n-car

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n-car (Silberling)
Push-pull train with n-type cars on the 1985 anniversary parade in Nuremberg
Push-pull train with n-type cars on the 1985 anniversary parade in Nuremberg
Year of construction (s): Prototypes from 1958,
1959–1980
Length over buffers: 26,400 mm
Height: 4050 mm
Width: 2825 mm
Trunnion Distance: 19,000 mm
Bogie axle base: 2500 mm
Service mass: 31 t - 40 t
Top speed: 120 or 140 km / h (depending on the design)
Wheel diameter: 950 mm
Brake: Block brakes, later also disc brakes
Seats: 96 seats in second-class cars,
2 × 24 second-class seats and 30 first-class seats in mixed-class cars
Silberling (n-car of the Deutsche Bundesbahn with pearl finish ), Hanover
Modernized n-car set

A type of passenger car of the Deutsche Bundesbahn or the Deutsche Bahn AG is referred to as the n-car . Colloquially, the wagon type has become known as Silberling . The commuter cars owe this name to the color of the originally unpainted car body made of bare stainless steel with a brushed peacock eye pattern . As the successor to the yl wagons , around 5000 units were built between 1958 and 1980 and are still in use at DB Regio today . In July 2017, the inventory lists still comprised 269 active vehicles at Deutsche Bahn AG.

General

Typical local train with a class 212 and Silberlingen locomotive in 1986 on the Nahe Valley Railway
Lübeck, May 30, 1998: Type 740 Silberling control car with orange warning stripes, and behind it an example with an ocean-blue-beige head. The originally installed folding door of the luggage compartment is clearly visible
BDnf control car in the mint green product paint of the local transport and expanded roll-up display on May 1, 1998 in the Rennsteig train station
Prototype of a Silberling control car known as the Ugly Duckling ; it remained a one-off.

The prototypes were procured in 1958, most of them were painted green and mostly had the same seat frames as those of the conversion cars . There were a total of twelve equipment variants. A 13th prototype was created in the AW Karlsruhe . They were developed and delivered by a consortium of several manufacturers, including WMD in Donauwörth , Wegmann & Co. in Kassel , LHB in Salzgitter and the mechanical engineering institute in Kiel ( MaK ). In the 1980s, these cars were overmolded in the ocean blue-beige color scheme that was valid at the time.

From 1959 the first series cars were put into service, under the generic designations B4nb-59 for second class cars, AB4nb-59 for mixed class cars and BD4n (f) for second class cars with a baggage compartment. Except for 20 multi-voltage cars, these cars had a driver's cab.

Feature of the production car was the unpainted outer skin of ni cht ro stendem precious sta hl ( stainless steel ) and for typical revamped circular graining , which nicknamed below the window belt them shekel earned. In the delivery condition, the cars had black side members, the control cars of the newer design from 1971 (without transition option on the control side) had orange warning stripes above and below the windshields with the exception of the first examples. From 1975 the side members were repainted ocean blue. In the control car, the window section of the driver's cab was painted ocean blue-beige from 1980, the head below the window was ocean blue.

While the wagons of the first construction lots (AB, B and BD) were also manufactured by the individual wagon factories, all other types were built in the Karlsruhe AWS from the beginning , and later also AW Hannover . Since 1968 the cars have been manufactured by the Deutsche Bundesbahn alone.

n-car of the Südostbayernbahn in traffic red and light gray paintwork

Almost all of the vehicles, officially designated as n-wagons according to their generic designation, are now painted traffic red-light gray after several conversions in the current regional color scheme , unless they have been retired or sold abroad. An n-car is 26.4 meters long and is divided into three sections by two entry areas with double doors, with control cars there are different door types on the driver's cab side. Today there are the following types that are or were to be found in all modification and paintwork variants:

  1. Purely second class car
  2. Second class car with open space and first class compartments in the middle separated by glass walls
  3. Second class car with first class compartments in the middle (not converted)
  4. Second-class car with fictitious first-class compartments at one end (control cabinet side), from a conversion in the 1990s
  5. Second class car with a multi-purpose compartment in the small open space at one end of the car
  6. Control car with luggage / multi-purpose compartment, some of which have folding doors to the luggage compartment.

The main dimensions of the Silberlinge correspond to the UIC -X conventions, as do the express train carriages of the Deutsche Bundesbahn. Underframe and car body are welded together from different profile sheets of steel quality St 37 and St 52.

