BVG series C
| U-Bahn Berlin large profile series C |
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|---|---|
 Class CII train in the Friedrichsfelde workshop
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| Numbering: | 99–112, 515–658 (Tw) 250–268, 350–353 (Bw) |
| Number: | 12 Tw, 12 Bw (CI) 114 Tw (CII) 30 Tw (CIII) 2 Tw, 1 Bw (CIV) |
| Manufacturer: | Busch , C&U , Schöndorff , Gebr. Credé , Dessauer Waggonfabrik , Wegmann , O&K , LHW , Steinfurth, Gotha |
| Year of construction (s): | 1926–1927 (CI) 1929 (CII) 1930 (CIII) 1930–1931 (CIV) |
| Retirement: | 1975 |
| Axis formula : | Bo'2 '(Tw CII) Bo'Bo' (Tw CI, CIII, CIV) 2'2 '(Bw CI, CIV) |
| Gauge : | 1435 mm (Berlin) 1524 mm (Moscow) |
| Length over coupling: | 18,400 mm |
| Length: | 18,000 mm |
| Height: | 3425 mm |
| Width: | 2650 mm |
| Trunnion Distance: | 12,000 mm |
| Bogie axle base: | 2200 mm |
| Empty mass: | 36.5 t (Tw CI) 25.5 t (Bw CI) |
| Payload: | 50.0 t (Tw CI) 39.0 t (Bw CI) |
| Top speed: | 60 km / h |
| Hourly output : | 200 kW (CII) 280 kW (CIII) |
| Wheel diameter: | 900 mm |
| Power system : | 750 V = |
| Power transmission: | Lateral power rail coated from below |
| Number of traction motors: | 2 (CI, CII, CIV) 4 (CIII) |
| Brake: | Axle caliper brake block brake |
| Control: |
Cam switch gear contactor control |
| Coupling type: | Scharfenberg coupling |
| Seats: | 47 |
| Standing room: | 110 |
| Floor height: | 1050 mm |
The C series cars of the Berlin U-Bahn were large-profile vehicles that were in use from 1926. Compared to the previously designed B series , the cars were 18 meters longer than their predecessors. They were therefore also referred to as long wagons .
In their time, the cars were the most modern in the Berlin subway network and served, among other things, as a model for the A series of the Moscow metro . Due to the technical similarities between the Berlin and Moscow subway systems, 120 cars were brought to the Soviet Union as reparations after the end of the war .
The vehicles were in service in the USSR until 1965 and in Berlin until 1975.
Types
There are officially only three different types of C-cars. The type CI wagons delivered first should be viewed more as test trains, as almost all of the vehicles were different in terms of their wagon construction. The two following types CII and CIII, however, were the series vehicles. The latter type CIV was initially run as a CI, but differed greatly from the rest of the vehicles, as its car bodies were made of aluminum.
CI
In 1926 the North-South Railway made its first attempts with the new vehicles. The decisive factor for the procurement of the long wagons was, among other things, the use of the platform edges, which at that time was still 80 meters on the north-south runway. A class B six-car train would have made optimum use of this with a total length of 78.9 meters (with 696 passengers), but this meant that the driver had to brake very precisely at every stop. The new long wagons, on the other hand, should make better use of the space with the least possible loss of capacity, so that there is more free space for the driver along the edge of the platform.
Due to their length, the trains could only be formed with four CI cars. Such a train reached a total length of 73.6 meters with a capacity of 650 passengers.
In addition to this operational optimization, the wagons also served as test wagons for use on another line under construction, the so-called GN-Bahn (later line D, today U8 ).
Of the vehicles designated as CI, a total of eight railcars and sidecars were delivered in 1926, followed by another four railcars and four sidecars in 1927. The cars were coupled to six trains with four cars each. Structurally, they differed greatly, for example the third four-car train delivered had barrel roofs (in contrast to the skylight roofs on the other trains), and the fourth train had four doors on each side of the car.
Since the cars were not to be used in conjunction with the B-cars, the electrical equipment could also be changed and modernized. The doors, which close automatically with compressed air, were new and had not previously been used in any other rapid transit system.
