Fleischmann 725100 N Diesel twin locomotive 288 002-9 of DB

In 1941 and 1942 a total of four double locomotives of the Type D 311 were put into service by the German Wehrmacht. The D 311.01 a/b, also known as “Walli”, was used on the Crimean peninsula. With its sister machine D 311.02 a/b, she ranked the "Dora", the largest railway company ever built. Locomotives D 311.03 and 04 were intended for use with the “heavy Gustav 2” gun and were probably in service in the west. A fifth and sixth twin locomotive was ordered from Krupp, but could not be built anymore due to the war events.
The machines were equipped with electrical power transmission. In each half unit, a DC generator directly driven by the diesel engine supplied the electric traction motors with energy at each of the four wheel sets. The axis sequence designation was accordingly DO+DO. The controls of both engine halves were electrically coupled and were operated from the driver's cab in front. The total weight of the machine was 147 tons. The maximum speed was set at 75 km/h. In the fire position of the "Dora", the locomotives also supplied the electrical energy for the operation of the protector. At the end of the war, the double locomotive D 311.03 A/B was located near Freilassing, which could be put back into operation by Krauss-Maffei as V 188 001 a/b from the "Reichsbahn West" after the repair in 1948-49. D 311.04 A/B, which was found in the Netherlands, was bought by the young German Federal Railways at the end of 1949. This machine was then transferred to operation in 1951 as V 188 002 a/b after reconditioning. The D 311.02 A/B, which accrued at Krupp in Essen, was only used as a spare part donor The two restored BR V 188 machines proved their worth in heavy goods train and sliding services, mainly on the spessart ramp. At the end of the 1950er, a conversion was made to Maybach engines, as they were also used in V 200.0 and VT 08. After a generator failure, the V 188 001 had to be shut down as early as 1968. V 188 002, later 288 002 was still in operation in the Franconian region until 1972. In 1973, both machines were scrapped.

This text is machine translated.