The 1200 millimeter wide side windows are single glazed in the upper area and double glazed in the lower area. The cars are ventilated with a static cuckoo fan per fictional compartment on the roof (eleven or twelve pieces). The heating system of the cars with electric heating is designed for 1000 volts at 16⅔ Hertz (corresponding to the frequency of the contact wire), which means that trips abroad were only possible to the GDR, Switzerland and Austria. One series (Bn 723 ) had a hydro-gravity heating system and could be used in all European mainland states with standard gauge , as it had a multi-voltage selection device. All types of construction without a central energy supply also had the facility for steam heating . This was later shut down or expanded.

Pivoting folding doors with pneumatic door locking serve as entry doors . Originally all door windows could be opened. Later, half of the door windows were fixed. So the train driver could still monitor the train while it was leaving. Solid one-piece door windows were installed again later. In the 1970s, 13 ABnrzb 704 and a Bnrzb 725 were experimentally given pivoting sliding doors, which were dismantled to turn folding doors on the occasion of modernization. Only at the end of the 1990s did the systematic conversion of some series to swing sliding doors begin.

The second-class version (B4nb-59) was built as new buildings in wagon factories. This became the Bnb 719 . In order to get a large number of new wagons faster, the repair shops of the German Federal Railroad were also included in the procurement program. They used existing materials for the construction and thus still used individual parts from old cars that were still usable. The resulting cars were designated as B4nb-59a - later Bnb 720 . These cars were on average a ton heavier than the Bnb 719 . They were still made with car body girders made from Thomas steel and therefore had to be reinforced. Until the 1990s, the Bnb 719 were mainly equipped with a type D 150 axle generator (for 140 km / h) and the Bnb 720 two D 62 axle generators (for 120 km / h). It was not until this period that the 720 wagons were also converted for a maximum speed of 140 km / h by replacing the axle generators.

The first series received bogies of the Minden-Deutz light design (MD 42) with block brakes and light generator, which enabled the cars to reach a top speed of 120 km / h. From the mid-1960s the same bogies were used, but with disc brakes and brake force regulators without generators (types Bnrzb, ABnrzb and BDnrzf with electric train busbars ). These cars were allowed to run at up to 140 km / h (MD 43). Some of the 120 km / h cars were upgraded in the 1970s for 140 km / h on the undercarriage, which meant that the axle generators had to be replaced (see above).

Originally there were only control cars (BDnf 738 ) with a vertical front, in which the seat compartment at one end of the car was replaced by a luggage compartment and driver's cab , with the option of connecting to other cars. Because of the peculiar shape and the limited space of the cab, this control cars were colloquially as hares box or Führerklo referred. The head shape of this control car was essentially adopted from the BDylf center entry car . These control cars have meanwhile been taken out of service, or their driver's cabs have been converted with a new front without a transition option (BDnf 735 ). Control car without transition option was also available as a new build car with the generic designation BDnrzf 740 . Since these control cars were (re) built in the AW Karlsruhe, their head shape is called the Karlsruhe head .

An n control car with a luggage compartment
Ex-Silberling control car in traffic red and white paintwork

The control cars were generally delivered with a luggage compartment at the end of the steering head, which could be loaded via wide folding doors and was not accessible to passengers. The adjoining entrance door was only one width, the large central area was shortened by a seating group. In later modernizations, the luggage compartment was usually made accessible to passengers as a multi-purpose room and the folding luggage doors, which could only be operated manually by train staff, were locked without a door lock. Since the narrow entrance proved to be a hindrance when loading bicycles, strollers and other bulky luggage, the front entrance of many control cars was also converted to double the width.

Overall, around every fourth car was mixed-class. In contrast, only about ten percent of all vehicles built were control cars, so that in many places at the terminal stations the locomotive had to be moved to the other end of the train.

The code letter after the "n" means UIC classification of railway coaches : "commuter cars having a length of more than 24.5 meters, metropolitan area with the center aisle , in the second class (twelve notional compartments), and side gear in the first class two Central entrances and conventional DB push-pull control line ” . Originally five percent of the Silberling wagons were not equipped with a control line for push-pull operation. These were the multi-voltage wagons (20 ABn 703 , 40 Bn 723 and 20 BDn 738 ). These cars were only designated as Bn or ABn cars, the others as Bnb or ABnb. After all wagons were converted to push-pull train control, the "b" used for this was dropped and was now used for facilities for the disabled. The "r" stands for the brake r egulierer, the "z" for such connotations of core energy supply.

