Prototype information

The V 300 - A One-Off with 6 Axles. The firm Krauss-Maffei built three type ML 2200 6-axle locomotives based on the German Federal Railroad's successful V 200 for the Yugoslavian State Railroad. Perhaps in the hope of additional orders, a fourth, identical locomotive with the C-C wheel arrangement was built at Krauss-Maffei's own cost as a demonstrator unit. This locomotive was presented and offered in a striking builder's paint scheme to the German Federal Railroad among others. After several tests, the motor performance for this locomotive was increased and was designated internally at Krauss-Maffei as the type ML 3000 C'C'. It took long negotiations to move the German Federal Railroad to buy this one-off model and put it on its roster as the class V 300 001. It was painted in the elegant crimson / gray color scheme of its two-axle sibling and was used primarily in premium express train service. In 1968, it was given the computer number 230 001-0 and this impressive machine could be seen in its last years in service between Hamburg and Westerland on the Isle of Sylt, where it also pulled the popular auto trains between Niebüll and Westerland. In 1975, road no. 230 001-0 was put in storage, and the German Federal Railroad tried to sell it, unsuccessfully however, to Italy in 1977. In 1978, it came back to Germany and was finally scrapped two years later.