ASEAG 1001-1011

ASEAG 1001-1011 (Talbot open-plan car)
Numbering:	1001-1011
Number:	11
Manufacturer:	Talbot wagon factory , Aachen
Year of construction (s):	1956/57
Retirement:	1974
Axis formula :	Bo'Bo '
Gauge :	1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Length:	14.1 m
Width:	2.2 m
Trunnion Distance:	6.0 m
Bogie axle base:	1.8 m
Empty mass:	16.6 t
Top speed:	60 km / h
Performance indicator:	4 × 50 kW
Power system :	600 V DC
Power transmission:	Overhead line
Number of traction motors:	4th
Seats:	33
Standing room:	97

The ASEAG open-plan cars 1001-1011 were open- plan cars from ASEAG , the operator of the Aachen tram . They were procured from the local manufacturer Talbot from 1956 as the last new-build vehicles for ASEAG and were used until tram operations were discontinued in September 1974.

history

In terms of route length, the ASEAG network was one of the largest German tram networks in the early 1950s . A large part of the routes, however, consisted of single-track cross - country tram lines , which opened up the Aachen area and the communities of the Voreifel at the edge of the road or on their own railroad , mostly only served every half hour or hour. Only in Aachen itself did ASEAG serve a largely double-track city network at frequent intervals. From 1955, the city of Aachen followed the trend of traffic planning at that time, with the conversion to a car-friendly city . According to the plans at the time, only a trunk network of three lines was to remain from the extensive tram network. It was also foreseeable that the closure of the remaining routes would take a few more years. Since ASEAG received its last new multiple units after the war, apart from a few body cars on old chassis, a replacement of the outdated rolling stock was necessary despite the discontinuation plans. In particular, it was necessary to replace the older vehicles without magnetic rail brakes and with wooden boxes, as such vehicles could no longer be used according to the new BOStrab , which was valid from 1960 .

ASEAG therefore commissioned Talbot to develop a large-capacity multiple unit that should take into account the special conditions of the Aachen network. The electrical equipment was provided by Garbe, Lahmeyer and Kiepe . The first cars were delivered at the end of 1956 and initially tested in the city network, for example on lines 4 to Diepenbenden and 7 to Preusweg . After delivery of all eleven vehicles ordered, they were stationed in the fire depot and used on the routes of the Brander network . They served all lines of the group of 5, in addition to line 15 from Ronheide to Brand, line 25 to Stolberg and line 35 to Kornelimünster and Walheim . ASEAG did not procure suitable sidecars , it merely adapted a few pre-war sidecars with matching BSI compact couplings , which were first used by ASEAG with the new vehicles. A number of four-axle sidecars supplied by Talbot in 1942, which were originally procured for use on route 24 to Eupen behind former SNCV railcars, were also used behind the open- plan cars. Further vehicles of the series were no longer procured, the eleven railcars were to remain the last newly acquired tram cars of ASEAG.

The plans of the 1950s were largely implemented by ASEAG and the city of Aachen from 1957 onwards, and at the end of 1961 only two sections of the Brander and Eschweiler networks were left of the large overland network. In 1966 ASEAG closed the Brand depot. The open-plan cars of the 1001–1011 series came together with the other vehicles stationed there to the Aachen depot on Scheibenstrasse. They initially operated the Brander network until lines 25 and 35 were closed on January 8, 1967. After that they only served city lines 5 and 15 between Ronheide and Brand. Despite the unclear future prospects of the Aachen tram, additional vehicles were needed to replace the last pre-war trams. ASEAG procured articulated trams from the Mönchengladbach tram and the Oberhausen tram that were no longer needed due to the shutdown . This made it possible to dispense with the last sidecars and the articulated cars took over route 15. From 1969 onwards, the Talbot cars only served line 5 between Elisenbrunnen and Trierer Platz during the evening rush hour (HVZ) to Brand. Like the articulated trams, they were given the new red color scheme that has been characteristic of all ASEAG vehicles since the late 1960s.

