Uerdingen railbus
Encyclopedia
Deutsche Bundesbahn
The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany on September 7, 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft '...
and private railways after the Second World War. These vehicles were diesel-powered
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
, twin-axle railbuses of light construction. The diesel motors were built into the chassis underneath the vehicle. The VT 95 (later DB Class 795) and VT 98 (later DB Class 798) of the former Deutsche Bundesbahn
Deutsche Bundesbahn
The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany on September 7, 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft '...
in particular, are associated with this concept. These vehicles were employed in passenger train duties on branch lines where steam
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
or diesel train operations were less profitable. Including the units built under licence, a total of 1,492 power cars were built from 1950 to 1971; and the total number of units, including trailer and driving cars, was 3,306.
The majority of these vehicles were built by the Waggonfabrik Uerdingen. However, due to the large numbers ordered, vehicles were also made by other coach builders such as MAN, although these factories could offer their own classes of railbus like the MAN railbus, and in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
they were built by CAF
Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles
Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles is a rail equipment manufacturer based in Beasain in the Basque Country, Spain. Equipment manufactured by CAF includes light rail vehicles, rapid transit trains, railroad cars and locomotives, as well as variable gauge axles that can be fitted on any...
, Macosa
MACOSA
Material y Construcciones S.A. or MACOSA was a Spanish heavy-engineering company, mainly producing products for the rail industry. From 1989 onwards the organisation was named Meinfesa and became part of the GEC-Alstom group of companies, until 2005 when it became part of the Vossloh group as...
, and Verdingen as FER-560/FRC-560 Ferrobús (railbus).
The railbus, much loved by passengers, was also nicknamed the Rote Brummer (Red Buzzer) because of the loud noise it made when driving. In North Germany the railbus was also often known as the Ferkeltaxe (Piglet Taxi). Amongst railway fans it was also called the Retter der Nebenbahnen (Branch Line Saviour).
Prototypes
In 1950 the Deutsche BundesbahnDeutsche Bundesbahn
The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany on September 7, 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft '...
placed twelve single-motored prototypes in a total of three different models; eleven units had a wheelbase
Wheelbase
In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels.- Road :In automobiles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the center of the front wheel and the center of the rear wheel...
of 4.50 m, the twelfth had a wheelbase of 6.0 m, which became the standard on the production vehicles. They were braked using a foot brake and had double doors. The prototypes were given operating numbers VT 95 901 to 911 and 912, the latter was soon renumbered to VT 95 9112 because of its longer wheelbase. Suitable trailer cars were also placed in service.
VT 95 series (Class 795, single motor)
The VT 95.9 was developed based on the experience gained with the prototypes and was delivered in 1952 by Waggonfabrik Uerdingen. 557 single-motored Class VT 95.9 units were built, as well as 564 Class VB 142 trailer cars and 60 two-wheeled railbus trailers for the transportation of luggage.Its furnishings are very simple and resemble those in a bus (hence the name Schienenbus or railbus): one large open coach shared also by the engine driver, seats which can be folded two-ways depending on the direction of travel and simple lighting from bare light bulbs with no covers. The production vehicles were braked using a driver's brake valve
Driver's brake valve
The driver's brake valve is a complicated valve system for controlling the compressed air brake of a railway vehicle. Depending on its setting, it controls whether the brake pipes of a compressed air brake are evacuated and thus whether braking is applied or maintained; or if the brake pipes are...
.
The vehicles had a Büssing motor and six gears.
They had centre buffer couplings and Stoßfederbügel instead of buffers.
15 VT 95 railbuses and 15 VB 142 trailer cars were delivered to the railways in Saarland
Saarland
Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...
in 1956. They were painted in DB red livery with the inscription SAAR. On the annexation of the Saarland into the Federal Republich of Germany these railbuses were taken over by the Bundesbahn.
In 1968 the vehicles were reclassified into Class 795 (power car) and Class 995 (trailer car).
Contrary to usual operating practice the VT 95 could also be coupled to two VB 142 trailers.
VT 98 series (Classes 798 and BR 796, two motors)
The VT 98.9 evolved from the VT 95.9 which, with its single motor, was too underpowered for many lines. The VT 98.9 was therefore fitted with two driving motors. Because this variant of the railbus was fitted with normal buffersBuffer (rail transport)
A buffer is a part of the buffers-and-chain coupling system used on the railway systems of many countries, among them most of those in Europe, for attaching railway vehicles to one another....
and screw couplings, it could haul other types of wagon or be placed at the end of other trains hauled by other locomotives.
