DONE@p.6 +++ H0 scale DSB Class 'MD' diesel-hydraulic locomotive (DB V 200.5)

[kerick]

Looking forward to seeing your pics

[Wardukw]

Nothing new yet... 

Bugga 😐

[Dizzyfugu]

Good news: I was able to arrange a photo session! 

Now some photoshopping, as usual for H0 scale locomotives, the model will be - unlike my normal practice - mounted into real world scenes as composings, since I do not have the resoruces to arrange a full "on track" shooting, esp. with proper surroundings.

[Wardukw]

Still looking forward to this tho Thomas 

[Dizzyfugu]

Patience, pls... 

[Dizzyfugu]

More good news: composings have been done, more or less successful, but some neutral shots of the model are still pending. We get there, eventually... 

[Dizzyfugu]

Finally... 


H0 scale Danske Statsbaner (DSB) Class 'MD' (DB V200.5/BR 220.5), machine '1053' (What-if/Märklin 3021 conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Some background:
The Vogelfluglinie (German) or Fugleflugtslinjen (Danish) ("bird flight line") is a transport corridor between Copenhagen, Denmark, and Hamburg, Germany. As the Danish and German names (literally: bird flight line) imply, the corridor is also an important bird migration route between arctic Scandinavia and Central Europe.
Proposals for a more direct "bird flight line" between Germany and Denmark date back from the 1920s. Construction was started on the Danish side in 1941 after the Nazi occupation force pushed the matter, but work was halted again in 1946. After World War II, Warnemünde (near Rostock) was included in the territory of East Germany, and political divisions made traffic between Denmark and West Germany via Warnemünde inconvenient.

Construction of the "bird flight line" was restarted in 1949, and from 1951 to 1963 a ferry line from Gedser to Großenbrode operated as a temporary solution. In addition, traffic between Copenhagen and Hamburg would either be directed over the Great Belt ferry, Funen and Jutland or the Gedser-Warnemünde ferry. 
The Vogelfluglinie connection was eventually completed in 1963, and its core was the 19-kilometre (12 mi) ferry link between Rødby (Denmark) and Puttgarden (Germany). The three ferries 'Deutschland', 'Theodor Heuss' and 'Kong Frederik IX' started ferry operations in 1963 with a total of 18 double trips per day, a crossing taking between 45 and 60 minutes. Since the three ferries were not sufficient due to the constant increase in passenger and freight traffic, the fleet was expanded and modernized accordingly. The maximum utilization was reached in the 1990s during the validity of the summer ferry schedules, when six ferries operated the line every 30 minutes with a total of 48 double trips (i.e. a total of 96 belt crossings) daily.
The inauguration of the Fehmarnsund Bridge, an essential building of the Vogelfluglinie that bundled train and vehicle traffic and directly connected Fehmarn island with the German mainland, as well as the ferry connection across the Fehmarnbelt took place on May 14, 1963 in the presence of the German Federal President Heinrich Lübke and the Danish King Frederik IX - it took a century from the first plan in 1863 to the inauguration in 1963.


H0 scale Danske Statsbaner (DSB) Class 'MD' (DB V200.5/BR 220.5), machine '1053' (What-if/Märklin 3021 conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


The Vogelfluglinie enabled a direct rail and motorway connection between the two cities of Copenhagen and Hamburg. Lorries (and until 2019 also trains) used the ferries' lowest deck for loading and unloading, while lighter cars and caravans used the decks above. There were several ramps and lanes in the ports, so that all decks could be fully loaded and unloaded within only 15 minutes.

In 1974, Danske Statsbaner (DSB) started hourly InterCity services, which partly replaced the border-crossing TEE (Trams-Europ-Express) trains and introduced a direct connection between Copenhagen and Stuttgart via Hamburg, with the TEE 34/35 'Merkur'. Since the Vogelfluglinie and most parts of the Danish railway system had not been electrified yet, the trains that left Hamburg northward had to be powered with diesel locomotives. From DSB side, the Class MY was available, but since the trains were supposed to cross the Belt as a whole unit without change of locomotion because of logistic reasons, the GM-built diesel-electric machines were ruled out due to their weight, which risked safe ferry operations. The resulting high ground pressure and stress was furthermore too much for the rather light railway systems in Schleswig-Holstein.
As an alternative and to simplify operations, the Deutsche Bundesbahn suggested the mutual operation of the DB's Class V200 (also known as Class 220 or BR 220), tailored to the new IC connection's technical requirements on both sides of the German-Danish border. The MY's gross weight was 101.60 t, with a maximum speed of 133 km/h (83 mph), while the German V200 weighed only ca. 80.0 t and achieved a top speed of 140km/h (87 mph).


