#db cargo

[onlyfr8love]

Graffiti in Köln/Cologne 2015 by kami68k [Graz & Allover] Via Flickr: Artist(s): STERO

[trainsinanime]

Sometimes I wish I still used Twitter (until I remember what that place was like), because some news items just deserve immediate "holy shit" commentary. Like this. DB Cargo UK is getting rid of most of its remaining fleet of electric locomotives, and replacing them with diesels with "sustainable" fuels. They call it a bold decision, but they make it clear that this is due to market forces.

This decision will increase carbon dioxide emissions from the British rail sector, at the same time as the British government has given out new licenses for drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea. That little country is insistent on making global warming worse, not better.

It is easy to criticise DB Cargo UK for this decision, and I think we should, especially us German tax payers who ultimately own this company. I don't care if this is a good economic decision, it is bad globally.

But at the same time we must also place a lot of blame with the British government. The UK famously has way too little rail electrification. Only a few big mainlines are electrified, and those are so busy with passenger trains that freight often can't use them all that much anyway. New electrification projects either haven't happened at all or have been severely cut back (e.g. the Great Western Mainline which is still not fully electrified), and various conservative governments have said, "biofuel is way cheaper than electrification in the short term, so we should do that" for years now.

Over the past 25 years, literally thousands of new electric locomotives have been built by Bombardier (now Alstom) and Siemens for the European continent. There are entire websites dedicated to listing all of them. And none of those operate in the UK.

The total number of new UK electric freight locomotives in the past 25 years is 10 (with sixty more on order), none of which were run by DB Cargo UK. Compare that to 500 new diesel locomotives (class 66 alone) over the same time frame, many of which are run by DB Cargo UK (Also compare that to 400 new electrics for Austria alone, divided between class 1016, 1116, 1216 and 1293).

The class 90 electrics that DB Cargo UK is getting rid of are from the late 1980s, and at 30 years, they are getting on in age, with more and more maintenance required. Getting rid of them isn't weird, weird is that they're being replaced with diesels instead of electrics. And if the UK government isn't willing to spend the money on the necessary infrastructure, then more diesel locomotives rather than fewer is inevitable.

This is nowhere near the first of these announcements, by the way. Plenty of other British rail companies have gotten rid of some or all of their electrics already. Even DB Cargo UK has sold some of their machines before this. You will find a lot of former British machines in Romania or Hungary, which have the same electrification system, and crucially, enough electrified lines where you can make good use of these machines.

So, yeah. Things in the UK suck. If you live in the UK and can vote there, maybe consider changing things, perhaps.

[slowtraincomingsoon]

193 333 in Hohenthurm im Mai 2023

[railsistem]

DB Cargo Conducts Emissions Testing for HVO Fuel

DB Cargo has collaborated with Group Technical Support (GTS) and Toton TMD to complete load bank testing of a Class 60 locomotive. Throughout testing, the companies evaluated how the use of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) fuel impacts performance and emissions compared to standard red diesel. Jörg Schneider, Silvo Kleine, Harry Walton, Paul Wilton, Kathryn Oldale, Stefan Heibl © DB Cargo As…

[trainsinanime]

Nice! Personally I love the brute appeal of Ukrainian steel, with the DR class V 300 series, aka Ludmilla, in its various forms:

(Source: Me)

While there is a certain romance to steam locomotives, I see no reason to preserve the polluting, ugly, inefficient monsters we call diesel locomotives, electrified trains or hell even battery electrific and hydrogen are all better ways to power a train than diesel

[rechercheundarchiv]

[zwsichenraum]

greend and yellow green and yellow aha

[trainmaniac]

Morbider Charme by Henry Berg Via Flickr: …vermittelt das ehemalige Quinter Anschlussgleis in Ehrang. Mittlerweile wird der restliche Stümmel nur noch als simples Ausziehgleis genutzt. Einst querte es über eine Brücke die Kyll und führte unterhalb des Quinter Viaduktes der Mosel entlang bis zu einem Steinbruch nach Issel. Nachdem die Quinter Hütte 1972 schloss, dezimierte sich das Aufkommen stark. Mit dem Abriss des Viaduktes ging das Gleis endgültig in die Geschichtsbücher ein. Im Vordergrund ist auch das ehemalige Anschlussgleis des Schrotthändlers Kreber zu erkennen, welcher bis zu seiner Insolvenz 2016 noch regelmäßig bedient wurde. Auf dem Bild ist 294 812 gerade mit der täglichen Bedienung der Spedition Bayer&Sohn zu beobachten, welche anschließend die Wagen in den Gleisanschluss schieben wird.

[green-hoedrogen]

Ok so in my fic Slip I vaguely based Hydra off of a DOT-114 tanker because i could find the specification really easily they're sometimes used for pressurised gasses, but GOOD NEWS! I was wrong and also stupid :)

I've been recreationally overthinking this all day, for funsies. The interesting thing is, in Europe we don't really have H2 on the rails in that way yet- DB cargo is doing a lot of work there, but not in any formats that match up with the green bean. We know he doesn't carry ammonia or methanol because his fuel is usable without pre-processing, and we know he's not any sort of MEGC. The only other option in europe is cryocontainers of LH2, but they're intermodal- you can put one on a ship, unload it onto a lorry or a flatbed or whatever, and go about your merry way. so not that neither.

(sidebar: I know he is a creation of andrew lloyd webber's twisted mind and also a twink on rollerskates, but shh. im playing touys.)

