railcar VT 95 pre-series CFL Z153 AC Digital

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The idea of ??using light road buses on rails and thus operating traffic on secondary routes cost-effectively fascinated and convinced from the start. The first attempts of this kind date back to the Länderbahn and DRG era, but it was not until 1949 that lightweight construction was consistently adopted. The Uerdingen wagon factory, known for its lightweight bodies, and Büssing, a specialist in underfloor engines, quickly developed an innovative concept for the young Deutsche Bahn (DB) - the rail bus.

The aim was to serve branch lines with inexpensive vehicles and thus reduce operating costs compared to normal buses. In August 1949, the DB ordered ten railcars (VT) and five matching trailers (VB). These rail buses had a very short wheelbase of 4.5 m in order to avoid complex chassis designs. They were powered by a Büssing U9 underfloor engine with a continuous output of 110 hp. This 6-cylinder pre-chamber diesel was used in the 5000 T bus type, so that the railcar and bus were comparable in terms of size and weight. At 3 m, the rail buses were also half a meter wider than conventional buses and reached a total weight of around 29 tons with trailers.
The first vehicles of the new VT 95 series were handed over to the DB for testing on March 22, 1950 and officially put into operation on May 2, 1950. Production included ten identical motor cars VT 95 901 to 910 and six trailer cars VB 140 701 to 706. Two other motor cars deviated from the standard design - the VT 95 911 had four doors like all trailer cars, while the VT 95 912 had a longer wheelbase of 6.0 m, which was later also used in the series version VT 95.9.
VT 95 rail buses were initially equipped with a simple truck coupling, which was used to connect the motor car and trailer car. However, they were later converted to Scharfenberg couplings to ensure compatibility with the main series vehicles.

In the early years, the new railcars mainly ran in southern Bavaria (Kempten, Nördlingen, Schongau) and in the far north (Husum, Neumünster, Lübeck). As series vehicles became increasingly available, all pre-series vehicles were brought together in the north in 1956.

The life of the VT 95 series was comparatively short, however. The VT 95 901 and 902 were taken out of service as early as 1962, followed by the other vehicles in 1964/65. An exception was the VT 95 906, which was converted to an Indusi test vehicle in 1964 and is now the only survivor from the pre-series vehicles waiting for possible refurbishment in Gerolstein.
The success story of the lightweight railbuses was not limited to Deutsche Bahn. The CFL in Luxembourg and German private railways also recognized the advantages of these innovative vehicles and deployed additional railcars and trailers.
The VT 95 railbuses thus left a lasting mark in the history of rail transport and are still seen today as a pioneering example of economical operation on branch lines. Their combination of lightweight construction, efficiency and flexibility set new standards and had a lasting influence on the development of rail transport.