180 cars could also be used as hospital cars for the Bundeswehr . For this, the interior furnishings could be expanded and replaced by sick beds. For this purpose, the access doors to the passenger areas were double-leafed as a double sliding door. The cars didn't have the usual curtains on the windows, but blinds. A further feature of these cars were Schuko sockets in the interior (in the inner lining of the outer walls), which were arranged in such a way that, when the seating was installed, they were blocked in the middle by a thin wall between the outer wall and the back-to-back backrests of two seating groups, which is the case Uninformed passengers as a "curiosity". The cars (Bnb 724 ) could also be recognized from the outside on the steep roof with straight car ends instead of the usual basket arch shape. Around 1989, further cars were converted from type 725 cars as Bnrz 724.1 .

commitment

Silberling local train on the Frankenbahn near Lauffen am Neckar (June 1993)

For a long time, the n-wagons were the most common vehicle in local rail traffic . The Silberling wagons were immediately used in local transport, preferably in large metropolitan areas. Some also drove in the S-Bahn advance service in the S-Bahn networks Rhein-Ruhr (from 1967 to 1988), Cologne (line S 12 from 1991 to 2004), Frankfurt am Main , Munich (1972 to 1976 and 1981 to 1983 ) and Nuremberg (lines S 3 and S 4 2010 to 2012). They were also used for express trains until well into the 1980s . Also in interzonal traffic with the GDR and in transit traffic to Berlin , silver coins were used as reinforcement cars , especially during the main travel times. After the rail reform in 1994, their number slowly declined; Through the procurement of new vehicles, the vehicle fleet had rejuvenated to the extent that the silver coins were now the oldest vehicles in local traffic and became increasingly dispensable with further vehicle deliveries.

Until the 1970s, the Silberlinge operated push-pull trains on electrified routes almost exclusively coupled with an E 41/141 . In addition, the E 40/140 was also used in these services, as many 140s were equipped for multiple traction and thus capable of push-pull trains . The lack of locomotives capable of pushing trains even led in individual cases to the 120 km / h class 151 freight locomotives being used in local traffic, although the train loads would not have required the use of these heavy machines in any case. With the delivery of new 111s in the Munich area and in the Ruhr area, this locomotive also became typical of Silberling push-pull trains. A few years after the fall of the Wall in the GDR, class 143 machines were also retrofitted with 36-pin control cables and used as push-pull locomotives . More recently, class 110 locomotives have been retrofitted with push-pull train controls that were removed from scrapped class 141 locomotives.

For diesel locomotives, locomotives of the series V 100.20 / 212 , V 160/216 , 218 and V 200/220 were used for push-pull trains . For this, the driver's desks for E and V operation in the control car were replaced. Silberling push -pull trains were also driven with steam locomotives, for which the series 23/023 , 38/038 (pr. P 8) , 65/065 and 78/078 (pr. T 18) were used.

After more than fifty years of operation, the n-wagons gradually disappeared from all federal states and were replaced by newer material. From December 2013 only newer n-type cars with disc brakes were in use, from December 2016 only Wittenberg control cars were used. The last Karlsruhe control cars were used by the Cologne and Münster depots. In December 2016, the last n-cars were still based in Stuttgart, Ulm , Munich , Ludwigshafen, Frankfurt (Main), Cologne, Münster and Kiel. Since December 2019, Deutsche Bahn has only been using n-wagons to a small extent from the Ludwigshafen depot . In addition, however, some private rail transport companies provide substitute services for other private rail transport companies with n-wagons taken over from Deutsche Bahn.

inner space

Original interior with transversely arranged luggage racks

In the second class there is a seating group with four seats at each window, which is separated from the opposite by the central aisle. In the original Silberling there are luggage racks above the backrests (across the direction of travel), which visually separate the seating group from the next. In the purely second-class car, 12 dummy compartments with a total of 96 seats are created.

The rooms at the ends of the car were originally reserved for smokers. Later there was only one such area at one end of the car. Today the smoking areas are completely abolished. In the case of the control car, the driver's cab and a luggage compartment are located there .

In the first class, the central aisle has been replaced by a side aisle, and next to it there are compartments with six seats each. By increasing the distance between the windows, there are five instead of six windows in the middle of the car, making the compartments even more spacious. Some of the prototypes received an interior that corresponded to the interior of the conversion car .

Modifications and paintwork

Modernized pieces of silver in different paintwork, Giessen, May 25, 1999

While most of the prototypes were still delivered in the green of the passenger coaches that was customary at the time (as B4nb-58), the Deutsche Bundesbahn decided on an unpainted stainless steel variant for series delivery .

First modifications

Karlsruhe train

In 1977, a set of silver coins, the “Karlsruhe train”, was developed in the Karlsruhe repair shop to test use in S-Bahn traffic on the Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn : The prototype received a new, clearer interior design at the entrances The lower steps were removed because of the use on elevated platforms and sliding doors were installed; instead of the luggage compartment, seats were also installed in the control car. The train was painted in ocean blue / beige, with the opposite of the other trains of this time, the window band was ocean blue and the area under the windows was beige. The locomotive 141 248 was painted to match the train . In addition, three other normal pieces of silver, including a control car, were repainted as reserve cars. Ultimately, the train could not convince in the S-Bahn service, also because of the comparatively moderate acceleration of the locomotive. The cars then ran in normal local traffic, but this was not possible without restrictions, as the entrances could only be used on elevated platforms . Today all of these cars have been modernized and correspond to the other n-cars. Instead, the x-cars were developed for S-Bahn operations in North Rhine-Westphalia .

