>>1280264What makes them amazing is the fact that they are immense beasts which were constructed in the Ukrainian SSR for export to East Germany.
It's rugged, ultilitarian, Soviet design in standard gauge. Sure, it might not be as powerful as some of the US locomotives, but it was a beast from the east, and the fact that it still continues to run on the German railways, both east and west makes it fantastic.
I actually went to a rail museum in Halle, and one of the nice old railway engineers (in the European sense that he repaired and maintained locomotives and trains, he didn't drive them) let me into a 232. He showed me around the engine room, he let me look inside the electric generator, and then he let me sit inside the driving cab and even sit in the seat.
The 232 might not look the best, but it was a great machine. What was interesting about it, was that the Soviet built diesel engines were so loud, that the Germans had to install sound mufflers into the air vents, because the locomotive was loud enough to cause the Socialist Party to complain.
