Peenemünde express trains

Former Peenemünde express train (converted to the ET 26 of the Deutsche Bundesbahn ) on the grounds of the Peenemünde Historical-Technical Museum

Electric multiple units and control cars are referred to as Peenemünder Schnellbahnzüge , which largely corresponded to the Berlin S-Bahn series ET / EB 167 and ran on the Zinnowitz – Peenemünde factory line.

history

origin

For electrical works railway of the Army Research Center Peenemünde ordered Wehrmacht in late summer 1940 ten and in January 1941 another five train sets consisting of railcars, and control cars. Manufacturers were the Dessauer wagon factory for the railcars and the control car , the wagon and Maschinenfabrik AG vorm. Busch in Bautzen, the electrical part came from Siemens-Schuckertwerke . In terms of car construction, these trains were largely similar to the 1939 type multiple units of the Berlin S-Bahn (type ET / EB 167 081 to 211) and in the electrical part the subway cars supplied by Siemens for the CDE lines of the Subterráneos de Buenos Aires , were therefore for Overhead line operation designed with 1200 V DC voltage (as is usual with works and mine railways).

By the end of 1942 / beginning of 1943, all 15 units (Trw / Stw 01-15 ) had been removed from the Reichsbahn repair shop in Berlin-Schöneweide (RAW Schöneweide) and brought to the Karlshagen factory railroad car hall . The first documented test drive was on February 28, 1943, electrical operation began on April 15, a dense timetable - now also known as S-Bahn traffic - began on June 1, 1943. The trains usually ran as half-trains in the combination Trw / Stw + Stw / Trw, sometimes also as three-quarter trains. The timetable of June 1, 1943 shows the express trains as "S-Bahn multiple units" (footnote E), which is why Zinnowitz – Peenemünde after Berlin and Hamburg can be described as the third S-Bahn in the German Reich, even if this is not public was and did not go in a rigid rhythm.

In addition to the military and employees (some of them conscripted), prisoners of war employed in Peenemünde may also use the express trains in separate compartments.

Accumulator railcar of the Peenemünder Werkbahn in 1943

The heavy bombing raid on the night of August 17th to 18th, 1943 (" Operation Hydra "), which mainly affected the Karlshagen settlement and the development staff living there, completely destroyed the express railcars parked in and in front of the railcar hall (4 railcars, 6 control cars). Slightly damaged units could be repaired at RAW Schöneweide or at the wagon factories, the heavily damaged units initially not. Instead of the beige / red paint, they now used gray paint, as this was available for the Wehrmacht and others could not be obtained.

The electrical works railway operation ended on April 21, 1946, when the entire electrical railway operation in Central Germany had to be stopped by order of the Soviet military administration . The systems were dismantled and removed.

In addition to the electric express train car for overhead line operation, the Peenemünder Werkbahn also operated two accumulator multiple units, each consisting of two multiple units and three control cars. From October 1940 and August 1941, they created a larger amount of space for company passenger transport, which was previously handled by small or steam locomotives and passenger cars. These battery trains were approved for DR routes and drove via Zinnowitz to Ückeritz or Wolgaster ferry.

Post-war whereabouts

Most of the remaining Peenemünde express trains came to the Berlin S-Bahn via the Soviet Union after the end of the war

One unit was found at the RBD Nuremberg (Peenemünder number unknown); it came to the Isar Valley Railway and was designated as ET / ES 182 01 (later converted to ET / ES 26 02, since 2004 an exhibit of the Peenemünde Historical-Technical Museum ).
The Trw / Stw 05 unit, the Trw 02 and another railcar (number unknown; all vehicles badly damaged) were in the RAW Berlin-Schöneweide for repair at the end of the war. At first they were classified as sidecars (EB 167 242 and 243) and coupled with Berlin railcars. In the course of modernization in the 1970s, these were converted into tax quarter trains.
Three units were transported from Thuringia and probably four units from Usedom to the Soviet Union. These seven units (Peenemünder numbers unknown) were returned by the USSR to the Deutsche Reichsbahn in 1952 , which converted them to Berlin S-Bahn cars and initially designated them as ET / EB 167 286-292. After a further modification in 1966, the DR changed it to ET / ES 166 054-060.

The tax quarter trains (not only ex-Peenemünder) were last designated as class 477/877 601-608. They were often used on low-traffic routes in the evening hours (for example Schöneweide – Spindlersfeld ) or for special tasks. Tax quarters that were not required for this ran on normal trains, sometimes also with the control car at the Zugspitze.

The former Peenemünder Wagen 276 069/070 and 877 602 (ex Trw 05) are used as museum vehicles by the Verein Historische S-Bahn e. V. kept.

The former Peenemünder control car 877 601 (ex Stw 05) was until December 23, 2012 with the Berlin railcar 477 601 (ex ET 167 158) in Buckow at the Märkische Schweiz eV railway association, after which it was transferred via Stuttgart to Horb am Neckar. From April 2013 it will be shown there as part of the collection of the Friends for the Preservation of Historic Rail Vehicles (FzS) in the SVG Railway Experience World in its last operational state (until November 2003).

literature

Historic S-Bahn e. V. (Ed.): Trains of the Berlin S-Bahn. The elegant round heads. GVE, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-89218-477-1
Bernd Kuhlmann: Peenemünde - The missile center and its industrial railway. GVE, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-89218-100-2