Small series for Cologne, Hamburg and Stuttgart

City train made of repainted Silberlingen and class 218
Converted interior of a city railway car with row and face-to-face seating

In 1984 the first city railway between Cologne and Meinerzhagen started operations. For the operational test on the line in danger of being closed, disc-braked silver pieces were converted and painted in pure orange / light gray, analogous to the Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn , according to the so-called pop paint from the early 1970s. A then modern interior with individual seats was installed, as was later also used in the 628.2 series . In this way, seven ABnrz 400 , ten Bnrz 430 , one bistro car Bnrkz 490 and seven control cars BDnrzf 460 were created . The Citybahn was hauled by locomotives of the 218 series that were painted to match . Together with the introduction of regular traffic (hourly), the attempt led to a significant increase in passenger numbers. Shortly afterwards, wagons for the Hamburg – Stade route were converted, which differed from their predecessors in that they had a higher proportion of seats facing each other, but this was at the expense of the number of seats. In addition, they have already been painted mint green / light gray in the new color concept. Seven ABnrz 401 , eight Bnrz 431 and four BDnrzf 461 were added to the inventory . None of the wagons are in the inventory anymore; Finally, a Bnrdzf 460 drove, which was based in Münster and was mostly on the RB 65 to Rheine.

As the cost of the conversions was too high for those responsible, the effort for the following series for the RegionalSchnellBahn (RSB) on the Stuttgart – Aalen line was greatly reduced. Block-braked pieces of silver were now used, which kept their benches and frames during the renovation, which were only reupholstered with the orange fabric known from the city railway, the wall coverings were also renewed in these colors. The entry-level rooms, however, remained unchanged. Although the cars were cheaper to convert, they also left a rather “cheap” impression on customers. A total of ten ABn 402 and 28 Bn 432 resulted from the conversion . None of these types are in existence today.

Conversion program

Hessian Bn car with different colored headrests and seat cushions on May 13, 2006

After the positive experience of the Citybahn test, the German Federal Railroad decided in the mid-1980s to launch a larger renovation program. Modernized wagons were repainted in the new product colors of the German Federal Railroad of Local Transport, which had been in effect since December 1986, and were given a light gray color scheme with a mint green window band. The first route used was Hamburg – Stade ( Niederelbebahn ), followed by the greater Hanover area (1989) and the Saarland (1990).

From 1996, modernized cars were instead painted in traffic red (with doors in light gray); later, older modernizations were also adapted to the new color concept without further modifications being made. In addition to the renovation programs , the toilets that were previously designed as downpipe toilets have largely been converted to vacuum toilets and some have been equipped for wheelchair users.

Many of the variants that are only produced in small numbers are - unless they have already been converted again to the OFV or DBM variants - no longer in the delivery condition due to a lack of spare parts and suitable fabric samples. In many cases, benches and other furnishing elements have been replaced by those of a different design.

Design Hanover

Modernized interior in the Hanover design

After the design of the silver pieces modernized for Stuttgart – Aalen left a lot to be desired, but the costs were not supposed to rise, attempts were made to achieve this balancing act with larger quantities. The existing interior was largely retained by AW Hannover . The most striking difference to the original condition is the removal of the luggage racks above the backrests, which have been replaced by new ones above the windows. This optically breaks up the previous structure of the small compartments and emphasizes the spacious character of the interior. The seats were upholstered in fabric, and the headrests were covered with dark synthetic leather. In addition, the latter was visually divided in the middle with upholstery and the seat frames were painted magenta. The side walls were clad with beige composite panels, as were the partition walls in the two small large rooms. In the middle, second class area, the partition walls were clad in blue. The types ABnrz 403 (88 pieces), ABn 404 (186), Bn 433/434 (191), Bnrz 436/437 (171), BDnrzf 463/465 (123) and BDnf 464/466 (206) were created.

Fervet design

Interior of an n-car in the Fervet design

In addition to the railway's own AW, external companies were also involved in the renovation, which contributed their own design. The one from the Italian company "Fervet" was particularly colorful. The interior layout remained unchanged. The benches have been reupholstered with dark blue fabric with light checked patterns. As with the previous versions, the luggage racks were arranged on the side. The side walls got a vertical color gradient from blue to white. The partition walls were clad with gray panels with splashes of blue paint. 188 Bn 440/441 , 24 Bnrz 443/444 , eight BDnrzf 470 , one BDnf 471 and one BDnrzf 473 were converted, the latter being given a "Wittenberge" type driver's cab for the first time. There was also a prototype with an open-plan, 1st class. Since Fervet was unable to keep the promised frequency of modifications, further orders were refrained from.

