Electric locomotive, 103 004 of DB in TEE livery, Era IV
Prototype condition around 1979

LokSound, Pantograph, DC/AC
FORM VARIANT

- Body and chassis made of metal
- Multi-part bogie covers with real springs and numerous attached details
- Separately installed braking system with brake shoes at wheel level
- Separately attached handrails
- Coupling in a guide-controlled standard socket
- Powerful five-pole ESU motor with two balanced flywheels
- Drive via cardan/screw drive on three axles, four traction tires
- LokSound 5 decoder for DCC, Motorola®, M4, and Selectrix operation
- Independent registration at central units with RailComPlus® or mfx® functionality
- PowerPack storage capacitor for uninterrupted power supply
- Two high-quality speakers for the best sound experience
- Universal electronics with plug slider for switching between two-rail and middle-rail operation
- Two digitally individually liftable and lowerable roof pantographs
- Digitized original sounds of a 103.1
- Sensor-controlled sounds during curve travel and when braking just before stopping
- Direction-dependent light change White/Red, train-side headlight signal can be switched off, shunting, driver's cab, control desk, and engine room lighting
- Brake sparks during sharp braking
- Minimum radius = 360 mm
- Length over buffers = 224.1 mm

The E03, presented in 1965 in four pre-series examples, and its 145 sister locomotives built in series from 1970 were legends even during their lifetime. The Deutsche Bundesbahn primarily developed the E03 with Henschel and Krauss-Maffei to transport light TEE trains at high speeds in flat terrain. With E03 001, high-speed tests for the scheduled transport of passenger trains at 200 km/h began in 1965. The spherical front ends developed in wind tunnel tests and the elegant TEE livery shaped the image of high-speed traffic in Germany for more than 30 years. In 1969, DB changed the requirement profile for the E03 and raised the train weight for the series locomotives to 480 t at 200 km/h and 800 t at 160 km/h. Therefore, the power of the motors was increased to 7780 kW. Externally, the series locomotives designated as BR 103.1 differed significantly from the pre-series by the second fan band in the side walls and the simplified livery without a silver decorative stripe between the purple and beige areas. Since trains with maximum speeds over 140 km/h had to be staffed with two drivers, the personnel of the last series of locomotives were given a bit more space with extended driver's cabs. The pre-series locomotive 103 004 received single-arm pantographs and an umbra gray roof instead of a silver one in the 1970s. Initially working in regular service, it soon primarily served in measurement and test service, for example, in preliminary operations for the introduction of the ICE. The opening of the IC train system for second-class passengers in 1979 made the 103 heavy workers. Although the high-speed locomotives were now permanently loaded to the limits of their performance, they still impressed with great reliability and remained indispensable for DB AG even beyond the turn of the millennium. The DB Museum keeps several 103 locomotives operational for special assignments, including 103 113.