Maerklin's MHI Q2/2014 item is Nr. 43829, a 3-car set of Silver Coin ("Silberlinge") commuter cars including a "Karlsruhe" cab car, which dates these cars squarely into the mid-seventies. This is another piece of rolling stock I have a weakness for, probably for it's rather utilitarian appearance and ubiquity well into the 90's and even today, after having been refreshed internally, and now sport DB AG's bright red color scheme. Needless to say, I like the silver appearance better.
All cars are illuminated, which also means that I really need to get lights installed in both Umbauwagen sets, and the headlights in the cab car change with direction of travel. The models are well done, and, due to slight length compression, navigate the rather tight curves on the Welztalbahn well.
The prototype put these cars into service in the late 50's, with a rather cramped engineer's cab for push/pull service. Engineers hated these cabs and referred to them as "bunny boxes".
In the mid-seventies the cab cars were rebuilt at the service facility ("Ausbesserungswerk") in Karlsruhe with a more standard-sized engineer's cab, hence the name "Karlsruhe head".
No comments:
Post a Comment