There are still 17 Bnrz 443, 4 Bnrdzf 470 and the Bnrdzf 473 in stock. However, the interior of most of the cars is no longer original. In March 2017, a car with this interior is still in use. This is located in the Ludwigshafen depot and is used in repeater trains.

PFA design

n-car in PFA design

The PFA in Weiden also converted Silberling cars. An own design was also realized, which was almost as idiosyncratic as that of Fervet. Here, too, the benches were retained and covered with new fabric, this time in light gray and with colorful vertical stripes. The pattern is similar to the seats of the S-Bahn series 420 . The pink headrests stand out with their distinctive triangular side supports. The luggage racks consist of a metal grille, also painted pink, which runs alternately along the side wall or above the seats. The wall coverings are kept light gray. A very similar design was also used for the first modernization of the Halberstadt center entry car. The result is the new types Bn 454/455 (99 pieces), Bnr 457 (1 piece), Bnrz 457 (1 piece), ABnrz 426 (1 piece) and Bnrdzf 488 (1 piece). Only the Bnrdzf 488 is in stock in mid-2016, but no longer with the original seat covers (Stuttgart). The ABnrz 426 was redesigned a second time and has since been assigned to the ABnrz 418 type.

OFV design

Modernized interior in OFV design

In the end, the Italian company OFV ( Officine Ferroviarie Veronesi ), whose design was realized in large numbers from 1993 , was able to prevail . The partition walls were now clad in dark gray, later glazed partition walls were also installed in order to increase the subjective feeling of security of the passengers. The side walls received green panels. In many renovations, new louvre lights were installed for the first time instead of the plastic tub lights, which give off much more pleasant light. The seats were given mint green covers with diagonal stripes in various shades of blue, based on the DB design that was current at the time (for both long-distance and local transport). The luggage racks were again made from the well-known profile tubes, occasionally also from metal mesh and mounted on the side. In most of the cars, the original benches were retained and reupholstered; in later modernizations, identical benches with foam padding were installed in place of the innerspring. Occasionally one of the small large rooms was set up as a multi-purpose room with folding seats .

Modernized first class interior in OFV design

Automatic doors were used at the car crossings, sometimes between the compartments and the entry areas. There were also changes to the windows: the previous translation window was replaced by a fixed window with a continuous pane of glass on every second window .

In the OFV design, the first class compartments were also fundamentally changed for the first time: the dividing walls of the previous compartments were largely removed and otherwise replaced by glass walls, which earned these conversions the nickname "Aquarium". Instead of the original seats, new individual seats covered with blue fabric were installed.

Design OFV Schleswig-Holstein

In these versions, depending on the donor trolley, the types ABn 417/419 (494 pieces), ABnrz 416/418 (192), Bn 447/448/449 (1008), Bnrz 450/451/452 (334), BDnf 478 (99 ) and BDnrzf 477 (102, each Karlsruhe head), as well as 63 BDnzf 479/481 and 70 Bnrdzf 480/483 (already with Wittenberger head). The 14 ABnrz 416 , 20 Bnrz 446 and six Bnrbdzf 476 destined for Schleswig-Holstein were given a slightly different design with individual seats (known from the 628.4 series and the first DB double-decker coaches), but covered in the OFV design. The control cars received a wheelchair-accessible toilet for the first time , and for the first time all toilets were designed as a closed system and equipped with a holding tank.

DBM design

Modernized interior in DBM design
1st class compartment in Hanover design, with seat covers in DBM design

The latest modernizations are a combination of the modifications to the OFV design with the DB Medien color concept used in new vehicles . Most of the colors have given way to light gray and the seats in second class have blue covers with dark blue squares and those in 1st class have dark blue covers with blue squares. In addition, new armrests made of light wood (instead of dark gray plastic) were installed and the old white and gray pictograms were replaced by the current dark blue and white ones. The headrests of the bench seats are flat in the middle instead of extra upholstered as before. However, this is not the case with all cars. In another variation of this design, the headrests are not covered with dark blue synthetic leather, but with the patterned seat fabric. Armrests are also not made of wood, but of dark blue plastic. In addition, some cars will be equipped with passenger information systems that show the train destination, date, time and the next scheduled stop. Instead of the bench seats, some cars were also given individual seats similar to the type used in the new double-decker cars, depending on the series and area of ​​use. Furthermore, there are also numerous DBM-design cars with swing-and-slide doors instead of the usual hinged folding doors. A number of control cars have been given a wheelchair-accessible toilet, many also have a wheelchair lift, and some have sweets and drinks machines.

