| DBs Class 115 electric locomotives, of which 115154-7 on the left is one, are actually Class 110 and 113 units which have been redesignated for local and autotrain services. Classes 110 and 113 are in turn variants of the original DB E10 Class electrics introduced in 1956, being produced until 1969, with all units being redesignated Classes 110 and 112 in 1968, with an additional Class 114 being created through reclassification of the last 112 Class units in 1988. In addition, in 1991 the older Class 112s were reclassified 113, eliminating Class 112 as a Class designation. These locomotives, while they obviously vary in specifications, hence the different classifications, put out 5,000 horsepower (impressive for 1956), and can run between 120 and 160 Km/h, depending on how theyre equipped. Originally, they were only rated for 130 Km/h, but the higher-speed variants were introduced both from new production and requalification of older units. The prototypes had only been rated for 125, but this was raised so that they could be reclassified as express locomotives. The Class 440 EMU on the right is of an entirely different era, however. Marketed by Alstom as the Coradia Continental, and DB have operated these since 2008. However, they have a longer history in Britain, where they were used on First Great Western starting in the early 2000s, with later production units being classified as Class 180 Adelantes (The earlier Class 175 Units were just called Coradias or Coradia 1000s.). These are actually very fast trains by diesel standards, being capable of operating at 125 m.p.h. The 440s are EMUs, however, as Alsthom market the same carbody series as either. The diesel version is classified as Class 640 or 648 on DB. |