Rail Classics Vol 2: The last days of DB Class 118

During school holidays in 1983 and 1984 my base was the nice Bavarian town of Munich. At that time people below 26 could buy a one month net ticket for a very reasonable price! I used such a ticket every holiday in these years for several excoursions and foto trips. 1984 was the last spring of the class 118 and here you will see my favorite pictures out of 1983 and 1984.

The Hacker bridge is an excellent position to view the complete Munich main station. Here comes 118 020-7 with accelerated local train (Eilzug) E3010 out of the station. April 20, 1984 5.11 pm.

118 052-2 awaits her next assignment between Hackerbrücke (in the background) and Munich main station. This foto was made in March 1983 out of the open window of a train running by.

Again train E3010, at 4/17/1984 lead by 118 003-3. Beside you see 103 236-6, ready for one of the IC express trains. Now even less than 20 years later these engines are history too.

118 037-7 had pulled train E3085 to Munich. She has already been disconnected from the train. Inside Munich central station, 4/17/1984.

It is raining cats and dogs when 118 020-7 approaches the cars of train E3010. München Hbf, 4/16/1984, 4.50 pm.

The 20th of April is a bright but chilly day. It is 4.20 pm when 118 051-2 rushes with train E3085 through the countryside near Pulling.

7 days earlier the same engine with the same train was fotografed in Plattling. 

118 050-4 in July 1983 in Nürnberg.

The 22nd of July, 1984 was time to say goodbye. There was an open house day held at the depot in Würzburg, several special trains were running with historic cars, like 118 048-8 on this picture.

An other special train was lead by 118 002-5. Würzburg Hauptbahnhof.

All these class 118 have been in service just a few weeks ago. Now they are obsolete, but parading a last time at the turntable of Würzburg. The goodbuy open house day was a dignified conclusion of a long locomotive career.

The ocean-blue/beige colour sheme for 118 and 144 engines was always an issue of debate under railfans that days. Only a few of them were done in this livery. From todays view I think it was not too bad. Or think about the new traffic red sheme on these classic engines...