Büssing
Büssing
Büssing was a German bus and truck manufacturer established by Heinrich Büssing at Braunschweig in 1903. Büssing's first truck was a 2 ton payload machine powered by a 2-cylinder gasoline engine and featuring worm drive...
Type 10 underfloor motors were installed in all units, the same engine as those on the Büssing Type D2U double-decker buses used in Berlin. The six-way gearbox was suppliled by ZF Friedrichshafen
ZF Friedrichshafen
ZF Friedrichshafen AG, also known as ZF Group, and commonly abbreviated to ZF, is a German public company headquartered in Friedrichshafen, in the south-west German region of Baden-Württemberg....
.
In addition to the 329 power cars, 220 VB 98 trailer cars with luggage compartments, 100 VB 98s without luggage compartments and 321 VS 98 driving cars were produced. In the DB they were mainly used in a VT+VB+VS configuaration. However there were also two-unit VT+VS formations as well as longer rakes of up to six units: VT+VB+VS+VT+VB+VS. In 1968 they were reclassified into Class 798, the trailers became 998.0-3 and driving cars 998.6-9. On the latter the serial numbers were increased by 600 (e.g. VS 98 001 became 998 601-9).
A few VT were modernised and were given a special white and mint green livery. These railbuses worked in Chiemgau
Chiemgau
Chiemgau is the common name of a geographic area in Upper Bavaria. It refers to the foothills of the Alps between the rivers Inn and Traun, with lake Chiemsee at its center. The political districts that contain the Chiemgau are Rosenheim and Traunstein...
(Aschau
Aschau im Chiemgau
Aschau im Chiemgau is a municipality in the district of Rosenheim in Bavaria in Germany....
–Prien
Prien am Chiemsee
Prien am Chiemsee is a municipality in the district of Rosenheim, in Bavaria, Germany.-Geography:It is situated on the western shore of the Chiemsee lake, 16 km east of Rosenheim.-Famous resident:...
), as did the vehicles of the Ulmer Spatz. Otherwise the railbuses were painted in red, the typical DB colour for motive power units.
In 1988 47 power cars, 23 trailer cars and 43 driving cars were converted for one-man operation. They were given pneumatic door-closing equipment and a ticket counter for the engine driver. These railbuses were redesignated as Class 796.
Special class VT 97.9 (Class 797, rack railway vehicle)
Eight power cars were designed as rack railwayRack railway
A rack-and-pinion railway is a railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with this rack rail...
engines and designated as Class VT 97.9; the six driving cars as VS 97 001 to 97 006. Their top speed climbing uphill was 15 km/h on th rack section, otherwise it was 90 km/h. The VTs were used on the Honau–Lichtenstein rack railway in the Swabian Jura and, from 1964 to 1965, VT 97 901 was even employed in goods duties on the Passau–Wegscheid line due to the lack of suitable locomotives. After the closure of rack railway routes the cogwheel drive was removed. The vehicles were once more designated as VT 97.9 or from 1968 as 797. Their area of operations included the branch line from Göppingen
Göppingen
Göppingen is a town in southern Germany, part of the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg. It is the capital of the district Göppingen. It is situated at the bottom of the Hohenstaufen mountain, in the valley of the river Fils....
to Boll
Bad Boll
Bad Boll is a municipality in the district of Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.-History:Since the Middle Ages there has been a thermal spa there, at one time a hunting lodge of the Dukes of Württemberg. In the 19th Century, the spa was acquired by Pastor Johann Christoph...
(the Voralbbahn), until this line was closed on 27 May 1989.
Passenger services
These railbuses were used on almost every branch line and for feeder services on many main lines.Its last regular work on passenger services with the Deutsche Bahn AG finished in 2000 at Bahnbetriebswerk
Bahnbetriebswerk
A Bahnbetriebswerk is the equivalent of a locomotive 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...
Tübingen
Tübingen
Tübingen is a traditional university town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, on a ridge between the Neckar and Ammer rivers.-Geography:...
