Diesel Locomotive.

The new German Federal Railroad was intensively occupied in the 1950s with replacing steam motive power that was expensive to run with other forms of motive power. The high cost of electrifying the entire rail network at that time restricted the possibilities. So, attention was given to powerful diesel locomotives for important express train service. The required technology was already at hand for smaller and medium weight diesel locomotives. However, progress had been made in mastering the low maintenance, quiet running propulsion technology with cardan shafts for powerful locomotives with motors. Moreover, Daimler-Benz, MAN, and Maybach had designed a new 12 cylinder 1,100 horsepower prime mover in cooperation with the German Federal Railroad's central office in Munich. In addition, Maybach and Voith developed a new fluid transmission. The successful V 200.0 was developed from these progressive components by Krauss-Maffei with participation from most of the West German locomotive builders. The two prime movers in the locomotive put out a total of 2,200 horsepower with a service weight of about 78 metric tons. A steam locomotive of comparable power had a tender tipping the scales with a weight of approximately 160 metric tons. The proof of the extraordinarily high level of reliability and suitability of this locomotive icon in daily operation of the 1950s can be seen in the fact that a half century after its creation there are still units running in foreign countries and in privately owned railroads.