During the Second World War, none of the 24 individual wagons was destroyed, so that they could continue to be used almost completely intact. Due to the order of the Soviet military administration to provide a total of 120 cars as reparations for the Moscow Metro, all vehicles of this series were loaded in September 1945 and brought to the Soviet Union. After the necessary adaptation measures, they were in use until 1965 and were then scrapped.
CII
After the successful testing of the CI wagons, the North-South Railway initiated the construction of a further 114 individual wagons. Since the CII railcars were only partially motorized, i.e. only one bogie was driven, they could not be used with sidecars. Therefore, only railcars were procured. They had skylight roofs and three doors on each side of the car with a clear opening width of 870 mm. A door locking system based on the CI type was not installed until the late 1930s.
The vehicles received conventional cam switches . Axle caliper brakes were initially used as mechanical brakes. However, since these often had to be readjusted, they were later replaced by block brakes .
Another special feature of the structure were the hinged cab walls, which could be folded away when not in use to create more space. The partition walls to the passenger compartment were moved in such a way that only the operating devices were not accessible to the passengers. This facility was usually used for the cars running in the middle of the train. The capacity of a six-car train that can be used after the platform has been extended increased to a total of 1050 people.
Only railcar 569 was destroyed during the war. A further 69 railcars were brought to the Soviet Union after 1945 and adapted until 1949, after which they operated until 1965.
The vehicles that remained in Berlin were reconditioned after the war; when the administration was separated in 1948, they came into the holdings of the West Berlin BVG. In 1958 they were renumbered and operated until 1975.
A total of three railcars have been preserved. Cars 563 and 588 (or 1316 and 1338) have now been converted into a museum train. The third railcar 603 (or 1352) is in the monument hall of the German Museum of Technology in Berlin .
CIII
In 1930, during the construction of line E (today U5 ), it turned out that the number of CII cars would not be sufficient. Therefore, BVG, newly founded in 1929 as the sole operator of the underground, acquired additional vehicles for the line. While the CIII are outwardly identical to the CII, they have some technical differences, so that mixed operation was not possible.
On the one hand, the new vehicles had fully electric contactor control and an electrodynamic resistance brake . This was supplemented by a spring-loaded brake . The cars were also fully motorized, so they had two powered bogies . For this, the engine output was reduced from 100 to 70 kW.
Except for railcar 519, all vehicles survived the Second World War. Of the 29 remaining cars, 27 were then brought to Moscow, only cars 524 and 544 remained in Berlin.
The two remaining Berlin railcars were converted into sidecars in 1952 and ran mixed with B-trains . The dismantling took place in 1955, but the vehicle technology of the two cars was adapted to the CII cars so that they could run together with them. The wagons were parked in 1970 and 1975 and then scrapped. Since the Moscow CIII wagons were also scrapped after the end of their mission, no CIII has survived.
CIV
The type CIV is a CI test train that was only given this designation from 1944. The car numbers were therefore initially also assigned to the CI. The train - consisting of two motor coaches and a trailer (Tw 111 and 112; Bw 268) - was built in 1930/31 by the Busch wagon factory in Bautzen using aluminum profiles. The empty weight was thus around 12% less than that of the other C-cars. Outwardly, the train attracted attention through the barrel roof and the more pronounced corners on the car body and windows.
In 1938, the sidecar was rebuilt and fitted with 2 + 1 transverse seats. The railcars were also converted in 1944 and provided with an AEG multiple control. Shortly before the end of the war, the sidecar was destroyed and the two railcars damaged. Technically, the vehicles would probably have made it to Moscow as well, but their condition ensured that the two vehicles stayed in Berlin. There they were processed and used again from 1953. The two cars mostly ran as a separate two-car train and were parked around 1970. The scrapping took place in 1971 and 1975 respectively.
Post-war development
West Berlin
Before the end of the war, all C-cars were withdrawn from line E and distributed to lines C and D. Due to this fact, the Berlin wagons that were not transported to Moscow remained with the West Berlin transport company, as this was responsible for the operation on the two lines. Most of the vehicles were reconditioned, with the exception of the CIV train, the wagons were standardized to the status of the CII. As the reparations payments resulted in large gaps in the numbering scheme, the number was renumbered in 1957/58. The C-cars were given the 1300 numbers. Although there were no longer any sidecars, the railcars were only given even numbers.
