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25.05.2025: New heavyweights in the historic locomotive shed

It was actually supposed to be a quiet May 2025 after we had completed our ?Spring Steam? event. But things usually turn out differently than planned. Today we are delighted to welcome two heavyweight new additions to the museum and major work along our museum track to Wittenberge station.
The first new exhibit is the electric locomotive 142 118, which was built in the mid-1960s by LEW - Lokomotivbau Elektrotechnische Werke ?Hans Beimler? (Hennigsdorf). It was put into service by the Deutsche Reichsbahn in May 1967 and was stationed in Halle. It was used for passenger and goods trains until it was decommissioned in 1994.
As it was still quite sprightly, the locomotive was sold to Switzerland in 1995 and used there mainly for freight transport until 2003. As the topography there is known to be quite steep, it was adapted to the prevailing conditions. The biggest change was the installation of an electric resistance brake, which is used on downhill gradients when the traction motors operate as electric generators. This reduces the load on the conventional brake, in which brake blocks act on the wheels, and significantly reduces wear. An external feature of this conversion is that a current collector has been removed and electric resistors have been mounted on the roof instead. In the attached picture, these are the structures on the right half of the roof.

In 2003, the locomotive returned to Germany and was used by the Westfälische Almetalbahn on DB AG lines, also for freight transport. Since 2009, the locomotive has belonged to the ENON Group, which also includes Eisenbahngesellschaft Potsdam. The locomotive was decommissioned in 2022 after the inspection period expired. As there is currently no need for its further use, the locomotive has been made available to us as an exhibition object in our museum in Wittenberge. Thank you very much for this new and interesting exhibit.
Our second new addition comes from the same locomotive factory as the 142 119. It is also an electric locomotive, but in small format. It does not draw its power from an overhead lifewire, but from batteries. For this reason, the series is also known as an accumulator traction vehicle (ASF). Ours initially bore the number 126 when the Deutsche Reichsbahn delivered it brand new to the Wittenberge depot.


After the closure of the depot, it was sold to Eisenbahngesellschaft Potsdam in the 2000s, which eventually brought it to Rügen. From GDR times until 2016, there was a railway ferry connection from there to Lithuania (Klaipeda), partly because the Soviet Union did not fully trust its ally Poland and preferred not to have critical or strategic goods transported by rail through Poland. In Mukran, Soviet freight wagons running on broad gauge at home were converted to European standard gauge or vice versa so that they could run on European tracks. Our ASF was used for shunting the wagons within the gauge change facility. Incidentally, its maximum speed is an impressive 6 km/h.
As the Soviet wagons only had a centre buffer coupling and not the buffers, coupling hooks and coupling chains that we usually had, our ASF was equipped with such a centre buffer coupling on one side of the vehicle. It still has this today and is therefore quite unique.

Unfortunately, the ASF is currently not operational because the vehicle batteries have suffered quite a bit over the years and need to be partially replaced. For this reason and due to a lack of demand, Eisenbahngesellschaft Potsdam has given us the vehicle on permanent loan. Many thanks for that too!
Now let's take a look at our museum track outside the actual museum grounds, which runs from our signal box Wm to Wittenberg station. Major construction work is currently taking place along this track in preparation for the State Garden Show, which will take place in Wittenberge in 2027.


Incidentally, the station at the end of this track is also currently undergoing major refurbishment. It is due to be completed in the first half of 2026. Fortunately, there will once again be a ?mobility centre? with a ticket counter. In addition, the job centre, the technology centre and business development agency and the German Society for Non-Destructive Testing will move into rooms there. We are already looking forward to the opening because it will give the railway in Wittenberge another striking face and, unlike many other towns, the imposing station will once again shine in new splendour.overview