomotives on the first railway line in Germany, the Bavarian Ludwigsbahn
Bavarian Ludwigsbahn
The Bavarian Ludwig Railway was the first steam-hauled railway opened in Germany. The Königlich privilegirte Ludwigs-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft received a concession to build a railway from Nuremberg to Fürth in the state of Bavaria on 19...
from Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
to Fürth
Fürth
The city of Fürth is located in northern Bavaria, Germany in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. It is now contiguous with the larger city of Nuremberg, the centres of the two cities being only 7 km apart....
. It was here that the first locomotive in Germany, the Adler
Adler (locomotive)
The Adler was the first locomotive which was successfully commercially used for rail transport of passengers and goods in Germany. The rail vehicle was constructed and built in 1835 from the british railway pioneers George and Robert Stephenson in the english town Newcastle...
, was assembled and maintained. The inventor or father of the Bahnbetriebswerk was John Blenkinsop
John Blenkinsop
John Blenkinsop was an English mining engineer and an inventor of steam locomotives, who designed the first practical railway locomotive....
. He was the first to recognise that smooth railway operations needed well-equipped workshops and suitable personnel and, as a result, was entrusted with the technical direction of the Brunswick State Railway. Soon afterwards the first Bahnbetriebswerk was built. Not only did it carry out the usual functions of such a depot, but also others such as the construction of locomotives. In 1845, John Blenkinsop was clear that it was considerably cheaper to service locomotives at regular intervals than not to repair them until they broke down. He therefore laid the foundations for what subsequently became the routine tasks of a Bahnbetriebswerk, although it was several years before they were divided into Bahnbetriebswerke and Ausbesserungswerke or repair shops. Gradually all the other German railway companies organised their technical support based on the example of the Ludwigsbahn and Brunswick State Railway.
Because the radius of action of the first steam locomotives was only about 80 km, facilities were installed at all larger stations for the maintenance of locomotives; in particular coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
and water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
supplies had to be replenished. Such facilities also appeared at junctions
Junction (rail)
A junction, in the context of rail transport, is a place at which two or more rail routes converge or diverge.This implies a physical connection between the tracks of the two routes , 'points' and signalling.one or two tracks each meet at a junction, a fairly simple layout of tracks suffices to...
, which explains why there were so many locomotive sheds of that type.
Länderbahn period
From the 1860s, all railway companies separated the functions of traffic operating (working the locomotives) and mechanical engineering. Over time, the first repair shops (Ausbesserungswerke) also appeared, known at that time as Hauptwerkstätten (main workshops). On the creation of the German EmpireGerman Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
the system described above was adopted by everyone and, in addition, many private railways were nationalised with the result that this approach was eventually followed by those too.
Deutsche Reichsbahn 1920-1945
With the takeover of the German state railways (the LänderbahnenLänderbahnen
The German term Länderbahnen generally refers to the state railways of the German Empire in the period from about 1840 to 1920 when they were merged into the Deutsche Reichsbahn after the First World War....
) following the state treaty of 30 April 1920 the organisation of engineering services was standardised across the whole of Germany. The Deutsche Reichsbahn
Deutsche Reichsbahn
Deutsche Reichsbahn was the name of the following two companies:* Deutsche Reichsbahn, the German Imperial Railways during the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich and the immediate aftermath...
(DR) set up various Reichsbahn divisions (Reichsbahndirektionen) and engineering offices (Maschinenämter). On 1 August 1935 there were 7 Reichsbahn divisions and 132 engineering offices.
The new organisational regulations introduced in the 1920s proved their worth, nevertheless the number of Bahnbetriebswerke rose and fell significantly. Initially the DR turned large Lokbahnhöfe into Bahnbetriebswerke, but on the foundation of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft
Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft
The Deutsche Reichsbahn – was the name of the German national railway created from the railways of the individual states of the German Empire following the end of World War I....
things changed suddenly. A fifth of the reparations
World War I reparations
World War I reparations refers to the payments and transfers of property and equipment that Germany was forced to make under the Treaty of Versailles following its defeat during World War I...
that had to be handed to the victorious powers after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
had to be absorbed by the DRG. In order to be able to manage that, rationalisation measures had to be taken; above all almost all areas had to make savings. In addition the management was streamlined which led to the closure of all smaller Bahnbetriebswerke. At the same time so-called Großbahnbetriebswerke (large locomotive depots) were created. Medium and small facilities were often integrated into these Betriebswerke. As a result giant depots emerged that had a multitude of maintenance facilities. Examples include: Dresden-Friedrichstadt, Hamburg-Altona, Hamm and Osnabrück. They were often responsible for the maintenance of over 150 locomotives.
