Trix 16345 - Class 103.1 Electric Locomotive

Model: The body is made of metal-impregnated plastic for improved pulling power. The locomotive has a built-in digital decoder and a sound generator for operation with mfx and DCC. The locomotive motor has a flywheel. 4 axles powered. Traction tires. The pantographs can be raised and lowered digitally. Warm white LEDs are used for the headlights. They change over with the direction of travel. There is cab lighting and engine room lighting. All of the lighting can be controlled digitally. The locomotive has a close coupler mechanism. The grab irons are separately applied. The headlights and marker lights change over with the direction of travel in analog operation.An anniversary logo "150 Years of German Railroading" is included as a decal.Length over the buffers 126 mm / 4-15/16".
Prototype: German Federal Railroad (DB) electric locomotive, road number 103 237-4. The locomotive looks as it did around 1985. Crimson/ivory basic paint scheme. C-C wheel arrangement. Built starting in 1970.

At the end of the Seventies, it had become evident in the interim that the 3,115 kilometer / 1,947 mile first class only IC network at that time could also cover a large part of 2nd class long-distance passenger service with its stops. The DB therefore decided to introduce hourly schedules with mixed class trains on the four IC lines at that time at the start of the summer schedule for 1979 on May 27. This followed the slogan "Every Hour – Every Class: the IC 79". All of the hubs remained intact for this. The new magic phrase was block trains and all IC trains thus ran with blocks of cars for 1st and 2nd class, separated by a dining car or Quick Pick cafeteria car. It was pure chance that the routings of the lines being run were set up in such a way that at hub stations the same car classes stood opposite each other. Still, there were line swaps as demonstrated in particular by the ever poorly utilized Line 4 north of Hannover. In addition, the IC trains ran in some cases beyond the basic network and on the so-called "approach and exit routes" the cities of Aachen, Amsterdam, Berchtesgaden, Braunschweig, Bremerhaven, Brussels, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Geneva, Innsbruck, Kassel, Klagenfurt, Kiel, Ludwigshafen, Milan, Regensburg, Saarbrücken, Westerland, and Vienna were served by the IC trains.One hundred fifty two trains now ran on the four lines of the main network. As a rule, these trains consisted of three 1st class cars, a dining car, and seven 2nd class cars. In case of need, these consists with a train weight of 500 metric tons could be lengthened by one more car. The existing 144 class 103.1 locomotives also were the motive power for the majority of the IC trains. On some trains however, units of the classes 110, 111, and 112 had to help. The best thing about the new system was the introduction of the timed system exact down to minutes. A passenger could now absolutely rely on the IC trains leaving every hour at the same minute. The DB had thereby created a new foundation for long-distance service with the interconnected and timed IC system. This new offering for everyone doubtlessly fostered recognition of considerable progress compared to the conventional "D-Zug" express train. It was thus no wonder that the concept of the "IC 79" very quickly acquired an outstanding reputation and it was accepted by the passengers very positively. The reliability and frequency of the connections with a schedule that was very easy to remember now guaranteed the DB long distance service by rail worldwide regard and an outstanding position. In the following years, the "IC 79" system remained largely unchanged and the number of trains remained more or less constant. It had merely grown to 162 until the introduction of "IC 85".

One-time series.
Charlie's Tip: This electric locomotive, road number 103 237-4, goes ideally with the special TT on page 20.
Technology variationBody made of metal-impregnated plasticPantographs can be raised and lowered digitally Digital sound with many functionsWarm white LEDs for lighting

Starting in 1969 regular production of the class 103 was done for the InterCity service (IC 71) planned to begin in 1971, but with new specifications. The effective load for TEE and IC trains with speeds of 200 km/h / 125 mph increased from 300 to 480 metric tons, and 800 metric ton D-Zug express trains had to be able to run at 160 km/h / 100 mph. The 145 regular production locomotives – now designated as the class 103.1 – the result was a full increase in performance of 25.3% compared to the prototypes – an impressive 7,440 kilowatts or 10,116 horsepower. After being delivered in the years 1970 to 1974 the class 103.1 units immediately took over the new IC trains as well as the prestigious TEE trains that had now been partially integrated into the new IC network. The regular production locomotives ran in regular service until December of 2002, over thirty years of use in heavy, high-quality passenger train service running at the highest levels of performance.
The first time from Minitrix, pantographs, which can be raised and lowered digitallyBody made of metal-impregnated plastic