HS 160

This Trier HS 160 OSL-G, built in 1962, was converted into a diesel bus in 1969 using a Büssing engine. In the course of the restoration he got his pantographs back, but these are inoperable

The doorless side of a car from Stadtwerke Hamm

Front view of a former HS 160 OSL-G from Bielefeld, here painted by the Mürz Valley Transport Company

The HS 160 is a German omnibus or trolleybus type. It was produced from 1955 to 1963 by the Henschel works in Kassel, and in terms of the trolleybus variant it is considered the successor to the ÜHIIIs type . The type designation is based on the valid until 1957 Company name H enschel & S ohn, in addition to the solo bus there was also an articulated bus variant:

HS 160 USL	U nterflurmotor - S tadt- L inienbus with diesel engine
HS 160 USL-G	U nterflurmotor- S tadt- L inienbus with a diesel engine in G élénk construction with Hübner -Faltenbalg
HS 160 OSL	O berleitungs- S tadt- L inienbus
HS 160 OSL-G	O berleitungs- S tadt- L inienbus in G élénk construction with Hübner bellows

With its self-supporting body with aluminum sheets, the modular design, the air suspension and the front- handlebar principle, the type of bus presented in 1955 was very modern at the time. The first trolleybuses on the same basis finally followed around 1959. However, the discontinuation of bus production at Henschel, which was considered unprofitable, also meant the end of production for the HS 160 in 1963. Vehicles of this type were to be found in many West German bus and trolleybus companies until the 1970s . A number of vehicles were also exported, including a HS 160 USL series to the Belgian Congo .

Around 1960, a copy of the articulated bus HS 160 USL-G came to the Ikarus works in Hungary. At that time, an articulated bus was being built there, the high capacity of which was urgently needed for regular bus services. The construction of the now developed Ikarus 180 contains many elements of the Henschel HS 160 USL-G. There was also a two-axle variant here: Ikarus 556.

Operators of the trolleybuses

HS 160 OSL

• 11 OSL on the Osnabrück trolleybus (car numbers 216-226; converted to diesel drive in 1967/1968)
• 08 OSL at the Völklingen trolleybus
• 07 OSL at the Esslingen am Neckar trolleybus (16–22)
• 06 OSL at the Solingen trolleybus (64–69)
• 04 OSL at the Gießen trolleybus (19-22, sold to Trolleybus Freiburg in May 1968 , there car numbers 43-46)
• 02 OSL at the Wuppertal trolleybus (325 + 326)
• 02 OSL at the Moers trolleybus (116 + 117)
• 01 OSL at the Baden-Baden trolleybus (231, delivered to Esslingen in 1971, there number 23, vehicle comes from the pre-series)

HS 160 OSL-G (articulated bus)

• 7 OSL-G on the Bielefeld trolleybus (518-524; later to the Aachen trolleybus 28-34; of which 28, 32 and 33 continue to the Mürz Valley Transport Company 35, 37 and 36)
• 6 OSL-G at the Solingen trolleybus (70–75)
• 6 OSL-G for the Trier trolleybus (26–31; converted to diesel drive in 1971)
• 5 OSL-G at the Salzburg trolleybus
• 3 OSL-G at the Siegen trolleybus (67–69; later to the Aachen 35–37 trolleybus ; then to the Kaiserslautern trolleybus 132–134)
• 2 OSL-G at the Marburg trolleybus (9 + 10)
• 2 OSL-G at the Gießen trolleybus (9 + 10)
• 1 OSL-G at the Kaiserslautern trolleybus (115)

Received vehicles

At least the following eleven vehicles have survived to this day:

• Trolleybus 22 of the municipal transport company Esslingen (supervised by the Association of Stuttgarter Historische Straßenbahnen e.V., approved again since July 2019)

• Trolleybus 23 of the municipal transport company Esslingen (formerly Baden-Baden No. 231), privately owned in England (Jonathan Ward, this vehicle is from the pre-series)

• Articulated trolleybus 35 from the Kapfenberg trolleybus (formerly Aachen No. 28, formerly Bielefeld No. 518), today as a historic vehicle in Salzburg

• Articulated trolleybuses 28, 29 and 30 from Stadtwerke Trier (which were converted into diesel buses in 1971), one of which was a museum car for the Stadtwerke (No. 28) and two from the association Arbeitsgemeinschaft Nahverkehr Dortmund e. V. (No. 29 and 30). No. 29 was exhibited on loan in the Technikmuseum Kassel from August 2010 onwards. Since May 2013 it belongs to the association Arbeitsgemeinschaft Nahverkehrsgeschichte ANG e. V.

• Articulated bus 79 (HS 160 USL-G) from Stadtwerke Remscheid GmbH (formerly Deutsche Bundesbahn ) and bus 64 at the Hanoverian Tram Museum (HSM)

• Solobus (Flensburg, AFAG number 9), was owned by the Obus-Museum Solingen e. V. and has belonged to the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Nahverkehrsgeschichte ANG e. V. , the last surviving car of the subtype HS 160 USL

• Articulated bus 29 (HS 160 USL-G) of the Linzer Elektrizitäts- und Straßenbahngesellschaft (ESG, now Linz AG ), delivered on February 1, 1962, returned to Kassel on May 30, 2012

• Articulated bus 35 (HS 160 USL-G) from Wilhelmshaven at the Wilhelmshavener Verkehrsgeschichte e. V.

gallery

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  Dashboard

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  Passenger compartment

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  Rear with the two-lane entry at Schaffnerplatz

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  A Kaiserslautern HS 160 OSL-G in January 1979

Web links

• Data sheet HS 160 OSL (PDF; 630 kB)
• Data sheet HS 160 USL (PDF; 759 kB)
• Data sheet HS 160 USL-G (PDF; 678 kB)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Reconstruction of the articulated bus Ikarus 180.22 . Leaflet of the Chemnitz Tram Museum
2. ↑ Official website of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Nahverkehrsgeschichte ANG e. V.