Deutsche Bundesbahn 1945-1993
The Deutsche BundesbahnDeutsche Bundesbahn
The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany on September 7, 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft '...
began from 1950 to turn smaller Bahnbetriebswerke into outstations. This development was accelerated by the changeover in traction, because considerably fewer personnel were needed for diesel and electric locomotives. And the reduction in passenger and goods traffic rendered some of the Bahnbetriebswerk capacity superfluous. From 1956 to 1969 the Deutsche Bundesbahn closed a total of 77 Bahnbetriebswerke. The end of the steam era in the DB led to further closures.
Deutsche Reichsbahn 1945-1993
Initially the Deutsche Reichsbahn in East Germany went in the other direction. Many smaller stabling points (Lokbahnhöfe) were promoted to Bahnbetriebswerke, primarily in order to ensure better maintenance of the locomotives on the spot. Not until the start of the changeover in traction in the mid-1960s did the DR begin to follow a similar pattern to the DB. Smaller Bahnbetriebswerke were now closed, but most remained in service as locomotive stables. For diesel and electric locomotive servicing the DR generally made do with existing facilities; the construction of new, modern installations was only carried out in a few cases.Deutsche Bahn AG since 1994
With the reform of the railways and the formation of Deutsche BahnDeutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
the century old operating concepts were completely changed - the unity of operations and maintenance was given up. These two functions were taken over by the business areas of traction and works. The Betriebswerke were renamed Betriebshöfe, each under its own manager. With this new structure the works now just became suppliers of maintenance jobs that were allocated to them from the traction business area. This totally new arrangement started a wave of rationalisations in Deutsche Bahn that led to the closure of works and Betriebshöfen. In the former Deutsche Reichsbahn's area (i.e. eastern Germany) even the large Bahnbetriebswerke were shut.
In order to deploy new motive units, such as the ICE
Ice
Ice is water frozen into the solid state. Usually ice is the phase known as ice Ih, which is the most abundant of the varying solid phases on the Earth's surface. It can appear transparent or opaque bluish-white color, depending on the presence of impurities or air inclusions...
, Betriebshöfe had to be enlarged in order to be able to service the new vehicles.
Tasks
Bahnbetriebswerke are responsible for carrying out routine maintenance and minor repairs on locomotives in service. The allocation of crews to train services is also planned and executed in a Bahnbetriebswerk. At specified intervals (usually once or twice a week), all the components of a locomotive are inspected and tested by the 'inspecting mechanics' (Nachschauschlosser). Larger Bahnbetriebswerke with more comprehensive equipment also carry out big repairs themselves, such as the replacement of engines or the profile milling of wheelsets using below ground wheelset turning equipment.Steam era
The largest amount of work was that which once had to be carried out in order to maintain steam locomotives. In addition to the replenishment of operating supplies - water, coal and braking sand - the cinders had to be emptied from the grate and smokebox daily. Even the oiling of all the bearings was part of the daily schedule of work for a steam locomotive. It was also important to turn tender locomotives in the planned direction of travel. One of the most important maintenance jobs in the Bw that was part of the laid-down routine was the washing out of the boiler.Diesel and electric locomotives
With the changeover of traction from steam to diesel and electric locomotives, a comprehensive reorganisation of Bahnbetriebswerke was necessary. Sites that were only needed for the maintenance of steam locomotives no longer had any significance. And whilst for the servicing of electric locomotives, hardly any special installations were necessary apart from the erection of catenary in the Bw, the most important measure for the stabling of diesel locomotives was the installation of refuelling equipment.By comparison the amount of work needed to service electric locomotives is quite small, and is mainly restricted to replenishing the brake sand containers, greasing the relatively few grease points and functional testing – especially of the train safety (PZB)
Punktförmige Zugbeeinflussung
PZB or Indusi is an intermittent cab signalling system and train protection system used in Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania, Israel and on one line in Canada....
equipment.
