WelcomeToCatcliffeDemon

DB’s indecisive approach to freight liveries.

THE SIEMENS 152 Class electrics built for DB from 1996 are a good indicator of the state rail company’s problems with sticking with a brand for its freight operations. It might just be that the 170 strong type has worn every branding that the company’s marketing bods have come up with! Here are a couple of earlier examples.

The heady early days of German ’sectorisation’ are recalled in this view (above) of DB Cargo-branded 152 Class electric No. 152 013-9 at Lehrte, Germany, on April 23rd, 2008. Since the adoption, and discarding, of the DB Cargo name, the indecisive national operator has given its freight fleet four different logos and has renamed itself three times! At least the red and grey has remained… so far.

Wearing the somewhat rare ‘phase one’ style of Railion branding (with blue square to the left and slightly tilted), DB Schenker 152 Class electric No. 152 098-2 rolls out of Mainz-Bischofsheim Yard, Germany, on April 29th, 2008, with a wagonload freight service. Confusingly, while this might look like a Bombardier ‘Traxx’, it’s actually an ‘EuroSprinter’ from arch rival Siemens!