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#4117· Baureihe 151

DB Class 151

🇩🇪 Germany ·built by AEG· from 1972· class of 170 German electric locomotives

DB Class 151, photo 1 of 10
1/10 Benedictus· CC BY-SA 3.0

what is it?

The Class 151 is an electric heavy freight locomotive built for German Federal Railways between 1972 and 1978. They were built as a replacement for the ageing Class 150, in order to cope with the increased requirements of this type of locomotive, in particular the desire of a 120 km/h (75 mph) top speed. Locomotives of Hector Rail are designated as Class 162.

who runs it

base stats

  • speed 120 km/htop speed
  • power 6.3 MWpower output
  • weight 118 tin working order
  • built 170made in total

Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.

fun facts

  • First built 54 years ago, in 1972.
  • 6.3 MW is about 74 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
  • Weighs about as much as 20 African elephants (~6 t each).
  • 19.5 m long: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.

electric locomotive: Draws power from overhead wires or a third rail and pulls separate carriages.

spec sheet

built
1972–1978
in service from
1972
number built
170
kind
Electric
traction
electric
origin
🇩🇪 Germany
builders
AEG, Siemens, Henschel & Sohn, Brown, Boveri & Cie, KraussMaffei, Lokomotiv- und Waggonbaufabrik Krupp
operators
Deutsche Bundesbahn
top speed
120 km/h
power
6.3 MW
gauge
1,435 mm standard gauge
electric system
15 kV 16.7 Hz Catenary
wheel arrangement
Co′Co′
length
19.5 m
weight
118 t
Dutch name
Baureihe 151

From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.

Sources: Wikidata Q387759, Wikipedia: DB Class 151 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.

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