Line 5 was briefly extended to Königsberger Strasse in 1971, but was discontinued for the 1973/74 winter schedule and replaced by buses. The Talbot open-plan cars then only drove during rush hour as emergency vehicles between Elisenbrunnen and Königsberger Straße on the route of the last Aachen tram line. On September 28, 1974, line 15 from Vaals to Brand, the last Aachen tram route, was finally closed . The 11 Talbot open-plan cars were used for the last time on this day. After the termination, ASEAG sold seven railcars (1003, 1004, 1005, 1008, 1009, 1010, 1011) to the Manx Electric Railway on the Isle of Man . This only used the electrical equipment and thus modernized the railcars of the Snaefell Mountain Railway . The car bodies were scrapped. Two railcars (1002, 1007) came to the German Tram Museum in Wehmingen , the predecessor of today's Hanover Tram Museum in Wehmingen , where they were scrapped in 1988 and 2006 respectively. The car 1006 first came to the DGEG's narrow-gauge museum in Viernheim , but it was bought back in Aachen in 1990. The car was refurbished there and has been on loan at the Liège Transport Museum since 1995 .

technology

In view of the single-track stops on both sides and the largely non-existent turning loops in the ASEAG network, only a bidirectional vehicle came into question. In addition, the vehicle should offer adequate ride comfort despite the partially inadequate track condition. Based on a similar design by DÜWAG for the Vestische tram , Talbot designed a four-axle open-plan car, but with a new type of bogie construction . These did not have pivot pins , but were supported on laterally projecting pendulum supports that rolled spherically in their bearing sockets in the curves. Torsion bar springs were built into the pendulum supports , supported by leaf springs and diverted all forces to the bogie. The axle bearings were also supported by leaf springs. This construction ensured a smooth and wear-free run even with poor track conditions.

The electrical equipment supplied by Kiepe included a pedal-operated compressed air contactor control. Unlike most of the open-plan cars supplied by DÜWAG, Talbot did not use a tandem drive, but equipped each axle with its own drive motor and Sécheron lamella drive . The vehicle also received one Knorr compressed air brake and four Knorr rail brakes. As has been customary for all Aachen railcars since the 1920s, the open-plan cars also received the Aachen regenerative brake, which was co-developed by former ASEAG director Cremer-Chapé . A 24 V lead battery provided the necessary energy for lighting and other consumers, independent of the contact wire. The doors were operated by the conductor using compressed air.

For the first time at ASEAG , the interior had a permanent conductor's seat , making the vehicle suitable for passenger flow. At the end of the 1960s, ASEAG switched the open-plan cars, like all other vehicles, to one-man operation, and tickets have since been sold by the driver. The 33 seats were arranged in a compartment and received upholstered artificial leather seats.

literature

• Reiner Bimmermann: Aachen tram. Volume 1: History. Schweers + Wall, Aachen 1999, ISBN 3-89494-116-2
• Martin Pabst: Pocket book German tramcars 2. Electric powered railcars 1931 – today. Franckh, Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3-440-05043-2 , p. 124
• Heinz-Peter Walther: The open-plan cars from Talbot , the support group for historical Aachen technology e. V., Aachen 1997, 40 pages, ISBN 3-932964-04-7

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Eckehard Frenz: The tram shutdown in the Federal Republic of Germany . In: Reinhart Köstlin, Hellmut Wollmann: Renaissance of the tram . Birkhäuser, Basel 1987, ISBN 3-7643-1729-9 , pp. 47–87, here p. 57
2. ^ Dieter Höltge, Axel Reuther: Trams and light rail vehicles in Germany. Volume 7: Aachen, Düren, Cologne . EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2001, ISBN 3-88255-338-3 , p. 95
3. ↑ Wagenparkliste Hannoversches Straßenbahn-Museum eV (HSM) , accessed on December 26, 2014
4. ^ Ottmar Krettek, Peter Herberholz: Trams in the Aachen triangle. Alba Verlag, Düsseldorf 1980, ISBN 3-87094-323-8 , p. 66
5. ^ Ottmar Krettek, Peter Herberholz: Trams in the Aachen triangle. Alba Verlag, Düsseldorf 1980, ISBN 3-87094-323-8 , p. 67