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 History overview
The V200 was developed for both passenger- as freight trains and had to replace the steamlocomotive. A total number of 136 machines were built, the first in 1953 and the last one in 1965. The class V200 can be divided into the next series:
V200 001-005: prototypes
V200 006-025: first series built by MaK
V200 026-055: first series built by Krauss-Maffei
V200 056-086: second series
V200 101-150: stronger version
The V200 001 made her first move May 20th 1953 at the Krauss-Maffei factory in Munich. After a series of test runs the 001 - 005 came to the Frankfurt-Griesheim depot in 1954. Following testing of the prototypes, the series locomotives 006-055 were built between 1956 and 1957 by Krauss-Maffei and MaK. The MaK locomotives were easily recognizable because the aluminum V-stripe on the nose was angled differently with a less pronounced point. Later when they were repainted and lost the aluminium strips, this was corrected.

In 1959 Krauss-Maffei built the second series 056-086. These locomotives were also easy recognizable on the front, because the small frontdoors were longer on the lower side. Also these locomotives did not receive the chrome characters "DEUTSCHE BUNDESBAHN" on the side but only the DB logo. Of course there were more differencies between the four series, but these pages are not intended to deal with technical stuff. Altough these 86 locomotives were satisfactory, DB needed more powerful engines. So class V200.1 was developed. Krauss-Maffei built 50 of these locomotives between 1962 and1965. On the outside there are quit a few differences between the class V200.0 and V200.1. The nose is a bit flat, the grating and windows in both sides are different, the roof and bogies and also the lights are different.

In 1968 DB introduced a computer compatible numbering system and the V200's were renumbered into 220 001-2 - 220 086-3 (former class V200.0) and 221 101-9 - 221 150-6 (former class V200.1). Of the series V200.0 only three locomotives got the new colour scheme blue/beige: 012, 023 and 060. About 75% of the V200.1 got this unpopular colour scheme during the 70's.

During their life at DB most locomotives were moved around between the depots (Bahnbetriebswerk or Bw). Class 220 ended up in Bw Lübeck in August 1984 due to the fact that class 218 had taken over their duties. Class 221 became surplus in May 1988 in Bw Oberhausen 1 due to expanding electrification.
V200 side
 
 V200 001-005
The BZA (Bundesbahn Zentralamt) in Munich tested the V200 001 for more than a year. The results were used for the series locomotives. The prototype locomotives came to the Frankfurt Griesheim depot after the test runs. They ran trains from Frankfurt to Hamburg, to the Ruhr area and south Germany. A special trip was chosen for V200 005. From April 23rd 1955 until May 15th she made a test and publicity trip through Jugoslavia, Greece and Turkey. From 1956 the prototype locomotives got company from the first series locomotives. In 1962 the 5 moved to Würzburg depot, but their duties stayed the same. After the electrification of the north-south line, the prototypes ran less important trains between Bamberg, Nürnberg, Heilbronn, Heidelberg and Crailsheim. Again due to electrification all 5 moved to Oldenburg depot. From 1975 they got their own seperate duties in the area around Oldenburg. This was done because of their differencies with the series locomotives also in the Oldenburg depot. But sometimes they could also be seen in front of the Northsea- and Scandinavia-Holland Express. Far from home they turned in Hengelo (NL). Sometimes even with a freight train. In 1978 the first two of the prototypes were taken out of service, followed by the other three in 1980.
 
