Rekowagen (tram)

Reko cars
217 055 as it was in the 1970s in the Lichtenberg depot (2006)
Manufacturer:	Raw Berlin-Schöneweide , VEB Waggonbau Gotha
Year of construction (s):	1959-1975
Length:	10,720 mm
Height:	3,260 mm
Width:	2160 m
Empty mass:	13.3 t (Tw) 9.2 t (Bw)
Hourly output :	120 kW
Seats:	22 (Tw) 18 (Bw)

Rekowagen is in the DDR coined term for the state railway station in Berlin Schöneweide converted or partly completely newly manufactured two-axle tramcars , which in various types from 1959 to 1975 to the Berlin public transport in the eastern part of Berlin more (BVG [East] / BVB) and Transport companies in the GDR were delivered.

Reco car for Berlin

Reko-Wagen 217 055 before restoration of the delivery condition in Berlin-Nordend

In 1952 VEB Lokomotivbau began to modernize electrotechnical works in Hennigsdorf for the BVG east trams of the types T 24 to the type T 24 E. The external appearance remained largely unchanged. In 1953 work began on converting the T 24 to the T 24 U, with the platforms being modified by installing an inclined front window. Another test object was the railcar 6096, which was converted in 1956 in the Treptow workshop with a largely new car body with a round head shape and folding doors.

The Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe received ten trains of the standard type TF 59 / BF 59 from VEB Waggonbau Gotha in 1959. Due to the planned procurement of large trains, the intended reduction of the East Berlin tram network and the limited capacities of VEB Waggonbau Gotha, further procurement of this type was not planned. Instead, plans were made to convert the T 24 and B 24 into Reko cars. The term “ reconstruction ” was used in its GDR-typical definition of renewal in the range from fundamental renewal to actual new construction using old parts.

Work car 4508 for the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe

Due to the chassis-less design of the T 24 / B 24, no chassis could be used. Ground frames with axle holders and axles were reused from the original vehicles. The wheelbase has been increased from 2.8 to 3.2 meters. The cars received new car bodies in one-way design with platforms based on the model of the T 57 and simple sliding doors as well as new engines. Due to the chassis-free design with simple suspension, the driving characteristics were significantly worse than those of the TF 59.The simple sliding doors, which, in contrast to the double doors in the T 57, could not be equipped with a motorized door opening, and the steps in the interior between the platform and the passenger compartment were for obstructing passenger changes.

The conversion was planned for the Raw Berlin-Schöneweide. Due to massive initial difficulties, VEB Waggonbau Gotha took over some of the renovations from 1959 to 1961. This first type is called the TE 59. It was built until 1963. The type BE 59/1 sidecar originated from the B 24, the type B 59/2 from the B 25. Due to its design, the BE 59/1 was 10.7 m long instead of 10.5 m.

Vehicle overview

Type	Number (until 1970)	Number (from 1970)	number	Original type	Year of renovation
TE 59	3911-4075	217 001-164	165	T 24 , T 24 U	1959-1963
TE 63	5001-5014	217 201-306	14th	T 33 U	1963-1964
	5015-5050		36	TM 31 U	1964
TE 64	5051-5089		39	TM 33 , TM 34 , TM 36	1964-1965
	5090-5107		18th	TD 07/25 , TDS 08/24	1968-1969
Item 69	5126-5150	223 001-025	25th	TD 07/25, TDS 08/24	1969-1970
BE 59/1	1821-1980	267 001-290	160	B 24	1959-1964
BE 59/2	1981-2066		86	B 25	1959-1964
BE 64	2067-2072	267 401-450	6th	B 26	1965
	2073-2075		3	B 24/52	1966
	2101-2150		50	B 53	1964-1966
BE 69	2151-2159		9	BM 28	1968
	2160-2174		15th	BDM 26	1968-1969
	2175-2178		4th	BF 13/25	1969
	2179-2186		8th	B 06/27 , B 07/27 , B 21	1969
BZ 69	2241-2290	269 ​​001-050	50	B 06/26, B 10/27 , B 21, BF 42	1969-1970

From 1963 the type T 33 U railcars were due for conversion. First, the railcar 3716 was rebuilt while retaining the floor frame, which made the car 11.0 m long due to the different dimensions of the donor vehicle. In the following 13 railcars, the old floor frame was not reused, the car bodies were completely rebuilt. The engines were still used, due to their output of 34 kW each, the TE 63/1 could only be used with a sidecar. At the same time, vehicles with new car bodies were built under the designation TE 63/2.

