Herbrand and the Albtalbahn
On my page about the Albtalbahn the identities (manufacturer and factory number of mechanism part and E-part) were given as follows (based on the sources mentioned at the end of the page):
Herbrandt 1910/ ? (elt: AEG 1910) - Bo'Bo' - 1000mm Albtalbahn 1 (BLEAG) ->'32 Albtalbahn 1 (DEBG) ->'57 Albtal-Verkehrs-Ges. (AVG) 1 +1959 Herbrandt 1910/ ? (elt: AEG 1910) - Bo'Bo' - 1000mm Albtalbahn 2 (BLEAG) ->'32 Albtalbahn 2 (DEBG) ->'57 Albtal-Verkehrs-Ges. (AVG) 2 +1964 ->'?? Denkmal Bf. Ettlingen Stadt ->'85 Denkmal Albtalbahnhof Karlsruhe Herbrandt 1910/ ? (elt: AEG 1910) - Bo'Bo' - 1000mm Albtalbahn 3 (BLEAG) ->'32 Albtalbahn 3 (DEBG) ->'57 Albtal-Verkehrs-Ges. (AVG) 3 +1964 Herbrandt 1911/ ? (elt: AEG 1911) - Bo'Bo' - 1000mm Albtalbahn 4 (BLEAG) ->'32 Albtalbahn 4 (DEBG) ->'54 Ub. in Zweisystemlok ->'57 Albtal-Verkehrs-Ges. (AVG) 4 +1964 van der Zypen 1901/ ? (elt: AEG 1901) - Bo'Bo' - 1000mm Albtalbahn 15 (BLEAG) oder Albtalbahn 13 (BLEAG) ->'11 Pforzheimer Straßenbahn 2 (oder 3?) +1919 van der Zypen 1901/ ? (elt: AEG 1901) - Bo'Bo' - 1000mm Albtalbahn 16 (BLEAG) oder Albtalbahn 14 (BLEAG) ->'11 Pforzheimer Straßenbahn 3 (oder 2?) +1919
But in the meantime there exist new insights, which are sketched by Wolfgang-D. Richter below:
In the secondary literature, an external mechanic is always used when the origin of AEG locomotives is to be "explained". This is probably due to the fact that all other electric manufacturers commissioned companies active in this field to supply the required mech parts. Only AEG went a different way - this fact was not part of the general knowledge for a long time - which is why the locomotives of the Albtalbahn were also attributed to a mechanical parts manufacturer (who was actually completely inexperienced in this field).
The preface to issue 6 of the AEG-Mitteilungen of 1926, "Der Dampflokomotivbau der AEG" ("Steam Locomotive Construction at AEG"), states: "The manufacture of electric locomotives by two companies...often leads to difficulties, so that it is expedient and economical to carry out the construction of new electric locomotives uniformly in one factory. ... The construction of steam locomotives therefore essentially only required AEG to expand the department for electric locomotives, which had existed since 1899." Only in the case of state railway orders did AEG rely on well-known locomotive manufacturers at the beginning of full railway electrification around 1910, probably also at the instigation of the respective customer. After disappointing experiences with Krauss and Henschel, however, AEG designed and built the mechanical part for its first major order - the EG 511-537, later E71.1 - itself again as early as 1912.
On the other hand, changes in the company landscape sometimes result in misinterpretations. For example, when considering the origin of the bogies of the Albtalbahn railcars, several wrong conclusions were drawn at once.
The Herbrand company, based in Cologne-Ehrenfeld, became the property of the Linke-Hofmann-Werke (LHW) in Breslau in 1917. This circumstance was used by the LHW to publish a catalogue the following year on the product range of this newly added location - including the maximum bogies of the railcars. Although the preface of the catalogue pointed out the fact and the new company name could be read on every catalogue page, a relevant publication later assumed that the bogies required for the vehicles had been supplied by "Linke-Hoffmann-Lauchhammer" (LHL) - a contribution that the manufacturer, which only operated under this name from 1922 to 1926, could not have made in 1913 anyway.
Just as AEG completely built the body of the Albtalbahn locomotive and its bogies, the railcars, including the bogies, were also uniformly manufactured by Herbrand.
But back to the electric locomotives: The four single-phase AC locomotives of the Albtalbahn were built entirely by AEG. Things get complicated when it comes to the factory numbers. In the exuberance of the beginning full railway electrification, AEG had decided to set up a separate department for public transport vehicles, recognisable as the "railway department" by a "B" in front of the factory number. The first "victim" of this decision was the EV 5, which was sent out on the tracks as the B 101 (taking the "100" as "0" was a tradition at AEG). Seven machines are known to have been given these numbers, including a locomotive from the Albtalbahn, which was designated B 103. Now there are two readings: according to one, the B 103 was the first machine - i.e. No. 1. Since it was not quite sure whether it made sense to also classify the narrow-gauge private railway locomotives in the "business class", locomotives 2, 3 and 4 were given "normal" numbers: 832, 833 and 834 and subsequently also locomotive 1 the 984. According to the second reading, the numbers were simply assigned in order, starting with the 832 for locomotive 1 - but the B 103 does not fit in there. I therefore still tend towards the first variant, especially as the B 103 is followed by three unassigned factory numbers. Soon after, the special treatment with their own B numbers was abolished again.
The two DC locomotives of 1900 were procured by UEG, which had the mechanical part manufactured by BSI in Remscheid (bogies) and by Lindner (body); only the wheelsets came from Van der Zypen (VdZ played a similar role as wheelset supplier at that time as GHH did later, many Klett wagons from that time were also equipped with VdZ wheelsets).
This results in the corrected "curricula vitae" of the Albtalbahn electric locomotives:
AEG 1910/ B103 -> 942 - Bo'Bo' - 1000mm Albtalbahn 1 (BLEAG) ->'32 Albtalbahn 1 (DEBG) ->'57 Albtal-Verkehrs-Ges. (AVG) 1 +1959 AEG 1910/ 832 - Bo'Bo' - 1000mm Albtalbahn 2 (BLEAG) ->'32 Albtalbahn 2 (DEBG) ->'57 Albtal-Verkehrs-Ges. (AVG) 2 +1964 ->'?? Denkmal Bf. Ettlingen Stadt ->'85 Denkmal Albtalbahnhof Karlsruhe AEG 1910/ 833 - Bo'Bo' - 1000mm Albtalbahn 3 (BLEAG) ->'32 Albtalbahn 3 (DEBG) ->'57 Albtal-Verkehrs-Ges. (AVG) 3 +1964 AEG 1910/ 834 - Bo'Bo' - 1000mm Albtalbahn 4 (BLEAG) ->'32 Albtalbahn 4 (DEBG) ->'54 Ub. in Zweisystemlok ->'57 Albtal-Verkehrs-Ges. (AVG) 4 +1964 UEG 1900/ ? - Bo'Bo' - 1000mm Albtalbahn 15 (BLEAG) oder Albtalbahn 13 (BLEAG) ->'11 Pforzheimer Straßenbahn 2 (oder 3?) +1919 UEG 1900/ ? - Bo'Bo' - 1000mm Albtalbahn 16 (BLEAG) oder Albtalbahn 14 (BLEAG) ->'11 Pforzheimer Straßenbahn 3 (oder 2?) +1919