 V200 006-086
As mentioned in the left column the Frankfurt-Griesheim depot received the first V200.0 in 1956. In 1958 five Hamburg depot assigned locomotives wer also transferred her. After only 6 years Frankfurt-Griesheim ended up being a V200.0 depot due to the electrification of the line Hanau - Fulda. Most of the locomotives moved to Villingen, the 5 from Hamburg went back to their original home and some others went to Hamm, Kempten and Würzburg.
Hamburg-Altona depot received the first V200.0 in 1956 from the MaK plant in Kiel. In 1958 Hamburg-Altona had 18 V200.0, 8 from MaK and 10 from Krauss-Maffei. Subsequently many locomotives were transferred about. The Hamburg locomotives ran mostly in northern germany, but also worked express trains to Würzburg and Heilbronn. After electrification of central Germany, the V200.0 of Hamburg-Altona lost their express train work. In 1972 the V200 moved from Hamburg-Altona to Lübeck, but kept the same duties.
For fourteen years (from 1956 until 1970) Hamm was a home for the V200.0. Due to the strategic position of this depot at the junction of several lines, the V200.0 of Hamm ran passenger trains as well as freight trains in a wide area. They even came to Kiel and Wiesbaden and also crossed the border to Arnhem in the Netherlands.
Villingen depot in the beautiful Schwarzwald had the class V200.0 for quite a long time. They ran also together with steam locomotives but also with the more powerfull V200.1. Due to electrification Villingen depot lost their V200.0 in 1975. Most of the locomotives moved to Oldenburg and Lübeck.
Although Kempten depot was quite a big V200.1 depot, only 6 V200.0 were here from 1962 to 1965. Next to the prototypes Würzburg depot got several V200.0 from other depots between 1957 and 1975. Most of the locomotives went to Oldenburg in 1975, some others to Lübeck.
Both depots Limburg/Lahn and Kaiserslautern depots had only a few V200.0 for a period of less than 10 years.
Due to electrification around Hamm, a lot of V200.0 moved from Hamm to Hannover in 1968 and 1969. They worked passenger- and freight trains to Helmstedt, Oebisfelde (DDR), Hagen and Hengelo (NL). One of the famous long distance trains was the Bad Harzburg - Amsterdam express. This train consisted of 6 dutch plan D-coaches and was hauled by a V200.0 between Bad Harzburg and Hengelo. Although all locomotives moved to Braunschweig depot in 1975, their duties did not change. This didn't last long, in 1976 all V200.0 moved to Oldenburg due to electrification.
Oldenburg depot had already received V200.0 from Villingen and Würzburg in 1975 and became a big V200.0 depot. The V200.0 from Oldenburg depot ran in Niedersachsen and the north part of Nordrhein-Westfalen. Famous trains for the V200.0 where the passenger trains on the socalled Emslandstrecke Norddeich - Münster. They could also be seen with several types of passenger coaches on the Oldenburg - Osnabrück line. Starting in 1979 a large number of V200.0 were taken out of service and scrapped in Trier. Again due to electrification of several lines, the V200.0 from Oldenburg depot became obsolete and moved to Lübeck. In 1981 Danish Railways rented 6 V200.0 which came from Oldenburg and Lübeck depots. In 1983 the last V200.0 left Oldenburg for Lübeck and thus ended the great V200.0 era at Oldenburg depot which had 72 V200 at one time.
Lübeck depot was the last V200.0 depot. In 1972 this depot received the first V200.0, although from 1956 V200.0 from other depots came to Lübeck. Most V200.0 came from Hamburg-Altona, Kaiserslautern, Villingen and ofcourse Oldenburg. From Lübeck depot they ran "Nahverkehrs- and Eilzügen" in northern Germany. Most known lines were Hamburg-Lübeck-Travemünde, Lübeck-Kiel and Hamburg-Cuxhaven where they also ran freight trains. From 1980 more and more locomovites were taken out of service and were scrapped, stored or soled. In 1984 the last 8 V200.0 left Lübeck together in one train for Nürnberg and that was the end of the V200.0 with german state railways (DB).
 
 V200 101-150
Both Kempten and Villingen depots received V200.1 locomotives between 1962 and 1965, Kempten got 17 and Villingen got 12 of the more powerful version of the V200.0. The Kempten locomotives worked both passenger and freight trains around the Bodenlake and in the Allgaü area. They served mainly the lines from Kempten to München, Augsburg and Ulm, and also München - Lindau and Ulm - Friedrichshafen. Due to the fact that the new swiss coaches had electrical heating, the V200 were replaced by 210 and 218 class locomotives in 1975 and were moved to Villingen.
The V200 from Villingen depot worked in a rather large area, they could be seen all over south Germany except the eastern parts. Again, like the Kempten locomotives, they worked all trains on the non-electrified lines which includes the famous Schwarzwaldbahn from Villingen to Offenburg. After electrification of several lines and replacement of V200 duties by class 218 from the Regensburg depot the Villingen V200.1 became obsolete. Some locomotives were moved in 1977 to Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck, others went to Oldenburg.
The Hamburg-Altona depot received 4 new V200.1 from the factory in 1965 and another two were transferred from Lübeck depot. They worked express trains to Osnabrück, Flensburg, Kiel and Lübeck. In 1967 they moved to Lübeck due to reorganisation of the depots. Between 1963 and 1965 the Lübeck depot received 17 new V200.1. The Hamburg - Puttgarden, Hamburg - Hannover and Hannover - Lübeck lines was their working area with passenger trains. They also ran heavy freight trains in northern Germany and even passed the border into Denmark. Due to the electrification of the Hamburg - Hannover line, Flensburg, Osnabrück and Westerland came within reach. From 1972 more of the V200.1 were replaced by class 218 (again). Between 1978 and 1980 all V200.1 left Lübeck depot for Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck and Oldenburg.
From 1976 until 1980 Oldenburg depot was, next to the V200.0, the home of V200.1. The V200.1 worked passenger and freight trains to Emden, Bremen, Wilhelmshaven and Osnabrück. Also the Emslandline Emden - Rheine - Münster route was in their working area. Famous service was the 4000 ton ore trains which one V200.1 worked together with a class 043 steam locomotive. In the end all V200.1 moved to Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck. Together with the early V200.1 received from Villingen, all V200.1 that were left were gathered in Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck in 1980. They were used mainly for freight trains as replacement for steam locomotives. Again because of reorganisation of the depot structures, all V200.1 were moved in 1982 to the Oberhausen 1 depot. Their duties didn't change and they still worked freight traines in the Ruhr area. The locomotives that still had their steam heating boilers were also used for winter sport trains from Osnabrück and Münster to Winterberg (Sauerland). A special task was performed when the V200.1 transported trains with building materials for highway A31. Due to falling freight transportion the V200.1 were taken out of service on a periodically basis from 1987 until 1988.
 
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