Notes

The day I took this there was a steam train supposed to go from Vienenburg to Hanover, so my father and me went to Vienenburg to take pictures. Oddly, while the station’s parking lot was full, neither railroad fans nor steam train where anywhere to be seen. My guess is that they changed the departure time, and only told those who had a ticket. Anyway, this left me with this being the best shot of the (admittedly very short) trip.

Still, it could be worse. This german-french-german locomotive was built in Germany by Vossloh/MaK (no idea what name they prefer). It’s a G 1206, a standard road switcher used all over europe (some units even go through the channel tunnel at times). #13 here belongs to Seco-Rail, a french railroading company, which now calls itself Colas. I guess. Most of that info comes from the french Wikipedia, and my french is horrible.

It’s odd to see a french unit in Germany, but there is a good explanation, I promise. It’s neither in service for either Seco-Rail or Colas at the moment. Instead it’s rented to DB Cargo/Railion/DB/Railion/DB Schenker, i.e. the freight division of DB, which really loves to change it’s name, under the number "266 774" (which I couldn’t find written on the locomotive anywhere). Renting units is the closest DB has come to buying new diesel engines since the stone ages, so this is one of the most modern non-electric units you’ll currently find in DB service (DMUs excluded).

The chemical tank service it runs used to be done by DB V90s, which come as class 290, 291, 294, 295 or 296. In case you haven’t noticed, the Deutsche Bahn likes to confuse people.