A sensible solution.

The farewell was not easy: in 1974 the O&K locomotive MB 200 (200 hp) entered service at the Bayer plant Wuppertal Elberfeld (around 1,500 employees). Since then it has been chugging reliably along the plant's 1.3 kilometres of track, shunting the tank wagons, taking over trains arriving from Deutsche Bahn and then handing the wagons back to Deutsche Bahn.

But as things go when one reaches 40 – a little ache here, a minor ailment there. In the end, those responsible had no choice but to look for a replacement. A production stoppage because of a failed shunting locomotive – inexcusable. And because Bayer has been successfully using Unimog for over 50 years, and an intensive test with a road-rail Unimog from ZAGRO proved extremely positive, the end for the beloved diesel locomotive was inevitable.

"We carried out the test in mid-May and put the Unimog through its paces. It rained terribly, and the tracks were covered with pollen, so all in all it was a very slippery affair," recalls Ulrich Klemp, production engineer in plant logistics at Bayer.
"These adverse conditions did not faze the Unimog at all. We were immediately impressed by the power the vehicle brought to the track. The Unimog is clearly better than our shunting locomotive. A sensible solution." A first-class endorsement for the newcomer.

At the Elberfeld plant, Bayer manufactures active ingredients for medications, including in the areas of oncology and cardiovascular medicine, which are sold worldwide. Chemicals are required for their manufacture, which are delivered in 2-axle and 4-axle tank wagons (25 and 65 tonnes payload). From the Wuppertal freight depot, a Deutsche Bahn track runs directly to the plant. The Bayer team then takes over there. What makes this special is that the plant has a 2.5 percent gradient to master – a cinch for the road-rail Unimog. Even downhill, the return freight, a waste product from production, is safe.

Thanks to the new Unimog, in-house logistics has also become more flexible: If the vehicle is not required for shunting operations, it goes onto the road and pulls the 30-cubic GOFA tanker trailer as well as a general cargo trailer, with which solids and drums are transported from A to B in the plant. The "treasure" is well taken care of: a U 1300 from 1985. The Bayer colleagues don't part with it as readily as they do the diesel locomotive.

Project implemented with Unimog general agency: RKF-BLESES GmbH