. These were twin-motored VT 98.9 versions, most of the single-motored VT 95.9 units had already been retired by 1980. In Köln-Nippes a 795 was still being used until 1983 for railway workers.
Departmental vehicles
Many Uerdingen railbuses were converted into railway department cars. For example, the prototype VT 95 906 was converted into an Indusi measurement car (and redesignated as DB Class 724DB Class 724
The Class 724 operated by the German national railway, Deutsche Bundesbahn, was a railway department vehicle used for testing Indusi installations...
). It was operated out of the signalling workshop at Wuppertal
Wuppertal
Wuppertal is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in and around the Wupper river valley, and is situated east of the city of Düsseldorf and south of the Ruhr area. With a population of approximately 350,000, it is the largest city in the Bergisches Land...
.
Other converted Uerdingen railbuses are sometimes used today as cars for rail testing, track measurement and LZB
Linienzugbeeinflussung
Linienzugbeeinflussung is a cab signalling andtrain protection system used on selected German and Austrian railway linesas well as the AVE in Spain.In Germany, the system is mandatory on all lines where trains exceed speeds of...
measurement, and as tool vans or signalling maintenance vehicles.
Museum vehicles
Many of these robust and well-loved railbuses were sold to railway societies and museums, and are still working today in museum duties.For example, railbuses are still used by the Deutsche Bahn, even if the actual vehicles are provided by railway societies. One multiple is painted in Regionalbahn
RegionalBahn
The Regionalbahn is a type of local passenger train in Germany.-Service:Regionalbahn trains usually call at all stations on a given line, with the exception of RB trains within S-Bahn networks, these may only call at selected stations...
colours and runs on summer weekends for tourists on the Schwäbische Albbahn and the Donautalbahn between Ulm Hauptbahnhof
Ulm Hauptbahnhof
is the Hauptbahnhof or central railway station for the city of Ulm, which lies on the Danube, on the border of the German states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. It is on ICE line from Stuttgart to Munich and the Paris –Budapest Magistrale for Europe line that is supported by the European Union...
and Kleinengstingen. These trains run in the timetable as an entirely normal Regionalbahn service; The first car has a plate on it with the notice "im Auftrag der DB" (under contract to the DB). To be consistent, all the normal DB local fares (and at times the NALDO and DING
Donau-Iller-Nahverkehrsverbund
The Donau-Iller-Nahverkehrsverbund is a regional transport cooperative that coordinates tickets and fares among all transport operators in the area of the city of Ulm and the districts of Alb-Donau, Biberach and Neu-Ulm....
combined fares) apply. The former Chiemgaubahn railbuses, which were painted in white and mint green, are used for this, along with others. This formation is also called the Ulmer Spatz. In addition another set, in its original livery, is used between Münsingen aund Schelklingen, which comprises the 796 625 from the Eisenbahnfreunde Zollernbahn and two 997s belonging to the Freunde der Zahnradbahn Honau-Lichtenstein. This set is known as the Roter Brummer (Red Buzzer).
Other vehicles are in service with the:
- Bochum-Dahlhausen Railway Museum,
- Passau Railway Society (Passauer EisenbahnfreundePassauer EisenbahnfreundeThe Passauer Eisenbahnfreunde or PEF is a German railway society with the aim of preserving historic railway vehicles in working order in order to operate them....
), - German Steam Locomotive MuseumGerman Steam Locomotive MuseumThe German Steam Locomotive Museum or DDM is located at the foot of the famous Schiefe Ebene ramp on the Ludwig South-North Railway in Neuenmarkt, Upper Franconia. This region is in northern Bavaria, Germany...
, - Bavarian Railway MuseumBavarian Railway MuseumThe Bavarian Railway Museum is a railway museum based in the old locomotive sheds at Nördlingen station in Bavaria, Germany. It is home to more than 100 original railway vehicles and has been located in the depot at Nördlingen since 1985.- History of the locomotive shed :The shed, itself, has a...
, - Upper Hessian Railway Society (Oberhessische Eisenbahnfreunde e. V.),
- Historic Railway, FrankfurtHistoric Railway, FrankfurtThe Historic Railway, Frankfurt or HEF is a German museum railway in Frankfurt am Main. The society was founded in 1978 and its aim is the preservation of historic, valuable railway materiel in working order, especially steam locomotives, as technical and cultural monuments.Since 1979 there has...
