Wikipedia
A Bahnbetriebswerk is the equivalent of a locomotive depot (or motive power depot) on the German and Austrian railways. It is an installation that carries out the maintenance, minor repairs, refuelling and cleaning of locomotives and other motive power. In addition it organises the deployment of locomotives and crews. In the Deutsche Bahn, a Bahnbetriebswerk is known today as a Betriebshof; the ÖBB refer to it as a Zugförderungsstelle (Zf). Many other countries simply use the term 'depot'. The smaller facility, the Lokomotivstation (also Einsatzstelle or Lokbahnhof) akin to the British sub-depot or stabling point, is affiliated to a Bahnbetriebswerk.
N.B. The shortened form Betriebswerk is also used and both are commonly abbreviated to Bw or BW. The plural is Bahnbetriebswerke.
A Bahnbetriebswerk (also abbreviated to Betriebswerk, Bw or BW) is the German term for a depot where the maintenance of railway locomotives and other rolling stock is carried out. It is roughly equivalent to a locomotive shed, running shed or motive power depot. These were of great importance during the steam locomotive era to ensure the smooth running of locomotive-hauled services. Bahnbetriebswerke had a large number of facilities in order to be able to carry out their various maintenance tasks. As a result, they needed a lot of staff and were often the largest employers in the area.
''The history and present-day importance of such depots is covered in the Bahnbetriebswerk article.''
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