V200

The line up

Both managers Guido Lohscheller and Andreas Domke posing on their 221 135-7. Thanks to Guido Lohscheller, Andreas Domke and the people of the Bw Krefeld who made this special happening possible.

221 135-7 in orange

In the Bw Krefeld locomotive 221 135-7 was officially presented to the press in the colours of the Bocholter Eisenbahngesellschaft. Luckally the classic look was kept and the bright orange colour needs getting used to. The V200 was put into a line up with the other lcoomotives of the BEG.

A little bit of history
	The locomotive entered service on April 21st 1965 in the depot Kempten/Allgäu as V200 135. After 10 years she moved to Lübeck. She ended her DB duties in Bw Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck and Bw Oberhausen 1. She was then sold to the scrapper Layritz in Penzberg and brought to Rosenheim with many others. In 1993 the 221 135-7 was rescued from being scrapped by engine driver Barbara-Birgit Pirch. With only a few people she managed to restore the loco and brought her back to life with two diesel engines from V100 locomotives. She ran many specials for many different occasions. She was also hired to run freight- and worktrains for NIAG, NeSA and most recently chalk trains for the NE.

The transfer
Completely unexpected was the message on various internet forums that 221 135-7 would have been sold to the Bocholter Eisenbahngesellschaft. But shortly after the first messages it was confirmed. Due to high maintenance costs and low income from hiring the locomotive out it was decided that she had to go. During the last months of 2007 the locomotive was in the work shops of Arriva in Neustrelitz for some repairs. On the 4th of January 2008 the 221 135-7 was transferred from Barbara-Birgit Pirch to the BEG. For this event 3 other V200's were also present and formed a line-up with 221 135-7. Thanks to Sebastian Schrader for these unique pictures.

The Rollout
The locomotive was sanded, primed and painted in the Bw Krefeld. They kept the historical looks of the locomotive when painting her orange and grey, the colours of the BEG. Many people find it a pitty that she is no longer red, but the locomotive is no longer a museum locomotive any more and will be used commercially from now on. So it is only logical that she is painted in these new 'getting used to' colours. On the morning of the rollout, January 16th 2008, she received the lettering and logos. Then the rollout took place and the press and many railway fans could take their pictures.

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