The CIV train was converted for various test drives in the 1950s. The technology used was also used for testing the first post-war D series cars , which were delivered from 1957.
During the early years of the Cold War , the C-cars operated almost without exception on line C. The reason for this was the risk that there was a connecting tunnel between lines D and E at Alexanderplatz , the so-called orphan tunnel . The West-BVG feared the technology theft by the BVG-Ost, which could have transferred a train to their rail network. Only with the delivery of the D-trains and the simultaneous retirement of the B-cars could the C-cars be transferred to the U8 and run as booster trains between Kottbusser Tor and Leinestrasse.
Between 1970 and 1975 the vehicles were gradually taken out of service.
Use in Moscow
The total of 120 cars intended for the Moscow Metro were loaded in September 1945 and brought to the Soviet capital by rail. There, the wagons were adapted to the new conditions: They were retrained to the Russian broad gauge of 1524 mm, the car body received the typical blue paint and the door handles were removed. The doors were opened and closed by the driver. The designation of the series was type В (the Cyrillic В [W], the third letter of the alphabet, arranged after the then types А (railcar) and Б (B, control car), which were built in 1930 for the opening of the Moscow Metro). Until around 1980 all other types were named in alphabetical order.
The conversion work was completed by 1949 so that the cars could be used in passenger traffic. The main area of application was the Filjowskaya line . The cars were used until 1965 and then mostly scrapped. A two-car train has been preserved on the Metro as a museum train. In 2003, another C-car was discovered at the St. Petersburg Metro , which was probably used there as a workshop train after the end of its mission in Moscow. One car is still in use today in the Tbilisi Metro as a measuring car.
In Russian Saint Petersburg 2012 85th anniversary of the BVG Series C was coined a commemorative medal in honor.
numbering
A total of 158 motor coaches and 13 sidecars were built between 1926 and 1931. Of these, two railcars were lost in the war and 108 railcars and 12 sidecars went to the Soviet Union after 1945.
When the wagons were renumbered, the remaining railcars were all given even numbers. Odd car numbers, on the other hand, were intended for sidecars (which were still available in other series).
| Type | Delivery year | Number old |
Number new |
Whereabouts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CI | 1926 | 99-106 250-253, 350-353 |
completely retired to Moscow in 1965 |
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| 1927 | 107-110 254-267 |
completely retired to Moscow in 1965 |
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| CII | 1929 | 545-658 | 1302-1388 | 569 retired after war damage 546, 547, 549–556, 560, 564, 567, 570–573, 575, 579, 580, 583–586, 589–591, 593–595, 599, 600, 605–607, 611– 615, 617-621, 623, 625-629, 631, 633-636, 639, 642, 644-651, 654, 656, 658 to Moscow 1966 retired in Moscow 1975 retired in Berlin |
| CIII | 1930 | 515-544 | 1390-1392 | 519 retired after war damage 515-518, 520-523, 525-544 to Moscow 1975 retired in Berlin |
| CIV | 1930-1931 | 111-112 268 |
1394-1396 | 268 retired after war damage retired 1974 |
See also
literature
- Gustav Kemmann : New cars for the Berlin North-South Railway. In: Verkehrstechnik. 6th year, issue 39a (September 30, 1925), pp. 767-772.
- Burghardt: The coaches on the Berlin rapid transit line Alexanderplatz – Friedrichsfelde. In: Verkehrstechnik. 12th year, issue 12 (March 20, 1931), pp. 154–155.
- Type C Berlin subway car in the Soviet Union. In: Verkehrsgeschichtliche Blätter . Volume 34, Issue 5 (September / October 2007), pp. 113–124.
Web links
- The car park of the Berlin subway, series CI to C-IV
- Type CI – III berliner-verkehr.de
- The whereabouts of the vehicles berliner-verkehrsseiten.de
Individual evidence