World speed record for electric locos broken.

[swisstrains]

The World speed record for an electric locomotive of 331 km/hr, held by the French since 1955 was broken in Germany yesterday (2/9/2006) by Siemens 1216-050. The new record now stands at 357 km/hr.
There are photos of the loco here
John.

[DSY011]

John
How about translating it into English, I think the write up would be intresting.
Syd

[swisstrains]

Sorry Syd. My German isn't good enough to do a word for word translation. Most of the text is the reporters personal views of the event and the difficulty that he had trying to find places for decent photography without people standing in front of him. We know all about that don't we?
Basically it was a publicity event staged by the locomotive builders Siemens on the newly built high-speed line between Nürnberg and Ingolstadt. The locomotive used (1216-050) was one of a batch built for the Austrian Railways (OBB). They are multi-voltage and Siemens are marketing them as the standard "European High Speed locomotive" suitable for working in and through many of the countries in Europe (except the U.K ) The loco had been "specially prepared" for the record attempt and I assume this probably means re-geared as well as electronically tweaked. The record seems to have been broken after the second attempt.
As well as the usual hospitality tents there was a small exhibition of mainly Siemens built locomotives but the two former French record holders, SNCF electric locos BB9004 and CC7107 were also there.

John.

[DSY011]

Thanks John, I would love to have been there.
Syd

[GWR9600]

Originally Posted by swisstrains

The World speed record for an electric locomotive of 331 km/hr, held by the French since 1955 was broken in Germany yesterday (2/9/2006) by Siemens 1216-050. The new record now stands at 357 km/hr.
There are photos of the loco here
John.

Im suprised the record has a) lasted so long and b) was set in 1955!!!!

[Soo6617]

Siemens had the advantage of having a suitable new piece of track with no traffic yet. Also others may not have been motivated to try as the wheel propelled conventional trainset record is about 515 kph. by a specially prepared TGV so there was less motivation to try for the locomotive powered record. Still you have to commend Siemens for a fine job.

[swisstrains]

Originally Posted by swisstrains

.............The loco had been "specially prepared" for the record attempt and I assume this probably means re-geared as well as electronically tweaked. ..............

I have since read in "Todays Railways Europe" that no performance enhancing modifications were made to the loco. The term "specially prepared" refers to additional monitoring equipment that was fitted and the removal of certain parts for safety reasons. During the speed record attempt the locos electric motors were allowed to run more than 50% faster than normal. The Class 1216 Taurus loco normally has a maximum service speed of 230 km/hr.
John.