The class numbers correspond to those of the OFV design, so that a clear assignment to the type of redesign is no longer possible. With the 1994 rail reform, new responsibilities and management personnel emerged who paid little attention to the fact that the class numbers of wagons were clearly assigned to the manufacturers of the redesigned wagons. This fact has not yet been remedied. So there are wagons under the same class number, but depending on the manufacturer, they have completely different equipment.

Wittenberg control car

Driver's cab of a Bnrdzf 483.1
Wittenberg control car in the National Express livery in December 2015

The driver's cabs used so far could only be used with either diesel or electric locomotives. In order to make the control car usable for the other type of traction, it is necessary to convert the driver's desk for several hours. The conventional push-pull train control uses a 36-pin separate control cable running through the entire train, with which a separate wire is required for each command, each message and each analog value transmission, which is quite prone to failure. Nowadays, this control cable is only available on n-cars. These conditions severely limit the utility of the driving trailer. In addition, the driver's cab no longer meets today's expectations of a modern workplace.

Wittenberger control car Bnrdzf 483.1 on December 26, 2005 in Braunschweig Hbf

For this reason, the RAW Wittenberge developed the prototype of a new modular driver's cab in the early 1990s . A car body segment made of GRP is used , in which the DB standard driver's cab introduced with the 111 series is installed. The driver's cab is spacious and clearly laid out; it also has side doors and a glazed rear wall with a rotating or sliding door, through which a view of the route from the passenger compartment is possible. On the technical side, a computer-aided control system was installed, which enables operation with both conventional push -pull train control and the new time-division multiplex push-pull train control , both with diesel and electric locomotives. The operating mode is simply switched, no more conversions are required. The use of selective side door control is possible, so you can see the cars often also at the top of a double-decker - turn train .

The control head was manufactured in large numbers due to its good performance; It was used to equip numerous old control cars with (types 738, 739 and 742) and (only a few) also without transition options (types 735 and 740) as well as normal silver pieces without a driver's cab (types 719 and 725) to increase the proportion of push-pull trains. In some cases, modernized n-cars were also used, otherwise the redesign of the passenger compartment was also carried out during the conversion. The cars are referred to as "Wittenberger head" or "Wittenberge control car" or "Wittenberger control car", the control cars manufactured or converted by AW Karlsruhe from 1971 onwards have been named "Karlsruhe head" or "Karlsruhe control car" to distinguish them. According to the same scheme, numerous Halberstadt center entry cars were converted into Wittenberge control cars, which, however, can only be operated in the ZWS mode.

Here too there were and still are several variants. The OFV and DBM design variants are mostly found. Some of the hinged folding doors have been replaced by pivoting sliding doors. Some cars were made wheelchair accessible with a lift and wheelchair toilet. Confectionery and beverage machines were built into some of the cars. Numerous cars have been given additional high-beam headlights.

Paintwork

Starting in 1959, the green passenger train cars were replaced by the Silberlinge / Silberlinge / Silver Coins, in which only the roof and the side member were painted (side members in black, from 1975 ocean blue, RAL  5020). From 1986 they received the light gray paint (RAL 7035) with a ribbon window in mint turquoise (RAL 6033) and decorative stripes in pastel turquoise (RAL 6034). After the rail reform, the typical DB Regio color scheme of traffic red (RAL 3020) with light gray stripes and doors was used from 1996. Cars sold to other rail transport companies in recent years sometimes have their corporate colors.

Nicknames

Due to their widespread use, the n-wagons were a natural target for nicknames, the most common of which is clearly the term “Silberling”. After larger numbers of converted cars appeared in mint green paint, these were referred to analogously as "green compacts" or "mint compacts". When the cars were painted traffic red at the end of the 1990s, they became "Rotlingen".

This variety of colors, both on the outside and on the interior - around the turn of the millennium, all three (main) paintwork variants were to be found on the same train - also led to the collective term "Buntling" among railway enthusiasts.

