Light metal wagon type "Seetal"

The two cars Bi 475 (center) and Bi 476 (left, in orange VST standard paintwork ) of the Seetal type were procured by the PBr together with the SBB.

Alloy car type "Seetal" were four-axle bogie dare to open platforms, the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) from 1947 to 1950 for use on the valley route procured and other secondary lines. They were originally officially designated as wagons for secondary lines , later they were classified by the SBB as the Seetal type .

history

The SBB always had to use the lightest possible wagons for the steep Seetalbahn, which was taken over in 1922. A suitable type of car could not be procured during the Second World War due to a lack of raw materials. It was not until 1947 that the renewal of the rolling stock for secondary lines was taken in hand. Together with the Schweizerische Wagons- und Aufzügefabrik Schlieren (SWS), SBB developed a particularly light and inexpensive wagon with open platforms. The vehicles featured some remarkable technical innovations and were well received by the passengers.

The first three BC4 and three C4 cars were put into operation at the beginning of 1948 and presented to the public on June 12, 1948 with a press trip in the Seetal. The cars proved their worth, so that in 1950 17 additional vehicles of each of the two types came into operation. The order was followed by the Pont – Brassus Railway (PBr), whose trains were run by the SBB, each with one car. At times the procurement of a further 60 wagons was planned, but in 1957 a simplified lightweight steel wagon with a center entry was developed, which was originally intended for use on secondary lines.

Most of the cars ran on the Seetal line Lucerne - Wildegg and were soon referred to as Seetal cars . They also came on other branch lines such as Vallorbe – Le Brassus , in the Tösstal and on the Sulgen – St. Gallen to use.

In the 1970s, the platform cars no longer met the comfort requirements of the passengers and suffered from signs of age. Especially in winter, when the doors were opened, cold air penetrated the inside of the car. The cars were gradually scrapped or sold. From the beginning of the interval timetable in 1982, light steel wagons were used in the Seetal . The Seetalwagen still ran on the Beinwil am See - Beromünster and Lenzburg - Wildegg branch lines or as reinforcement or freight train escort cars . In November 1984 the last cars were scrapped. Only the ABDi 81-03 000 remained in operation until 1990.

Construction and modifications

In order to save costs and raw materials, parts from discarded passenger cars were used. The underframe was built from reused steel girders , which were reinforced with trusses like wooden box wagons . The boxes were made of aluminum in Nietbauart prepared. For this type of wagon, SWS developed especially simple bogies with transverse box leaf springs , but their running characteristics were convincing up to a top speed of 100. The automatic brake was equipped with control valves newly developed by Ateliers des Charmilles SA , which were characterized by greater sensitivity and a higher breakdown time . Room thermostats were not used for the heating , so that the cars were often overheated or too cold.

The exterior of the Seetalwagen has hardly changed over the years. In 1956, with the abolition of the three -class system, the vehicles were renamed first-second class AB4 and second class B4. The regulating brake was removed in the late 1950s and early 1960s . In the 1960s, the second-class cars were lightly padded and the seats of the first-class cars were covered with new plush fabric. From 1970, the Charmilles passenger train brake was replaced by an Oerlikon brake. In 1968, a Vst III multiple control line was installed in the C4i 7717 for use in shuttle trains on the Beinwil – Beromünster branch line . In 1971 car no. 7718 received the same equipment. In 1977, shuttle train operations were introduced on the Lucerne – Wildegg route and a further eight cars were equipped with multiple control lines.

Car types

C4 and BC4

The third-class cars C4 9711-9713 / 7704-7720 and second / third-class cars B4 5511-5130 differed only slightly from each other. In the middle of the car was the toilet with an anteroom. In the C4, the smoking compartment was on one side of the toilet and the non-smoking compartment on the other.

The BC4 had the second-class compartment in one half of the car and the third-class compartment on the other. The second class also had a 2 + 2 seating arrangement. Both car halves of the BC4 were divided into smoking and non-smoking compartments. Because the BC4 was divided between the two car classes exactly in the middle of the car, there were half a train compartment each to the left and right of the swing door between the smoking and non-smoking compartments in the second class . The two half-compartments were recognizable from the outside by the narrower windows.

BCF4 5291-5295

Train of the Bern Steam Railway with the blue BCF 4652 in Oberei (Sumiswald – Wasen route). At the SBB, the car was painted green as BCF4 4652.

Due to the chronic shortage train arrived on newly electrified lines such Turgi-Koblenz , Winterthur-Koblenz -Stein-Säckingen , Schaffhausen-Etzwilen or Lausanne-Palézieux -Kerzers -Lyss Red arrows or the Jura arrow used. Because the Red Arrows did not provide second class seats and a luggage compartment was missing, they were provided with a screw coupling for attaching cars from 1944 to 1946 . The pulling power of these railcars was limited and a trailer with a luggage compartment was necessary. This is how the light BCF4 trailer wagons were created in 1947.

