Piko 21060 H0 - BR 119 Electric Locomotive, DB, Era IV

Model of the Class 119 electric locomotive, the former E 19, in German Federal Railway livery

A streamlined body, a 1'Do1' wheel arrangement and a design rated for 180 km/h — Class E 19 was created in the late 1930s as an answer to plans for faster express traffic. The model reproduces one of the four machines built, in the guise it wore in Era IV when it was running for the Deutsche Bundesbahn under its new Class 119 designation. It suits layouts depicting German long-distance operations of the 1970s.

The version corresponds to the locomotive's Era IV appearance: lamps carried on the characteristic posts and slender SBS 39/54 pantographs. The bodyshell is completed by fine handrails, UIC sockets and a separately applied centrifugal governor, along with additional sandbox covers, axle bearing covers and battery boxes. Windscreen wipers, roof lines and insulators are separately fitted, which shows to good effect at roof level. The three-light headlamp with red tail lights changes with the direction of travel, and once a decoder is installed the cab and control desk lighting can be switched digitally as well. Drive is transmitted through wheels fitted with traction tyres, and the couplers sit in NEM pockets with a close-coupling mechanism.

Model specifications:

• Scale: H0 (1:87)
• Item number: PIKO 21060
• Manufacturer: PIKO
• Length over buffers: 195 mm
• Railway administration and era: DB, Era IV
• Power supply: DC
• Decoder interface: NEM 658 PluX22 (supplied without decoder)
• PIKO sound decoder #56660 available separately
• Drive: motor driving the powered axles, two traction tyres
• Coupling: NEM 362 pocket with close-coupling mechanism
• Minimum radius: 358 mm
• Lighting: direction-dependent white / red light change
• Digital functions (with a PluX22 decoder fitted): switchable cab and control desk lighting
• Detailing: SBS 39/54 pantographs, handrails, UIC sockets, centrifugal governor, sandbox covers, axle bearing covers, battery boxes, separately fitted wipers, roof lines and insulators
• Ready to run, factory painted and printed
• Age recommendation: 14 years and over

Please note: a power pack and a powered track layout are required to run this model.

This model is not a starter set — it contains neither track nor a controller. As delivered it runs on a conventional analogue layout supplied with direct current and operated by an ordinary speed controller. The NEM 658 PluX22 interface allows a DCC decoder to be fitted at any time; the manufacturer names sound decoder PIKO #56660 as the matching unit. Once installed, the digital functions become available, including switchable cab and control desk lighting, together with sound effects.

Model railways – digital or analogue control?

In analogue operation the voltage applied to the rails sets the speed and its polarity sets the direction. The arrangement is simple and inexpensive, but an undivided section effectively carries one train and the possibilities end with running and direction-dependent lights. A DCC system holds a constant voltage in the track and transmits addressed commands to the decoders fitted in the vehicles, so several locomotives can run independently around the same trackwork while function keys operate interior lighting, signals and sound. This model leaves the factory as an analogue DC locomotive with a PluX22 interface already in place, so moving to digital control is simply a matter of installing a decoder.

About the Class E 19 / Class 119 locomotive:

In the late 1930s the Deutsche Reichsbahn was planning shorter journey times on the fully electrified Berlin – Halle (Saale) – Munich main line. That called for a machine faster than anything then in service, yet still able to tackle the steep ramps of the Franconian Forest. The result was Class E 19 — a development of the proven Class E 18, from which it inherited the rigid frame, the 1'Do1' wheel arrangement and the spring-cup axle drive.

The 1937 order covered two locomotives from AEG (E 19 01 and 02), joined by two machines from Siemens-Schuckert and Henschel (E 19 11 and 12); deliveries fell in 1939 and 1940. Compared with the earlier class, output rose by roughly 500 kW, the brakes were strengthened and an electric dynamic brake was added, while the suspension was improved. The body panels were welded rather than riveted, and a revised fine regulator gave smoother notching. The permitted speed was 180 km/h, although the design carried considerable reserves above that figure.

The war put an end to the plans for high-speed traffic on the north-south main line. After 1945 all four machines passed to the Deutsche Bundesbahn and were allocated to Nuremberg depot, from where they worked express trains through the Franconian Forest and on the route to Regensburg. By the mid-1950s their permitted speed had been reduced to 140 km/h. From 1968 they were based at Hagen-Eckesey, and in the same year they received their new Class 119 designation. Active service ended between 1975 and 1978. Two examples survive today, among them E 19 01, preserved as a testament to the history of German electric traction.

Prototype specifications (E 19 / Class 119):

• Builders: AEG (E 19 01 and 02), Siemens-Schuckert and Henschel (E 19 11 and 12)
• Ordered 1937, delivered 1939–1940, four units built
• Wheel arrangement: 1'Do1'
• Length over buffers: 16,920 mm
• Service weight: 110.7 t
• One-hour rating: 4,000 kW (E 19.0) and 4,080 kW (E 19.1)
• Continuous rating: 3,720 kW (E 19.0) and 3,460 kW (E 19.1)
• Permitted speed: 180 km/h, reduced to 140 km/h from the 1950s
• Power system: 15 kV, 16⅔ Hz AC
• Equipment: electric dynamic brake, spring-cup axle drive taken over from Class E 18
• Duties: fast long-distance trains on the Berlin – Halle – Munich main line, later express work around Nuremberg

About the manufacturer – PIKO:

PIKO is a German model railway brand in continuous production since 1949, when the first trains left the works in Sonneberg, Thuringia. More than seven decades on it is one of the most widely chosen manufacturers in Europe, with a range in scales H0, TT, N and garden-scale G. The catalogue covers both starter sets and highly detailed models. The PIKO Expert series combines refined detailing with modern digital technology: PluX22 and Next18 interfaces, factory-fitted sound decoders and extensive lighting functions. The company is also a leading producer of Polish prototype models, including vehicles in PKP, PKP Intercity and PKP Cargo liveries.