Passenger Carriages

  • Gepäckwagen (English: Luggage Carriage)
  • Liegewagen (English: Couchette)
  • Postwagen (English: Mail Carriage)
  • Reisezugwagen (English: Passenger Carriage)
  • Schlafwagen (English: Sleeping Carriage)
  • Sitzwagen – doppelstöckig (English: Seated Carriage – double deck)
  • Sitzwagen – einstöckig (English: Seated Carriage – single deck)
  • Sonderwagen (English: Special Carriage)
  • Speisewagen (English: Dining Carriage)
  • Zugbildung (English: Train Formations)

Reko-Wagen

The refurbishment of old carriages and the procurement of new vehicles did alleviate some issues with passenger coaches. However, the new builds were insufficient to fully replace the old vehicles, and the refurbished carriages, particularly those of the state railway, no longer met contemporary standards. Consequently, in the second half of the 1950s, the Deutsche Reichsbahn initiated a large-scale reconstruction program. This program aimed to modernise the old carriages to a new technical standard and eliminate design and technical inconsistencies. By doing so, the Deutsche Reichsbahn intended to reduce the labour required for overhauls and minimise the variety of spare parts needed, thereby saving both resources and working time.

The program included almost all types of carriages that remained in East Germany after the war, including numerous models from foreign railways.

The reconstruction aimed to preserve the fundamental design characteristics of the carriages. Thus, two- or three-axle cars were rebuilt as two- or three-axle vehicles, and four-axle cars were converted to four-axle vehicles. Initially, the rebuilds were to be carried out at the railway repair works in Halberstadt and Berlin-Schöneweide, but later only Halberstadt was tasked with the work. In total, around 3,000 carriages were to be rebuilt, including approximately 2,300 passenger coaches, about 300 carriages with luggage compartments, 280 baggage cars, and 160 postal cars. The Deutsche Reichsbahn chose not to include mixed-class or first-class-only cars, as these carriages were intended solely for commuter transport.

Planning and preliminary work began in 1956, and just a year later, in 1957, the prototype, a three-axle carriage, was completed. In 1958, a pre-production series of ten second-class three-axle passenger coaches was introduced. Mass production of the rebuilt carriages started in 1959. The prototype carriages featured rounded roof ends and two large sliding doors on each side at the ends of the carriages. In the series production models, the entrance door at the left end was omitted, and a toilet was installed in the space that became available.

Donnerbüchse

Baag1609
Baagtr212
Bag694
Bagtr89
Messwagen2
Schaltwagen1

Arnold – HN4166, HN4166-1, HN4166-2
Arnold – HN4200

ArticleDescription
HN41336 parts. Set: Post, 4x 3-axle, 1x 2-axle, 1x 3-axle mail car. III – 2013. sold out
B3g: 355-482; 355-475; B3ge: 352-227; 352-366; Bge: 358-320; Post3e: 8025 Hl; all cars home station: Halle/S. spurweite-n.de
HN41362-part. Set, load capacities, 1x 3-axle, 1x 2-axle. III spurweite-n.de
HN41372 parts. Set: Post, 1x load capacity 3 axle. IV spurweite-n.de
HN41636 parts. Set: Luggage, 4x 3-axle, 1x 2-axle III spurweite-n.de
HN41642-piece. Set, load capacities, 1x 3-axle, 1x 2-axle. III spurweite-n.de
HN41656 parts. Set: Post, 4x 3-axle, 1x 2-axle. IV spurweite-n.de
HN41662 parts. Set: load capacities, 1x 3-axle, 1x 2-axle. IV spurweite-n.de
HN41673 parts. Set propane gas: luggage, 1x 3-axle, 1x 2-axle. IV spurweite-n.de
HN42002-piece set of Reko wagons of the DR, Era IV.
HN4305Passenger car set DR Ep.IV 2 pieces
HN4306DR, 2-unit set coaches “Rekowagen”, “patches livery”(green), contains one post van and one lugagge van, period IV
HN9509HN9509 DR, 4-unit pack coaches “Rekowagen”, contains one luggage van and three 3-axle coaches, dark green livery with one decor line, period III