H0 scale Danske Statsbaner (DSB) Class 'MD' (DB V200.5/BR 220.5), machine '1053' (What-if/Märklin 3021 conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


The DB Class V 200 was the first series production diesel-hydraulic express locomotive of the German Deutsche Bundesbahn. The V 200 was powered by two fast-running (1500 RPM) V12 diesel engines, Maybach (type MD650), Mercedes-Benz (type MB820Bb) and MAN (type L 12 V 18/21) engines were used. The transmission was hydraulic, each engine drove one bogie set via a hydraulic torque converter. The hydraulic transmissions fitted to the locomotives were supplied by Maybach (type Mekydro K104U) and Voith (type LT306r/rb). Although differing in several ways – for example the Mekydro K104 transmission had a single torque converter and four mechanical gear stages while the Voith L306 had three different-sized torque converters – the engines and transmissions were designed so that the various types were completely interchangeable, also with other DB diesel-hydraulic locomotives of that era. It was not uncommon to find a single locomotive with one Mercedes engine and one Maybach unit running together. The MAN engines were only fitted to five early locomotives, though. To reduce weight, the locomotives had unusual inside framed bogies. Combined with the high driving position and rounded body, this gave the V 200 a very distinctive appearance.
Five prototypes were built by Krauss-Maffei in 1953/1954, and these were put through extensive testing, the aim being to ensure the production locomotives would be as reliable as the technology and maintenance standards of the 1950s allowed. In 1955 one locomotive travelled under its own power through Yugoslavia, Greece and Turkey, partly as a test and partly to demonstrate the locomotive's capability to potential customers in those countries.


H0 scale Danske Statsbaner (DSB) Class 'MD' (DB V200.5/BR 220.5), machine '1053' (What-if/Märklin 3021 conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Full production began in 1956, with 61 engines being built by Krauss-Maffei and 20 by MaK. Initially the V 200 hauled express trains on all German main lines, replacing the DRG Class 05, 03 and 01 steam passenger locomotives. Following the electrification of many main lines the V 200 was used increasingly for commuter trains and freight trains, but the Hamburg-Westerland, Hamburg-Lübeck-Copenhagen and Munich-Lindau lines still saw the V 200 hauling express trains. From 1962, the V 200.0 was followed by the more powerful but also heavier DB Class V 200.1, later Class 221.

While the V 200 was in 1974 not technical state-of-the-art anymore, it was a fast and still suitable for light express trains like the TEE 34/35 'Merkur', which, due to the ferry section, only consisted of three passenger wagons - one of the most compact international trains in Europe! However, the V200's maximum speed of 140 km/h (87 mph) could only be attained on the German railroad network, the Danish part of the route only allowed 120 km/h (75 mph) top speed due to an even lighter railway construction and tighter curve ratings. Another positive asset was the V200's proven and reliable twin engine. Especially the latter made it a perfect match for the IC duties between Hamburg and Copenhagen.


H0 scale Danske Statsbaner (DSB) Class 'MD' (DB V200.5/BR 220.5), machine '1053' (What-if/Märklin 3021 conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


For the shared service, the Deutsche Bundesbahn allocated a total of eight V 200s to the ferry connection with Denmark, and the batch was shared between the countries. The four machines in DB service received a "5" prefix to their serial (which remained otherwise the same), the rest of the batch was leased to the DSB, locally renamed Class MD (with serials 1051-4) and carried respective colors and markings. Maintenance and overhauls were still performed in Germany, though, at the DB's Hamburg-Altona Bahnbetriebswerk (depot). All eight machines were revamped and received new generators for electric train heating instead of the former steam heating system. A small 22 hp (16 kW) diesel engine with an additional 300 l fuel supply was added to generate electric energy for the train and to load the locomotive's batteries when the main engines were not running. With the boiler and the water supply removed the V 200.5 became almost 5 tons lighter, what positively affected axle load for the operation on the lighter DSB railway network, acceleration, and handling on board of the ferries. All eight machines were upgraded with Danish train security measures so that they could freely operate in both countries and across the Vogelfluglinie. This also had the operational benefit that no maintenance infrastructure had to be added at the ferry ports.

MD and V 200.5 locomotives took up their international duties on the 'Merkur' connection in early 1975. From 1977, all remaining German V 200s were concentrated in northern German depots to optimize maintenance and keep their operations limited to northern German regions. This was a cost-driven measure: the two-engine V 200 locomotives were more expensive to operate than the newer single-engine locomotives like the newer DB Class V 160, while offering only a slightly higher performance. A further disadvantage was the DB V 200s' steam heating system for carriages which was more and more replaced by electric train heating, so that the V 200s could only operate on passenger trains during summer or with outdated rolling stock material in wintertime, which was secluded to secondary routes.
A heating system upgrade, as it had been done to the MD/V 200.5, was considered but not executed because the V 200 became more and more obsolete. In consequence, and also after wear and tear had taken their toll on the locomotives, the last V 200/BR 220 went out of service with the DB in 1984, and with them the small binational MD/V 200.5 fleet. The stronger V 200.1/BR 221 followed only four years later.   


