On 24 November 2023, a historic Kö II diesel locomotive returned to its new location in Mainz customs harbour after successful restoration at the Bahnwelt.
The locomotive was built in 1933 for the Deutsche Reichsbahn and was used in the former GDR until the mid-1990s. In 2008, Stadtwerke Mainz acquired the vehicle in order to erect it as a memorial to the railway traffic in the former customs and inland port of Mainz, which was decommissioned in 1984. Since 2010, the area has been transformed into a modern residential and commercial quarter directly on the Rhine. In the course of this, the locomotive was relocated and fell victim to brazen thieves in 2021, who stole its historically valuable lamps. To repair this damage, the project development company Zollhafen Mainz GmbH turned to Bahnwelt in the hope that it could give the locomotive its “face” back. This initial enquiry ultimately resulted in the order to completely refurbish the appearance of the entire locomotive and make it fit for preservation and weatherproof.
After several months of work by the volunteers in the railway museum’s workshops, the 15-tonne locomotive has now been brought back to its new, prominent location directly on the harbour basin by low-loader and placed on a piece of former harbour railway by a heavy-duty crane.
We would like to thank all members, supporters, donors, sponsors and our client, Zollhafen Mainz GmbH, involved in the project for their trusting and committed cooperation and will honour this once again at the official inauguration of the locomotive when the outdoor facilities have been completed and the fencing has been installed.