, - Alme Valley Forest Railway (Waldbahn Almetal),
- Railbus Society (Hönnetaler Eisenbahnfreunde),
- Rodachtalbahn from Steinwiesen to NordhalbenKronach–Nordhalben railwayThe Kronach–Nordhalben railway also known as the Rodach Valley Railway in the Franconian Forest in Germany is a single-tracked branch line from Kronach via Steinwiesen to Nordhalben with a total length of ....
. - Cologne-Bonn Railway Society (Köln-Bonner Eisenbahn-Freunde or KBEF)
- South Limburg Steam Train Society (Zuid-Limburgse Stoomtrein Maatschappij)
- Zollernbahn Railway Society (Eisenbahnfreunde Zollernbahn)
- Seelze Railbus Society (IG Schienenbus Seelze or ISS)
Uerdingen railbuses are also owned by the
- Nuremberg Transport MuseumNuremberg Transport MuseumThe Nuremberg Transport Museum is based in Nuremberg, Germany, and consists of the Deutsche Bahn's own DB Museum and the Museum of Communications . It also has two satellite museums at Koblenz-Lützel and Halle...
- one VT 95 rake and one VT 98 rake, - Deutsches Technikmuseum in BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
- a VT 98 exhibit, - Historic Motor Locomotive Working Group (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Historische Brennkraftlokomotiven) - a steel-sprung VT 98,
- Honau-Lichtenstein Rack Railway Society (Freunde der Zahnradbahn Honau–Lichtenstein) - two VT 97s,
- Hamm Railway Society - one of the few still working VT 95 railbuses on long loan to the Freundeskreis für Eisenbahnen, Münster,
- DGEG at Bochum-Dahlhausen - a VT 95 in extremely poor condition after a shunting accident,
- Pfalzbahn GmbH - 2 VT 98, 1 trailer and 1 driving car with office.
German private railways
Eisenbahnen und Verkehrsbetriebe Elbe-Weser
EVB Eisenbahnen und Verkehrsbetriebe Elbe-Weser GmbH is a German railway and bus company offering passenger and freight services that is headquartered in Zeven and Bremervörde...
and the AKN Railway
AKN Eisenbahn
AKN Eisenbahn AG is a railway company operating commuter and freight trains in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. The company headquarters is located in Kaltenkirchen...
for local services.
In 1993 the Düren Kreisbahn (DKB) bought ten VT 98, modernised them, painted them blue and white and placed them in service on the Rurtalbahn until their duties were subsumed by RegioSprinter
RegioSprinter
The RegioSprinter is a German diesel railcar built by Siemens-Duewag for rapid regional railway services. Originally the RegioSprinter was designated as a Regional Combustion-engined Railbus by Duewag AG....
s in 1995.
The Vt 203 was sold by the Düren Kreisbahn to the Hümmlinger Kreisbahn museum railway. The museums is refurbishing the railbus to make it operational again, giving it the DB number 798 514, and will work it between Werlte and Lathen.
Other second-hand VT 98s were bought by the Prignitz Railway– both from Deutsche Bahn and the DKB – painted in a blue andred livery and used on lines in Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
and Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. Since 2003 the railbuses have been replaced however by Regio-Shuttle RS1
Stadler Regio-Shuttle RS1
The Stadler Regio-Shuttle RS1 is the first widely-used, new generation, diesel railcar in Germany for local railway services. Its most characteristic feature is the trapezium-shaped window frames...
s; only one power car (T11) is still working and available for specials.
At present the Deutsche Regionaleisenbahn works the Düben-Heide Railway between Wittenberg and Bad Schmiedeberg with a railbus running scheduled services.
Export
- LuxembourgLuxembourgLuxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
: The Chemins de Fer LuxembourgeoisChemins de Fer LuxembourgeoisSociété Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois is the national railway company of Luxembourg. In 2005, the company carried approximately 14.1 million passengers and 11.7 million tonnes of goods...
(CFL) bought ten prototype power cars with trailers. One set is used as a museum train at the museum railway of the Industrial and Railway Park at Fond-de-Gras in Luxembourg. - AustriaAustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
: The Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) also used these railbuses, the 5081. These were also procured by the MontafonerbahnMontafonerbahnThe Montafon Railway is a privately owned railway company that operates services from Bregenz to Schruns, via Bludenz.The livery of their trains is red and yellow.The company is headquartered in Schruns....