The same tasks have to be carried out on diesel locomotives as well. In addition, at regular intervals, the motors and drives have to serviced, including the changing of oil and various filters. Present-day Bws have to therefore have the right equipment for oil changes.
Present-day
Modern diesel and electric locomotives need very little maintenance thanks to a large number of maintenance-light and non-wearing components. For that reason there are only a few Bahnbetriebswerke today compared with those in the steam era and they often concentrated on the maintenance and repair of an entire locomotive classClass (locomotive)
Class refers to a group of locomotives built to a common design for a single railroad. Often members of a particular class had detail variations between individual examples, and these could lead to subclasses. Sometimes technical alterations move a locomotive from one class to another...
.
In the Deutsche Bahn today's Bahnbetriebswerke, called Betriebshöfe, are increasingly independent and divided up between several DB AG business areas. In the ÖBB the Technische Services division is responsible for them. In the majority of Betriebshöfe, jobs are also carried out for other companies, for example, the maintenance of private railway stock. This is because the private railway operators cannot afford to build their own depots and so the task of maintaining locomotives is often handed over to the Betriebshöfe of the national railways.
The Betriebshöfe are restricted areas that are usually not open to the public. The work is not just carried out during the day, but predominantly at night, when large numbers of locomotives are not needed for traction duties. ICEs or other multiple units are also stored in the Betriebshöfe, which is not accessible and therefore there is no graffiti problem, as is often the case when unprotected goods wagons are stored in the open.
Former Betriebswerke are often no longer used and completely overgrown. Often the trackage is totally removed and only the buildings under historical protection remain. There is however a project in Germany to turn a former Bahnbetriebswerk into the largest railway experience world in the country. This involves restoring all the ramshackle buildings to their original state once again.
Special purpose trains
As well as the maintenance of locomotives, several Bahnbetriebswerke are also responsible for looking after special trains - even the changeover of traction has not changed that. The most important units are emergency trains (to re-rail rolling stock that has derailed) and snow clearance equipment. Up to the 1980s there were also fire trains, whose function has since been subsumed by the railway fire servicesFire Services
Fire Services is a Hong Kong football team. The majority of the players are working for the Fire Services Department in Hong Kong and playing for the club on an amateur basis.-Honours:* Hong Kong Viceroy Cup** Runners-up : 1969–70...
. For the smooth operation of a Bahnbetriebswerk shunters are also needed to move wagons, coaches and locomotives that cannot move under their own power. Up to 20 years ago there were other special trains, such as the used oil trains, that have since all been retired.
Road vehicle maintenance
The first Deutsche Reichsbahn buses and lorries entered service in 1933. The maintenance and repair of these vehicles was entrusted to newly created vehicle depots, the Kraftwagenbetriebswerke (KBW, KBw), which were often attached to existing Bahnbetriebswerke.Deutsche Bundesbahn
Until the privatisation and reorganisation of the bus services in the Deutsche BundesbahnDeutsche Bundesbahn
The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany on September 7, 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft '...
in 1990, they also had Kraftwagenbetriebswerke (KBW). Amongst other things they handled the engineering aspects of bus services, i.e. the allocation of crews and vehicles, servicing and repairs. In addition other DB road vehicles were maintained, for example the lorries of the DB's own long distance haulage fleet and the heavy transporters with Culemeyer trailers and tractors. The DB heavy transport group (Straße-Schiene i.e. 'road-rail') was however based in Hagen
Hagen
Hagen is the 39th-largest city in Germany, located in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the eastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne, Volme and Ennepe meet the river Ruhr...
. The general inspections were carried out by DB staff. Kraftwagenbetriebswerke were even attached to some of the DB's own driving schools. Smaller facilities, the K-Gruppe were attached to Bahnbetriebswerke (e.g. in Hamelin
Hamelin
Hamelin is a town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont and has a population of 58,696 ....
