DB 112 150

Updated: August 2026 – 112 150 is not a class, but a single locomotive. Entries like this answer a different question from type pages: it’s not about which design is in front of you, but which specific locomotive. This page explains how identifying individual vehicles works and what defines Class 112.1.

What is 112 150?

112 150 is the running number of a single electric locomotive of Class 112.1. The system is simple: the first three digits name the class, the following digits the running number within that class. From 112 150 you can read that it’s the locomotive with running number 150 within Class 112.1.

The design itself is a four-axle passenger locomotive for 160 km/h, descended from the development line of the Reichsbahn Class 243 built in Hennigsdorf. It shares its basic shape and technical concept with Class 143; the family also includes Class 114. Anyone wanting to understand the design family as a whole will find the overview on the page for Class 112.1.

Finding a specific locomotive: what works and what doesn’t

When identifying a class, shape, axle count and train formation help. For a single locomotive, they don’t help at all – all the sister locomotives look identical. The only route is through the markings.

How the twelve-digit number is structured in detail and how to check its check digit is explained in the guide to the UIC number.

Why individual vehicles are interesting at all

At first glance it seems arbitrary to care about a specific number. In practice, though, every locomotive differs from its sisters in features that no data sheet records.

Feature	How often it changes	Why it matters to spotters
Running number	practically never	unique identification of the locomotive
Overhaul dates	at every workshop visit	allows photos to be dated
Livery and stickers	irregularly	often the most eye-catching but least stable feature
Keeper marking	on lease or sale	shows who the locomotive currently runs for
Operating area	with timetable and contract awards	determines where you’ll realistically find it

This table contains the most important rule for documentation: separate permanent details from changeable ones. Mix the two, and after a few years you’re left with notes whose validity can no longer be reconstructed.

Spotting in practice: searching specifically for a number

Catching a specific locomotive is a matter of luck – but luck can be prepared for. Three approaches work in practice.

How to record your observations so patterns become visible later is described in the guide to the sightings log. You can match the corresponding train working via the train number – where to find it is explained in the article on finding train numbers.

Placing the Hennigsdorf locomotive family

To understand where 112 150 comes from, it helps to look at the family. In Hennigsdorf – the works that later became part of Bombardier Transportation – a series of four-axle electric locomotives emerged from the 1980s onwards, which look very alike and build technically on one another. The basic design was intended for general local services; faster variants for the more demanding passenger service developed from it.

For spotters, the result is one of the trickier identification situations on the German network. The vehicles differ in detail, not in silhouette. Front shape, body length and bogie arrangement are so similar that a photo from a distance rarely suffices. Only the running number is reliable – which is exactly why it matters so much for this family.

Operationally, however, the division of tasks is clear. You’ll find the slower locomotives ahead of local trains with many stops, the faster ones ahead of Regional-Express trains with wider stop spacing and higher line speeds. Both mostly work in push-pull operation with double-deck coaches, as described on the page for the Bombardier Twindexx Vario.

Because these vehicles are now among the older classes in the fleet, their pattern of use is changing noticeably. New transport contracts are often run with multiple units, which reduces locomotive-hauled workings. How quickly this happens and which routes are affected varies considerably by region and changes with every contract award – any firm statement about it only ever has a short shelf life.

For your own documentation, that’s an argument to look more closely now. What stands taken for granted outside your window today can become the sought-after subject in a few years’ time. Anyone who logs their sightings with number and date ends up with a reliable chronicle of their home route later on – not just a collection of interchangeable pictures with no sense of time.

Common mix-ups

Verdict

With individual vehicles, everything revolves around the number. You can identify Class 112.1’s design in seconds, but the specific locomotive only by reading it. Anyone looking for a particular locomotive needs patience, current sighting data and a log where date and location are consistently recorded. That’s exactly what turns random observations into a reliable collection.