DB Class V 200 (also known as Class 220) was the first series production diesel-hydraulic express locomotive of the German Deutsche Bundesbahn and – as Am 4/4 – of the SBB-CFF-FFS in Switzerland. History DB Service Five prototypes of the V 200 were built by Krauss-Maffei in 1953/1954. Full production began in 1956, with 61 engines being built by Krauss-Maffei and 20 by MaK. These five V 200 prototypes were put through extensive testing, the aim being to ensure the production locomotives would be as reliable as the technology and maintenance standards of the 1950s allowed. In 1955 one locomotive travelled under its own power through Yugoslavia, Greece and Turkey partly as a test and partly to demonstrate the locomotive's capability to potential customers in those countries. Initially the V 200 hauled express trains on all main lines, replacing the DRG Class 05, DRG Class 03 and DRG Class 01. Following the electrification of many main lines the V 200 was used increasingly for commuter trains and freight trains, but the Hamburg-Westerland, Hamburg-Lübeck-Copenhagen and Munich-Lindau lines still saw the V 200 hauling express trains. From 1962, the V 200.0 was followed by the more powerful DB Class V 200.1, later Class 221. From 1977, the V 200.0s were concentrated in northern German engine sheds (Bahnbetriebswerke). These two-engine locomotives were more expensive to operate than single-engine locomotives like DB Class V 160. A further disadvantage was its steam heating system for carriages, since replaced by electric train heating. The last V 200 went out of service with the DB in 1984. Post-DB service Saudi Arabia In 1977 two V 200.0 locomotives were sold to the Heitkamp organisation which had been contracted by the Saudi Arabian Government to carry out repairs and maintenance to a 565 km standard gauge railway line between Dharan and Riyadh. In 1978 a further three V 200s were sold to Heitkamp and shipped to Saudi Arabia. In 1979 the repair and maintenance project, including the locomotives, was taken over by the Greek construction company Archirodon. In 1982 Archirodon bought two further V 200s to break up in order to provide spare parts – particularly engines and transmissions – for the surviving V 200 in Saudi Arabia. These locomotives never went to Saudi Arabia. In Archirodon service most of V 200s were withdrawn due to accidents, the locomotives involved being stripped of parts to keep the remaining locomotives