Harkort cart
The Harkortwagen is an articulated tram car , which was purchased in 1926 by Duisburger Straßenbahnen GmbH in two copies. It is the first articulated bogie wagon in Europe and is therefore considered to be the "ancestor" of modern trams on this continent.
history
The world's first articulated bogie car was built in 1921 for the Milwaukee tram . Two four-axle railcars were assembled in such a way that the two car bodies rested in the middle on a common bogie and were connected to one another by a bellows . In 1924, the Department of Street Railways bought an eight-axle articulated tram for the Detroit tram . In Europe, the articulated bogie vehicle first appeared on the Duisburg tram in 1926 . The Duisburger Straßenbahnen GmbH put the two railcars 176 and 177 into operation, which were made by the Duisburg manufacturer AG for the iron industry and bridge construction. Johann Caspar Harkort had been built.
technical features
The two steel car bodies are supported in the middle on a Jakobs bogie . The other two bogies are normal motor bogies with two motors each. The two halves of the car are connected by a bellows that creates a one meter wide passage. The weight of the 20.5 m long car is 22.5 t. The capacity at the time of delivery was 100 passengers, 44 of whom could sit.
Originally, the vehicles were not designed for passenger flow, so that the use of two shuttle conductors was necessary. In 1956 the cars were converted for passenger flow from the back to the front. For this, all doors on the right-hand side were replaced by folding doors from Düwag , and the rear entrance was given double doors. However, the sliding doors on the left and the rear drive switch were retained. This conversion increased the capacity to 172 passengers while at the same time reducing the number of seats to 37. As part of the conversion, more powerful engines were installed so that sidecars could also be carried.
commitment
The Harkort wagons were actually procured for the overland line D to Düsseldorf , but were never used there. At the end of their service life they ran on line 8 of the Duisburg tram. In 1968 they were decommissioned.
In the years that followed, car 176 was used as a party car in pop paint , while car 177 served as a spare parts dispenser . In 1984 this car was restored after all, as car 176 was completely destroyed in 1983 by a fire in the Duisburg depot in Grunewald. From then on, car 177 also served as a party car, but without pop paint.
Since an accident in early 2015, car 177 had been parked incapable of driving.
future
In February 2016, car 177 was sold by the Duisburger Verkehrsgesellschaft to the Norwegian company Daimex. A work-up will take place in Wesel by 2017 . According to the previous plans, the vehicle will then serve as a café in a hotel complex located in the Norwegian town of Fagernes in Valdres .
Individual evidence
- ↑ THE 3-PART "ARTICULATED" STREETCAR. Retrieved March 24, 2016 .
- ↑ 125 years of movement for Duisburg 1881–2006. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on January 6, 2016 ; accessed on March 24, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Frits van der Gragt: Modern trams , Alba Buchverlag Düsseldorf, 1973.
- ↑ a b Railcar 177. Retrieved on March 24, 2016 .