The likelier option, imo, is that he's carrying cryogenic liquid hydrogen. This would track with some sliiightly older technologies (and i really do mean slightly) like liquid natural gas, which has already been used in duel-fuel locomotives. At time of writing, the only thing I could scrounge up that's actually authorised for cryogenic hydrogen transport on US rails are DOT-113 tanker cars, which are usually designed for other cryogenic liquids but. Uh. Im sure its fine. Nowt in the UK yet, we've got all of it on the roads at the minute. He's some kind of freaky half-to-spec pilot project to me anyways, I just need to ballpark.

According to the Railway Association of Canada's Railway Emergncy guide, DOT-113A60W tankers have a working temperature of -423F, which is the temperature hydrogen becomes liquid at.

So! That means we're working with DOT-113A60W!Hydra, or at least something similar! :D He's got a tank-within-a-tank system, weather-shielded loading/unloading valves, and DO NOT HUMP OR CUT OFF WHILE IN MOTION stenciled somewhere easy to see. Thank you for coming to my ted talk!

[unfug-bilder]

Auch die DB Cargo läßt den armen HetzerInnen (m/w) keine Ruhe.

[thatwasthenightthingschanged]

NOT THE DB CARGO ACCOUNT TWEETING THIS💀💀💀

[guerrerense]

0564. 66135 Whitley Bridge 09-03-21 por Mike Brook Por Flickr: D B Cargo Class 66/0 No. 66135 passes through Whitley Bridge Station, working the 4R51, 12:50 Drax Power Station to Immingham Biomass Lp (DBS) Service, comprising empty Biomass Hoppers, on 9th March 2021.

[coolfancywitches]

DB 181 220 @ Mertert by Steven De Haeck Via Flickr: Nadat we in de ochtend van 11 augusut 2011 vooral in en rond Berchem hadden gestaan, brachten we de rest van ons dagje Luxemburg door langs de lanschappelijk mooie Oststrecke. Deze lijn, die bij de CFL het nummer 30 draagt, verbindt op zijn 37,4 kilometer lange traject het grensstation Wasserbillig met de hoofdstad Luxemburg. Niet ver van het grensstation met Duitsland vinden we één van de bekendste fotopunten die het groothertogdom rijk is, met name in Mertert. Dit langs de Moezel gelegen plaatsje heeft ook een haven, die voor enige goederentrafiek zou moeten zorgen. Vol goede hoop nestelden we ons dan ook op het bekende stekje in afwachting van wat de namiddag zou brengen. Toen de CFL-loc 4011 rond kwart voor drie een cargo naar Wasserbillig bracht en op de uitwijkbundel ontvangen werd, gingen we ervan uit dat het tijd was voor de bedieningstrein uit de haven... We hoopten dat deze loc na een tijdje terug zou keren met een andere sleep wagons, tevergeefs echter want het enige dat terugkeerde rond de klok van drie was een losse loc . Gelukkig waren er nog de IC-treinen van de relatie Norddeich - Luxemburg, zoals deze IC 136 die om 15u20 passeerde met een loc van de reeks 181.2 op kop (in de standaarduitvoering). Mijn eerste foto van een loc van de reeks 181.2 was in het kastje :-) Deze foto was al eens geplaatst op flickr maar werd in een nieuwe versie naar voor gehaald. ----- Most time of our Luxembourg excursion in 2011 was spent between Wasserbillig and Manternach. Of course, we also visited the location in Mertert, where we hoped to see a freight train. Our hope was idle, instead of a cargo we'd got a running light engine. Luckely that during that time the IC's to and from Luxembourg still were present, so at about 15:20 in the afternoon, this 181 220 passed with IC 136 towards the capital of the Grand Duchy. ---------- Mertert, 11/08/2011 DB 181 220 IC 136 Emden Hbf - Luxembourg

[rechercheundarchiv]

[ahzek]

To be fair, the DB is regularly getting screwed over because it had to share its rail network with cargo trains who just don't give a shit about schedule that much, making it hell to plan their schedules themselves.

Also, there's the idiocy problem of it being part-government run where, for example, the government pays for any broken tracks, but the DB itself has to pay for any maintenance, so it's in their best economic interest not to do too much maintenance until tracks break completely, causing more chaos and delays.

What's nice is that once your (estimated) arrival time is delayed by more than 30min, you can take any train, even the express trains like ICE and IC, no matter your initial ticket, which might even result in you arriving earlier than originally planned (and because the DB is so reliably delayed, some.people deliberately book cheap tickets banking on delays to get an upgrade this way)

Okay so about the DB post. Do germans hate DB? Because danes hate DSB so so much (which i kind of think is unfair? at least in my experience) and we have this idea that DB is much better but this is the second time in like a month that i hear/see smth i think says the exact opposite. so can you like... talk a bit about DB? I'd like to know more 😅

Oh. OH. This might be the funniest ask I've ever gotten! 😂 Germans love to hate the DB! It is notoriously known for:

being late most of the time (especially on long distance rides)

therefore causing people to miss their connecting trains and reaching their destinations even later

just generally being bad at organisation and handling trouble on their routes

failing AC in summer

being surprised there's snow in winter

(the list goes on)

Generally, they're perceived to be a little ... incompetent at their job. When people have a journey coming up, they'll preemptively say something like: "wish me luck nothing goes wrong with my train ride". Mocking the DB is kind of a national sport and you'll find hundreds of memes about the DB's tardiness and bad handling of said tardiness. Here's a little selection from tumblr:

To be fair, German's do love to complain about everything and I guess it could be worse? Personally, I feel like other countries' train companies appear to be better managed, but that could be a case of "it's always greener on the other side"(?)