What Is That Crack On The Ice 1/2

Do you know why the ICE 1/2 have a crack on the front? I have always wonder why it is there

 

Do you mean the seams in the nose? Those are doors to give access to a coupler in case the loco need towed from the front as far as I know.

 

I mean the cut under the window on the red line

 

Do you mean the air intake?


It is like sports cars, the faster you drive, the more air flows in, cooling the systems.

 

The only thing is, some of.thwm don't have it, and the ICE 3 doesn't have it

 

here is an example with the ice 2, the left one doesn't have it, but the right one has the crack

 

ICE 1 & 2 have the air intake only on the left side and the ICE 3 is a totally different concept,
it don't have the regular power cars at the ends.

The design goal of the ICE 3 (Class 403) was to create a higher-powered, lighter train than its predecessors.
This was achieved by distributing its 16 traction motors underneath the whole train.

 

That would make sense, because I thought that these trains have got damaged, when they've got repaired

 

Unfortunately, I do not know what exactly the air intake is for but it was always part of the ICE 1 & 2 design.
Except for the very first ICE, the ICExperimental or ICE/V. This 1985 prototype did not have the air intake.
It was retired and replaced by the ICE S in 1998.