BludenzBludenzBludenz is a town in the state of Vorarlberg in Austria. The town, surrounded by mountains, lies at the meeting point of five different valleys: The Klostertal, The Montafon, The Walgau, The Brandnertal, The Groß Walsertal....
–SchrunsSchrunsSchruns is the main village of the Montafon valley in Vorarlberg, Austria, in the Bludenz district.In the west, one can see one of the most popular hiking and climbing mountains in Vorarlberg, the Zimba, which is called the "Vorarlberger Matterhorn"....
and the Graz-Köflach Railway. After buying a small batch they were made under licence by Simmering-Graz-Pauker and the Jenbacher Werke. - Other vehicles were delivered to YugoslaviaYugoslaviaYugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
and operated by the JŽ (SFRY), where they were known as the Šinobus. These vehicles were inherited by their successor companies (see the HŽ series 7221HŽ series 72217221 series was a diesel motor railbus on Hrvatske Željeznice.This series was used on branch lines with low traffic. This series was very economic. Unfortunately, it was very uncomfortable. The motor was very loud when running at higher speeds.This series was conceived to be modular...
). Several are still used regularly today in SerbiaSerbiaSerbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
. - Several multiple-units were delivered to SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. - TurkeyTurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
: Units retired by the Deutsche Bahn were sold to the Turkish State Railways (TCDD).
Successor
The Uerdingen railbus's successor from the end of the 1980s was the Class 628DB Class 628
The DB Class 628 is a twin-car, diesel multiple unit operated by the Deutsche Bahn AG for local passenger rail services.- Design :...
, which is still in widespread use today, although it is being largely replaced by more the modern multiples like the (Bombardier Talent, Alstom LHB Coradia LINT
Alstom LHB Coradia LINT
The Alstom Coradia LINT is a diesel single-unit or two-unit articulated passenger railcar manufactured by Alstom. The acronym LINT is short for the German "Leichter Innovativer Nahverkehrstriebwagen"...
and Siemens Desiro).
Sources
- Rolf Löttgers: Der Uerdinger Schienenbus – Nebenbahnretter und Exportschlager. Franckh's Eisenbahnbibliothek, Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1985, ISBN 3-440-05463-2
- Die Schienenbusse der DB – VT 95/98. EK-Spezial. EK Verlag, Freiburg 1990
- Jörg Hajt: Abschied vom Schienenbus. Heel Verlag, Königswinter 1998, ISBN 3-89365-664-2
- 50 Jahre Uerdinger Schienenbus. Eisenbahnkurier Special 56. EK Verlag, Freiburg 2000
- Malte Werning: Schienenbusse - VT 95–VT 98: Triebwagen-Veteranen der 50er Jahre. GeraMond 2001. ISBN 3-7654-7102-X
- Jürgen-Ulrich Ebel, Josef Högemann, Rolf Löttgers: Schienenbusse aus Uerdingen. Bd. 1., Technik und Geschichte bei DB, Privatbahnen und im Ausland.EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2001, ISBN 3-88255-221-2 ISBN-3-88255-222-2,
- Jürgen-Ulrich Ebel, Josef Högemann, Rolf Löttgers: Schienenbusse aus Uerdingen. Bd. 2., Einsatzgeschichte der Baureihen VT 95, VT 97 und VT 98. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2002, ISBN 3-88255-222-0
- Jürgen Krantz, Roland Meier: Alles über den Schienenbus. transpress Verlag, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-613-71313-0
External links
- „Der Nebenbahnretter“
- Photos of the VT95 (BR 795) in the European railway picture gallery
- Photos of the VT98 (BR 798) the European railway picture gallery
- www.roter-brummer.de Extensive information on German railbuses
- Ulm Spatz
- www.fsbmenden.de Menden Railbus Society (Förderverein Schienenbus Menden)
- Historical Motor Locomotive Working Group (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Historische Brennkraftlokomotiven)
- The Kasbach Valley railway (Kasbachtalbahn) in Rhineland-Palatinate
- Seelze Railbus Society (Interessengemeinschaft Schienenbus Seelze)
- Audio CD, includes an MP3 sample of a Class 796 unit's noise.
- There is a relevant English-language forum at Railways of Germany