The second and third class were divided into a smoking and a non-smoking compartment. Between the second and third grade there was a toilet with an anteroom. There was also a luggage compartment with a load weight of four tons. The first two cars, 5291 and 5292, had an open platform on the side of the second class compartment. The other three cars were equipped with a closed platform and wing doors. A second entrance with double doors was located between the third-class and luggage compartments. The design of the undercarriage, the bogies, the light metal box and the interior fittings corresponded to the Seetalwagen.

Due to the increase in traffic in the 1950s, the cars were used together with the more powerful Ce 4/6 multiple units throughout Switzerland. At the beginning of the 1970s, a tub with a grating was installed in the luggage compartment . In 1973, the ABDi 81-03 00 received a battery charger fed by the heating cable and was used together with the Jura arrow for the Rorschach –Rorschach Hafen trains. The other wagons came to the Seetal and ran together with the related Seetal-ABi and -Bi. In 1982 the first-class compartment was downgraded, but the ABDi was no longer renamed.

Technical specifications

number	Type	number	Length over buffers	Pivot spacing	own weight	1st class seats	2nd class seats	Luggage room
21st	BC4	20th	18.4 m	14.6 m	20 t	24	32
21st	C4	20th	18.4 m	14.6 m	20 t		64
5	BCF4	5	21.7 m	15.6 m	22-23 t	16	32	14 m²

Existence and whereabouts of the wagons

construction	designation	from 1950/52	from 1956	from 1963	from 1967/70	discarded	Re-use / sale
1947-48	BC4 5111-5113	BC4 4401-4403	AB4 4401-4403	ABi 4401-4403	ABi 50 85 37-03 000–002	1973-78	001: to CFTR
1950	BC4 5114-5130	BC4 4404-4420	AB4 4404-4430	ABi 4404-4420	ABi 50 85 37-03 003–019 004 1977 → 502 (with  Vst ) 005 1977 → 501 (with Vst) 006 1977 → 500 (with Vst) 009 1977 → 503 (with Vst)	1973-84	013: to DVZO 015-017: to OeBB , 017 2012 to STW 018-019: to SOB 502: to VDBB
1950	PBr BC4 65	BC4 65	AB4 65	ABi 65	Bi 475	1985	ATV / CTVJ No. 4420 (red)
1947-48	C4 9711-9713	C4 7701-7703	B4 7701-7703	Bi 7701-7703	Bi 50 85 28-03 000-002	1983
1950		C4 7704-7720	B4 7704-7730	Bi 7704-7720	Bi 50 85 28-03 003–019 006 1977 → 504 (with Vst) 007 1977 → 502 (with Vst) 012 1977 → 505 (with Vst) 013 1977 → 503 (with Vst) 016 1968 → 500 (with Vst) 017 1971 → 501 (with Vst)	1975-84	008 Conversion to X 30 85 97-07 553 009 and 018 1984 to SHM, 2012 to STW 010 and 019 1984 to SHM, 2012 to STW 503: DVZO
1950	PBr C4 476	C4 476	B4 476	Bi 476	Bi 476	1993	ATV / CTVJ No. 7476 (brown)
1947	BCF4 5291-5295	BCF4 4651-4655	ABD4 4651-4655	ABDi 4651-4655	ABDi 50 85 81-03 000–004	1983-90	001-003: to SOB

literature

Karl Emmenegger: The light steel wagons of the Swiss Federal Railways (standard gauge) . Pharos-Verlag Hansrudolf Schwabe AG, Basel 1997, ISBN 3-7230-0236-6 , p. 176-189 .

References and comments

1. ↑ Walter Trüb: The SBB passenger cars (standard gauge) 1902–1970, with addendum 1971–1977. Extended separate print from Eisenbahn-Amateur , No. 2/1968 to No. 2/1970, Eisenbahn-Amateur 1977, page 46.
2. ^ SBB Passenger and Baggage Carriages 1982. SBB General Secretariat, Bern 1982, pages 77 and 79.
3. ^ Verein Seetalwagen (STW), rolling stock ( memento of the original from May 23, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Purchased from OeBB in 2012, accessed on May 23, 2016 
4. ↑ 1970 downgraded to Bi
5. ↑ Crew car for the rehabilitation of the Albis and Zimmerberg tunnels
6. ↑ Sale to Museumstoomtram Hoorn – Medemblik
7. ^ Verein Seetalwagen (STW), rolling stock ( memento of the original from May 23, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Purchased from SHM in 2012, accessed May 23, 2016 
8. ↑ Both sold in 1984 to the Dutch museum railway Stoomtram Hoorn – Medemblik (SHM)
9. ^ Verein Seetalwagen (STW), rolling stock ( memento of the original from May 23, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Purchased from SHM in 2012, accessed May 23, 2016 
10. ↑ from 19 .. Painted orange, Oct. 1979 equipped with Vst
11. ↑ ABDi 50 85 81-03 001 came to the Bern Steam Railway in 1992 , which uses it as a BCF 4652 bar and company car .