In 1964, the conversion of the TM 33 to the TE 64 began. The old engines were also used here. From now on the car body length was 10.72 m. At the same time, the BE 64 was created from the B 53 sidecar from 1953.

Also in 1964 the Council for Mutual Economic Aid (RGW) decided to stop the construction of trams in the GDR from 1967. The production of the four-axle large capacity trains of the type TDE-62 / BDE-61 , which had been built by VEB Waggonbau Gotha for Berlin, Dresden and Magdeburg since 1961 , was immediately stopped, although no replacement from Czechoslovak production was available. In order to circumvent these requirements, the TE 64/1 were built in 1968, which were declared as conversions, but were in fact completely new buildings.

Since the (Berlin) terminal stops at the waterworks in Friedrichshagen and Altglienicke still had to be relocated (= shunted) due to the lack of a reversing loop, Reko cars were built in 1969 in a bidirectional design. The classic crank was used for the drive switch instead of the steering wheel. These vehicles were given the designation TZ 69 and BZ 69.

Although the oldest Reko wagons were already being decommissioned in 1971, Berlin received Reko sidecars again in 1975. Using BE 59/1, BE 70/1 were built with unit dimensions.

Due to an overhang on four-axle trailer cars, these were also used behind Reko railcars. In 1973 and 1986 some surplus Reko trains were handed over to the Potsdam tram . Further vehicles were handed over to Strausberg and Woltersdorf . From 1980, some Reko cars were converted into work cars. The use of Reko cars in Berlin ended in 1996.

Reko cars for other companies

TZ 70/1 of the Naumburg tram

After the construction of two-axle tram cars in the GDR also ended in 1966 and after 1968 the replicas of the type T2D / B2D were no longer supplied by ČKD , but there was still a need for two -axle trams in some smaller companies, the RAW Berlin-Schöneweide started in 1970 Construction of the reko wagons for the GDR transport company continues. General repairs of the T 57 and B 57 as well as the LOWA ET 50 vehicles were carried out there as early as 1969 .

From 1970 to 1976, one- and two-way vehicles were built for Dessau , Erfurt , Frankfurt (Oder) , Görlitz , Halberstadt , Jena , Leipzig , Rostock , Schöneiche , Schwerin and Zwickau , with Leipzig only getting sidecars. Due to the different and completely different original vehicles, only a few parts such as wheel sets and often these could not be reused. In such cases, the donor vehicles were only counted in terms of numbers. In some cases, the number of Reko cars built also exceeded that of the original vehicles. The railcars for operations outside of Berlin received uniform crank drive switches. In contrast to the Gothawagen, the meter gauge vehicles also received cutouts in the box for the axle bearings.

The type designation of these cars is made up as follows:

T = railcar; B = sidecar

E = equipment trolley; Z = bidirectional trolley

70 = first year of construction

/ 1 = addition for the meter gauge variant

See also

• Conversion car

literature

• Ivo Köhler: Reko cars. The harder way of driving the tram . Society for Transport Policy and Railways e. V. (GVE), Berlin, 1996. ISBN 3-89218-045-8
• Monument Preservation Association Berlin e. V .: Historic local transport vehicles - Berlin and Brandenburg . Verlag GVE, Berlin 2001: ISBN 3-89218-027-X
• Sigurd Hilkenbach, Wolfgang Kramer: The tram of the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe - (BVG-Ost / BVB) 1949–1991 . 2nd revised edition, Transpress Verlag, Stuttgart 1997. ISBN 3-613-71063-3
• Carl Wilhelm Schmiedecke: The tram recoprogram of the BVG-Ost . In: Berliner Verkehrsblätter . Volume 2, 1970, pp. 37 ff .

Web links

• rekowagen.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Berliner Verkehrsblätter (2/1970), p. 39