H0 scale Danske Statsbaner (DSB) Class 'MD' (DB V200.5/BR 220.5), machine '1053' (What-if/Märklin 3021 conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


The end of international MD/V 200.5 also came at a time when the TEE connection with Denmark changed, too. It was now fully taken over by the DSB and the international TEE service was replaced with so-called InterCity trains, operated by the Lyntog (Blitz trains) that were formed from railcar sets of the MA series and later with MB and MS diesel-powered multiple units. Over the years the hourly InterCity connections were extended north to Aalborg and Frederikshavn. With the introduction of the InterCity trains, two additional railway ferries were used on the Great Belt, which, together with the old ferries, handled traffic until 1980/81.
Then three new and larger ferries were built, which were called InterCity Ferries, and these new ships enabled a significant increase in traffic volume. In 1990/91 the IC3 diesel multiple units of the MF series went into operation. These replaced all locomotive-hauled trains and made it possible to establish direct connections to different destinations, since the trains from Copenhagen were divided on the way and ran on different parts of the route. In 1997, the ER series IR4 electric multiple units replaced the IC3 trains on the route to Sønderborg, which now operate as InterCityLyn.

After the end of the border-crossing MD/V 200.5 service, the trains that crossed the Fehmarnbelt were loaded by uncoupling the locomotive in the harbor and pushing the wagons onto the ferry by another locomotive. In the port of destination, another locomotive pulled the wagons from the ship's deck to continue the journey. This practice was kept until 1003, and with the introduction of the diesel-electric IC3 trains, shunting was no longer necessary.


H0 scale Danske Statsbaner (DSB) Class 'MD' (DB V200.5/BR 220.5), machine '1053' (What-if/Märklin 3021 conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Beyond passenger trains, the Vogelfluglinie also saw a brisk freight train service. For example, 190,757 freight cars were routed in 1994 alone. The four ferries, which ran every half hour, transported 0.28 million trucks, 1.6 million cars and 6.4 million passengers in 2003, and in 2010 even 0.35 million trucks, 1.6 million cars and 6.2 million passengers. However, the trajectory of freight and passenger coaches was discontinued with the switch to double-ended ferries in 1997 and since then only diesel multiple units (ICE-TD, IC3) transported via the ferry route; this also ended in December 2019. Since December 15, 2019, there has been no scheduled transport of railway vehicles on the ferries.
The projected Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link, an undersea tunnel, will replace the ferries altogether. Danish-German negotiations on 29 June 2007 culminated in an agreement to complete the link by 2028, essentially on the basis of Danish funding.


General characteristics:
    Gauge: 1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in) standard gauge
    UIC axle arrangement: B´B´
    Overall length: 18.53 m (60 ft 9½ in)
    Pivot distance: 11,5 m (37 ft 8 in)
    Bogie distance: 3,2 m (10 ft 5¾ in)
    Wheel diameter (when new): 950 mm (3 ft 1½ in)
    Fuel capacity: 3.000 l
    Service weight: 75 t
    Axle load: ca 18,7 t

Engine:
    Two fast-running (1500 RPM) Maybach Type MD650 or Mercedes-Benz Type MB820Bb
    V12 diesel engines with a continuous total output of 1,618 kW (2,170 hp)

Transmission:
    Hydraulic

Performance:
    Maximum speed: 140 km/h (87 mph); limited to 120 km/h (75 mph) on the DSB network
    Torque: 235 kN starting tractive effort
                177 kN continuous traction effort


H0 scale Danske Statsbaner (DSB) Class 'MD' (DB V200.5/BR 220.5), machine '1053' (What-if/Märklin 3021 conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


H0 scale Danske Statsbaner (DSB) Class 'MD' (DB V200.5/BR 220.5), machine '1053' (What-if/Märklin 3021 conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


H0 scale Danske Statsbaner (DSB) Class 'MD' (DB V200.5/BR 220.5), machine '1053' (What-if/Märklin 3021 conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


H0 scale Danske Statsbaner (DSB) Class 'MD' (DB V200.5/BR 220.5), machine '1053' (What-if/Märklin 3021 conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


H0 scale Danske Statsbaner (DSB) Class 'MD' (DB V200.5/BR 220.5), machine '1053' (What-if/Märklin 3021 conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

[NARSES2]

That's come through all its travails very well indeed Dizzy   

[Gondor]

Incredible work not only with the pictures but the model too. You must have put more work into the pictures than the model !

Gondor

[Rheged]

The final result was well worth waiting for!   Another success, sir.

[Dizzyfugu]

Incredible work not only with the pictures but the model too. You must have put more work into the pictures than the model !

Gondor

Well, photo editing can do wonders and hide some unpleasant details...    However, the final package looks good an believable, esp. when transplanted into the "natural environment" of Puttgarden or Kopenhagen main station. 

Thanks a lot! 

[Wardukw]

Ya know mate I think this has turned out even better than what the first one was going to.
A superb effort Thomas mate 👏 😁

[PR19_Kit]

All that extra work you put into it was WELL worth it Thomas, it looks REALLY great!         

[philp]

Nice build and write up.

[kerick]

Amazing build and story! Lots of hard work there!