Run-time 1 hour 59 minutes

In this programme we bring together some previously published (In European Railway) and some new material into one programme looking at the DB class 139/140 locomotives at work between 1994 and 2006.

Introduced between 1957 and 1973 the locomotives were part of two initial designs sharing the same basic components and fabrication; one a mixed machine and the other (class 150) for heavy freight. However, it was soon realised that one mixed traffic design would not cater for the variety of duties envisaged, so an express passenger version (class 110) and a light passenger and freight locomotive (class 141) were also born. The requirement to haul 2100-tonne freight trains and some passenger duties resulted in the class 140 and similar class 139. A huge total were built - some 879 examples - as well as a further 31 class 139s.

This programme looks at the class at work between 1994 and 2006 and brings together video material previously published as part of the ‘European Railway’ series as well as a number of new unpublished sequences. The locomotives are filmed in a range of liveries from Green, Ocean Blue and Beige to DB red in bib and Railion colours. Although the majority of sequences are of freight traffic we also see the locomotives on passenger services. They were common in the former Western Germany, and after reunification spread into the former East.

We witness the class at work, around the Ruhr industrial region, along the Rhein and Mosel River valleys, around Basel and Karlsruhe, Hannover, Austria, Berlin, Cologne and the huge freight centre that is Hamburg Docks.

Whether you are a keen continental modeller or a devotee of German traction, this programme is an ideal addition to any DVD collection.