particularities

Coffee kitchen cart

Coffee kitchen cart
Wittenberger in Waiblingen train station.jpg

Of the already mentioned Mintlingen (mint-turquoise-colored silver coins) there was a special form of the so-called coffee kitchen car. A small number of this bistro / dining car had been converted by the railway and operated by a private entrepreneur. For this purpose, the bench seats (up to six) in the middle compartment of the second-class car were removed. Instead, five high tables and a small kitchen with a bar were installed. Some of the remaining benches were equipped with folding tables. Two windows for the counter were replaced by welded-in metal sheets. On the outside, these cars bore the words Kaffeeküch as well as advertisements for Coca-Cola and Karlsberg beer and a figure made of two people. These cars first ran on the Citybahn in Saarland and the West Palatinate (Trier - Saarbrücken - Homburg - Kaiserslautern route), but later mainly from Saarbrücken to Koblenz and Frankfurt am Main in express trains and later RE trains. The term coffee kitchen comes from the Rhine Franconian dialect that is also spoken in parts of the Saarland. The last remaining coffee kitchen car was in the DB Museum in Koblenz for some time - but it was not officially part of its inventory. The last coffee kitchen trolley is currently in private hands, a refurbishment option is being examined. Another series of café cars was also created for RegionalSchnellBahnen (RSB), later Regional Express trains, in the Rhine-Ruhr area.

Hospital car

The doors of these ex-hospital wagons are wider

For use in the event of war or disaster, 198 pieces of silver were prepared for quick conversion into a rolling hospital so that it could be used as an ambulance train . In these cars, the seating could simply be removed and replaced with a total of 36 loungers. There were hooks on the walls to attach the loungers, and all the windows could be darkened with blinds . To enable entry with patients lying on stretchers, the central bars in the entrances can be folded down and the doors between the entry areas and the passenger compartments are twice as wide as in other n-cars. There were also 230-volt sockets in the walls for connecting medical equipment. Many of these cars are still in use and have received the current DBM design.

"Your train to the flight"

In order to better connect the Rhine-Neckar area to Frankfurt am Main Airport , a set of Silberling was prepared as a special airport feeder train. For this purpose, she received a two-tone blue adhesive film in the color scheme of Frankfurt Airport on the flanks with the words "Your train to flight". The train consisted of one ABnrzb and two Bnrzb wagons of types 704 and 728, another AB wagon served as a reserve. From 1978 the unit served three daily train pairs between Ludwigshafen / Rhein, Mannheim, Weinheim, Bensheim, Darmstadt and Frankfurt (Main) Flughafen-Bahnhof (today Frankfurt (Main) Flughafen Regionalbahnhof ) without touching Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof . In 1983 this traffic was stopped.

List of Silberling cars built

Type Construction year number Manufacturer Wagon number Remarks image
ABn 703 1959-1966 798 5 cars with ZS as ABnz 703, 20 cars with multi-voltage heating
ABnr 704 1965-1967 34
ABnrz 704 1968-1977 380
ABnrz 708 1977 1 Karlsruhe test train
Bn 719 1969-1976 1070
Bn 720 1959-1963 1019 Manufactured in DB repair shops from parts of decommissioned wagons
Bnz 723 1965/66 30th Multi-voltage heating
Bnrz 723 1966 40
No. 724 1969/70 180 Hospital car with a pitched roof
No. 724.1 1989/90 18th Conversion from Bnrz 725 (hospital car)
Bnr 725 1966-1968 190
Bnrz 725 1967-1977 449
Bnrz 728 1977-1980 100 Pitched roof
Bnrz 729 1977 2 Karlsruhe test train
Bnrzf 734 1977 1 50 80 21-33 000 Karlsruhe test train
BDnf 735 1978-1981 71 50 80 82-11 501 - 50 80 82-11 571, 50 80 82-53 501 - 50 80 82-53 696 Conversion from BDnf 738 ("Hasenkasten") to FS "Karlsruher Kopf" (without transition)
BDnf 736 1958 1 Wegmann & Co., Kassel (serial number 4.943) 96 202 (pre-UIC No.) / 50 80 82-11 100 Prototype, pre-UIC genus BPw4nf-58
BDnf 737 1959 1 MaK, Kiel 96 201 (pre-UIC No.) / 50 80 82-11 101 Prototype, pre-UIC genus BPw4nf-58a (until 1966)
BDnf 738 1959-1964 229 Hansa Waggonbau, Bremen (96 203 - 206), Rathgeber, Munich (96 207 - 286, 523 - 542), LHB, Salzgitter (96 287 - 386), DWM, Berlin (96 387 - 522, 543 - 572) 96 203 - 96 502 (pre-UIC no.), 96 523 - 96 572 (pre-UIC no.) / 50 80 82-11 110 - 50 80 82-11 458, 50 80 82-53 001 - 50 80 82 -53 146, 50 80 82 -53 200 - 50 80 82 -53 209 "Hasenkasten" driver's cab (with transition), 20 cars with multi-voltage heating, pre-UIC class BPw4nf-59
BDnrzf 739 1969 40 "Hasenkasten" driver's cab (with transition), FS expanded later
BDnrzf 740 1971-1977 310 Karlsruhe repair shop 50 80 82-34 0412 (740.0), 50 80 82-34 042 - 50 80 82-34 061 (740.1), 50 80 82-34 062 - 50 80 82-34 120 (740.2), 50 80 82-34 123 - 50 80 82-34 350 (740.2), 50 80 82-34 122 (740.3) "Karlsruher Kopf" driver's cab (without transition)
BDn 742 1961-1964 29 96 503 - 96 522 (before-UIC-Nr.) / 50 80 82-10 001 - 50 80 82-10 020 BDnf 738 with an extended driver's cab (conversion), 20 cars with multi-voltage heating, pre-UIC class BPw4n-59
Bndzf 479 1994 9 Bndzf 479.jpg
  • Code letter "z": with central electrical energy supply from the train busbar
  • Code letter "r" with a high-performance brake of the type KE-GPR as R (designed for rapid braking) apidbremse

