VBK T4

T4 / B4
	T4 on Kaiserstraße in 1961
Numbering:	119-133 (T4), 307-308 (B4)
Number:	15 T4, 2 B4
Manufacturer:	Rastatt wagon factory , BBC
Year of construction (s):	1954-1955
Retirement:	1977-1981
Axis formula :	B'B '(T4), 2'2' (B4)
Type :	four-axle large-capacity railcars (T4), four-axle large-capacity trailer cars (B4)
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Length over coupling:	14,960 mm
Length:	14,100 mm
Height:	3,150 mm
Width:	2,174 mm
Trunnion Distance:	6,000 mm
Bogie axle base:	1,800 mm
Empty mass:	17.8 t (T4), 12.2 t (B4)
Service mass:	25.52 t (T4), 20.24 t (B4)
Top speed:	60 km / h
Hourly output :	2 × 95 kW
Power system :	750 volts DC voltage
Power transmission:	Overhead line
Number of traction motors:	two
Drive:	DC motor (only T4)
Brake:	Resistance brake, compressed air spring accumulator brake, link magnet rail brake
Train heating:	electric
Control:	Cam switch
Coupling type:	BSI compact coupling
Seats:	32 (T4), 32 (B4)
Standing room:	69 (T4), 75 (B4)
Floor height:	880 mm

The railcars T4 and the trailer cars B4 of Verkehrsbetriebe Karlsruhe (VBK) were a series of 17 tram cars in large-capacity construction that were delivered by the Rastatt wagon factory to VBK for use in the Karlsruhe tram network in 1954 and 1955 . The vehicles were in passenger service until 1981.

technology

construction

The vehicles were four-axle one-way open-plan cars. The cars had conventional bogies. The car bodies were welded steel structures, 2.17 meters wide. They had double folding doors of the Duewag design in the center of the vehicle and at the rear and a single folding door at the front. The windows were divided, the upper part was designed as a herringbone window (Liventa fan).

The two motor bogies of the railcars were equipped with a Duewag tandem drive . The two traction motors each had an output of 95 kW. The vehicles had a lever-operated underfloor cam switch for control. Power was supplied via pantographs. The vehicles were equipped with resistance brakes, compressed air spring-loaded brakes and magnetic rail brakes. BSI compact couplings were used to connect motor coaches and sidecars , with the electrical connection being made using a separate cable.

The interior had 2 + 1 row seating with tubular steel chairs and wooden seats and backrests. In addition to the fully equipped driver's seat in the front of the railcars, there was a shunting console in the rear of the railcar and the sidecar, which was built into a switch cabinet. Until the end of the 1960s, there was a conductors seat in the rear of the vehicles . After the introduction of one-man operation, this was removed. For one-man operation, ticket validators were installed near the doors. Passenger information was provided by line number boxes on the front and rear of the vehicles, a target film display on the front of the railcar and side sign boxes.

Painting

While the previous vehicles were delivered with yellow car bodies and white ribbon windows, the vehicles were already painted in the Karlsruhe city colors yellow with a wide red decorative line around the window when they were delivered. Several aluminum moldings ran around the vehicle. This painting was slightly changed in the 1970s by adding a second, thin decorative line to the red decorative line and also painting the apron of the car body red. The aluminum trim was omitted. The area below the window was initially decorated with the Karlsruhe city arms. After the introduction of side wall advertising, this was dropped.

history

procurement

At the beginning of the 1950s, the vehicle fleet of the Karlsruhe tram consisted exclusively of two-axle railcars and sidecars. Most of the cars were from the period between 1899 and 1913. Except for the five war tram cars , all of the cars had wooden bodies. A replacement was therefore urgently required.

In 1954 and 1955, the Karlsruher Verkehrsbetriebe purchased 15 four-axle large-capacity railcars and two large-capacity sidecars from the Rastatt wagon factory. The electrical equipment came from the BBC . The vehicles broke with the design principles of pre-war cars and featured a large number of innovations. Its design as a four-axle open- plan car was just as new as its design as a one-way vehicle with only one-sided doors and driver's seat. The wagons also stood out from the older wagons thanks to their all-steel body with smooth side surfaces and round front and rear sections. The transition from two-axle, fixed chassis to bogies resulted in greater driving comfort and less wear on wheels and rails. Many technical innovations made it easier for the staff to work, including the driver's seat with a permanently installed driver's seat, angled travel switch instead of a crank travel switch, compressed air spring-loaded brake instead of handbrake , electric motor- operated windscreen wipers instead of manually operated, automatic folding doors, and the permanently installed conductor's seat in the rear, which is used to introduce the flow of passengers from led back to front. Instead of longitudinal seats on the side walls, the cars were equipped with tubular steel chairs in rows. The table below provides an overview of the deliveries.

dare	Construction year	number	design type
119-125	1954	7th	T4
126-133	1955	8th	T4
307-308	1954	2	B4

Mission history

In the course of their use, the vehicles were used on almost all lines of the Karlsruhe tram network, after turning loops had been created at the line endpoints . The railcars drove individually or as a two-car train with a two-axle trailer until 1969 or with a four-axle trailer until 1978. Railcar 119 mostly drove with sidecar 307 and railcar 120 with sidecar 308. With the retirement of the two-axle sidecars by 1972, the use of the wagons was limited to the less frequented lines and emergency car routes due to their smaller capacity compared to the articulated railcars. They were retired between 1977 and 1981.

Conversions

119–125 - Hinge of the first door changed. First wing no longer opened to the driver.
119–125, 307–308 - Conversion of the door control from electrical to compressed air
119–125, 307–308 - Liventa fan replaced by vent window.
119–133 - Installation of front coupling
119–133 - Installation of half-scissor pantographs
119–133, 307–308 - Conversion to one-man operation by the Rastatt wagon factory (1968–69)
Installation of 120 kW motors in some railcars

Retirement and whereabouts

The regular service of the railcars ended in 1981, that of the sidecar in 1978. Railcar 119 and sidecar 307 were erected as a memorial in the depot west of the Karlsruhe transport company. With the expansion of the track system in the West depot, the monument was cleared in 1994 and the two cars were scrapped.

The vehicles were scrapped as follows: 119 (1994), 120 (1977), 121 and 122 (1982), 123 (1977), 124 and 125 (1982), 126–128 (1977), 129 (1982), 130 and 131 (1977), 132 and 133 (1982), 307 (1994), 308 (1977).

The motor bogies from the railcars converted to 120 kW engines were used to convert the GT6-D of the seventh delivery series to GT8-D .

literature

Manfred Koch (Ed.): Under power. History of local public transport in Karlsruhe. Badenia Verlag, Karlsruhe 2000, ISBN 3-7617-0324-4 ( publications of the Karlsruhe City Archives 20).
Dieter Höltge: Trams and light rail vehicles in Germany. Volume 6: Bathing. EK-Verlag, Freiburg (Breisgau) 1999, ISBN 3-88255-337-5 .
Martin Pabst: Paperback German streetcar railcars. Volume 2: Electric multiple units 1931 - today. Franckh'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3-440-05043-2 .
Axel Reuther: transition to articulated trolleys. The Karlsruhe open seating cars from the Rastatt wagon factory . In: Tram magazine . Volume 3, 2011, pp. 72-77 .

Web links

Commons : T4 - collection of pictures, videos and audio files