  • Bahw 522
  • BDghws 534
  • BDwsb 270

Arnold / BRAWA / Minitrix / TT-Club

Brawa

The DR struggled after the Second World War with the enormous maintenance burden of the ageing wooden compartment coaches. For this reason, the Deutsche Reichsbahn decided to overhaul the underframes completely and standardise them to a uniform length. In 1963, the first coaches built according to this scheme were delivered to the DR by Raw Halberstadt. However, this method was soon abandoned due to the poor condition of the reusable components that had been used. Instead, the decision was taken to build the coaches entirely from new parts. For the running gear, the newly developed, axleless “Görlitz V” bogie, which had only recently been introduced, was used. The chosen length of 18.7 metres resulted from the structural constraints of the manufacturing plant.

Between 1963 and 1977, a total of 3,030 coaches of the type “Bghwe” were produced, making them a common sight in almost every DR passenger train during the 1970s and 1980s. Initially, because of their comparatively modern level of comfort, they were often used in express trains and thus also reached destinations in the Federal Republic of Germany. They could regularly be seen in Nuremberg, Hamburg and the Ruhr area. When they first appeared, their livery was green with a decorative stripe running below the windows and the solebar picked out in black.

Although the DR had originally planned to modernise the coaches further, including fitting new windows and a new interior, they were withdrawn from service by 1995 following the reunification of the two German railways and the resulting changes in traffic patterns. Nevertheless, vehicles of this type can still be seen in operation today, both with DBAG and on many preserved and museum railways.

Speisewagen

  • Speisewagen (Dining car) WRge 51 50 88-45 030-6, DR, burgundy, N, Ep. IV, Brawa 65090
  • Speisewagen (Dining car) WRge 51 50 88-15 048-4, DR, orange and cream, N, Ep. IV, Brawa 65091

Personenwagen Bghw

  • Personenwagen (Passenger car) Bghw 57 50 28-13 449-3, DR, green, N, Ep. IV, Brawa 65092
  • Personenwagen (Passenger car) Bghw 57 50 28-13 190-3, DR, green, N, Ep. IV, Brawa 65093
  • Personenwagen (Passenger car) Bghw 57 50 28-13 171-3, DR, green, N, Ep. IV, Brawa 65094

Personenwagen BDghws

  • Personenwagen (Passenger car) BDghws, 57 50 82-15 006-2, DR, green, N, Ep. IV, Brawa 65095

Personenwagen Bmhe

  • Personenwagen (Passenger car) Bmhe 50 50 21-11 889-6, DR, green, N, Ep. IV, Brawa 65146
  • Personenwagen (Passenger car) Bmhe 50 50 21-11 123-0, DR, green, N, Ep. IV, Brawa 65147
  • Personenwagen (Passenger car) Bmhe 51 50 21-40 439-4, DR, green and cream, N, Ep. IV, Brawa 65148
  • Personenwagen (Passenger car) Bmhe 50 50 21-11 962-1, DR, green and cream, N, Ep. IV, Brawa 65149
  • Personenwagen (Passenger car) Bmhe 51 50 21-11 834-2, DR, orange and cream, N, Ep. IV, Brawa 65150
  • Personenwagen (Passenger car) Bmhe 51 50 21-11 836-7, DR, orange and cream, N, Ep. IV, Brawa 65151
  • Personenwagen (Passenger car) Bmhe 51 50 21-12 004-1, DR, orange and cream, N, Ep. IV, Brawa 65152

Wishlist

  • 24-26 292-3 – Baai 2nd class passenger coach DR Ep.IV – Fleischmann 6260001
  • 24-26 294-9 – Baai 2nd class passenger coach DR Ep.IV – Fleischmann 6260002
  • 93-26 043-6 – Daai Goods wagon baggage wagon DR Ep.IV – Fleischmann 6260003

More Information

  • Estler, Thomas. Reisezugwagen der DDR: Seit 1949. Transpress, 2020.