successor

In 1965 and 1967 Wegmann delivered a total of 60 cars to the Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois (CFL), which were closely related to the German n-cars. There were the types AB, B, BR, ABD and BD. The car bodies of the Luxembourg cars were always painted. The first class differed from the second only in the upholstery. After the end of regular use, several cars went to German museum railways.

Despite the great success, the Silberling cars had no direct successors. In 1976, the Linke-Hofmann-Busch wagon factory in Salzgitter (now part of Alstom ) built prototypes of a new, low-floor local transport car that was supposed to replace the silver coins. These vehicles were mainly used in the Hanover – Minden area. A series procurement was too expensive for the Deutsche Bundesbahn, so it stayed with this pilot series, some of which were converted to intercity cars in 1988 and used between Wiesbaden and Frankfurt am Main, and later also to Düsseldorf Airport. They are now retired.

In the mid-1990s there was a large wave of procurement of new vehicle material at Deutsche Bahn, in particular new double-deck cars were used, or connections were converted to railcars . Both offer many advantages that come with the renewal of the vehicle material.

With the exception of the x-wagons for S-Bahn traffic, the married -pair wagons , which Bombardier built in 2005/2006 for use on the Marschbahn , are the first single-story local transport wagons that have been in use for (west -) German railways were newly built.

Therefore, the former Silberlinge can still be found in various reconstruction states in many regional rail and regional express train sets.

The last pieces of silver in the original silver design, which were last only stationed in North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria , were withdrawn from scheduled service on December 21, 2004 (on the Rhine and Ruhr). The silver coins in Bavaria were repainted in traffic red around 2003/2004 . The interior is now partly in the OFV design. In addition, two original silver coins are stationed in Mühldorf / Inn and are also used for special trips. The DGEG Museum in Würzburg is also using an original 2nd class disc for special trips.

From December 2005 Abellio temporarily used silver coins in their original condition on the Ruhr-Lenne Railway from Essen to Hagen, which were replaced by new FLIRT railcars on July 30, 2007 .

Carriages of a very similar design were also used outside of the old federal territory, for example at the Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois, until 2003 in the intercity traffic of the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) and Danske Statsbaner (DSB) as well as the Bmhe / By wagons of the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR ). The Polish Polskie Koleje Państwowe (PKP) also acquired vehicles of the same design, but only had a length over buffers of 24.5 meters.

Whereabouts

Selling abroad

After their use in Germany, some of the n-wagons were sold to various railway companies around the world:

Country society number Numbers Remarks image
CubaCuba Cuba FCC ? ?
ItalyItaly Italy Ferrovie del Sud Est 25th Bz 632-651
Bz 773-777
never used BhfGallipoli3.JPG
KosovoKosovo Kosovo Trainkos 10 AB 50 80 31-35 114-3
B 50 80 22-35 301, 306, 326, 350, 360
BD 50 80 84-35 006, 023, 033, 037
since 2017 in Kosovo

literature

  • Michael Dostal: Passenger and freight cars of the Deutsche Bahn . GeraMond, 2006, ISBN 3-7654-7119-4 . (especially conversions)
  • Götz Gleitsmann: The n-type commuter cars . Part 1-4. In: Eisenbahn Illustrierte . 1/90 to 4/90. Schünemann, 1990.

Web links

Commons : n-Wagen of the Deutsche Bahn  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Karlsruhe train as the forerunner of the x-car . In: railway magazine . No. 12 , 2018, ISSN  0342-1902 , p. 22 .
  2. EK1 / 09, p. 56ff .; EM 7/03, p. 24 ff .; DB course book. Summer 1982 and 1983
  3. Description of the CFL type Wegmann (Eisenbahnfreunde Zollernbahn)
  4. Pictures and list CFL-Wegmann (rail.lu)
  5. Forum post on the turntable
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on August 3, 2009 .