). Locations with Kraftwagenbetriebswerke included Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
, Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
, Brunswick
Braunschweig
Braunschweig , is a city of 247,400 people, located in the federal-state of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser....
and Kassel
Kassel
Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...
.
Deutsche Reichsbahn
There were even Kraftwagenbetriebswerke (Kbw) in the Deutsche ReichsbahnDeutsche Reichsbahn
Deutsche Reichsbahn was the name of the following two companies:* Deutsche Reichsbahn, the German Imperial Railways during the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich and the immediate aftermath...
in the GDR that were responsible for the servicing and repair of all railway works vehicles. These included a few buses and lorries to supplement rail services, but were mainly internal fault-clearing, delivery, supply or specialised works vehicles.
Deutsche Bahn
In 1993 the maintenance and distribution of vehicles was changed. The remaining fleet was transferred to the new business area known as the DB-Fuhrparkservice.Literature
- Jan Reiners: „So funktioniert das Bahnbetriebswerk“, transpress Verlag, ISBN 3-613-71279-2
- Walter Weikelt/Manfred Teufel: „Die Technologie der Ausbesserung der Dampflokomotiven“, transpress Verlag, ISBN 3-613-71256-3
- Markus Tiedtke: „Bahnbetriebswerke Teil 1, Bekohlung und Besandung“, EK-Special 19, EK-Verlag GmbH, Freiburg
- Markus Tiedtke: „Bahnbetriebswerke Teil 2, Wasser marsch“, EK-Special 24, EK-Verlag GmbH, Freiburg
- Markus Tiedtke: „Bahnbetriebswerke Teil 3, Drehscheiben und Lokschuppen“, EK-Special 34, EK-Verlag GmbH, Freiburg
- Volker Großkopf/Dirk Rohde/Markus Tiedtke: „Bahnbetriebswerke Teil 1, Kleine Lokstationen“, Eisenbahn-Journal Anlagenplanung 2/2001, Verlagsgruppe-Bahn GmbH, Fürstenfeldbruck 2001, ISBN 3-89610-073-4
- Volker Großkopf/Dirk Rohde/Markus Tiedtke: „Bahnbetriebswerke Teil 2, Mittelgroße Lokstationen“, Eisenbahn-Journal Anlagenplanung 4/2002, Verlagsgruppe-Bahn GmbH, Fürstenfeldbruck 2002, ISBN 3-89610-102-1
- Dirk Rohde/Markus Tiedtke: „Bahnbetriebswerke Teil 3, Große Lokstationen“, Eisenbahn-Journal Anlagenplanung 4/2003, Verlagsgruppe-Bahn GmbH, Fürstenfeldbruck 2003, ISBN 3-89610-116-1
- Dirk Rohde/Markus Tiedtke: „Bahnbetriebswerke Teil 4, Groß-Bw“, Eisenbahn-Journal Anlagenplanung 4/2004, Verlagsgruppe-Bahn GmbH, Fürstenfeldbruck 2004, ISBN 3-89610-129-3
See also
- List of locomotive depots in Germany
- AusbesserungswerkAusbesserungswerkAn Ausbesserungswerk is a railway facility in German-speaking countries, the primary function of which is the repair of railway vehicles or their components. It is thus equivalent to a 'repair shop' or 'works'...
- Bahnbetriebswerk (steam locomotives)Bahnbetriebswerk (steam locomotives)A Bahnbetriebswerk is the German term for a depot where the maintenance of railway locomotives and other rolling stock is carried out. It is roughly equivalent to a locomotive shed, running shed or motive power depot...
- Motive power depotMotive power depotMotive power depot, usually abbreviated to MPD, is a name given to places where locomotives are stored when not being used, and also repaired and maintained. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine sheds", or, for short, just sheds. Facilities are provided for refuelling and...
- RoundhouseRoundhouseA roundhouse is a building used by railroads for servicing locomotives. Roundhouses are large, circular or semicircular structures that were traditionally located surrounding or adjacent to turntables...