Product Features and Details
Prototype: German Federal Railroad (DB) Langenschwalbach design bogie car. Type LPw4i, baggage area combination with compartment reserved for mail. Former PwPost4i Pr14, 3rd series.
Model: Version with an open end platform and an enclosed transition. Type-specific truck bogies. Applied ladders, grab irons, and transition panels. Length over buffers 14.0 cm / 5-1/2". DC wheel set 4 x 70 0580.
In 1889, the sophisticated spa, Langenschwalbach today Bad Schwalbach got a rail connection. The line extended to Wiesbaden and had inclines of approximately 33 as well as curve radii of minimum 200 m / 656'2". The Prussian State Railway had a new type of passenger car built especially for the curve traffic. Although at that time commuter cars almost always had two or three rigid axles, the Langenschwalbach cars were given dual axle bogies, initially with a short wheelbase of 1650 mm / 5'5" and a small wheel diameter of 740 mm / 29-1/8". However it was soon apparent that a wheelbase of 2000 mm / 78-3/4" and the usual wheel diameter of 960 mm / 37-3/4" did not lessen ride comfort. The body showed the first elements of a lightweight design. Thus the developers used the outer fairing as integral construction. Tubular frames served as cross girders. The design proved so effective that it was imitated with for 35 years with few changes. In 1892, the first Langenschwalbach cars were on the tracks. First only 1st to 3rd class. From 1907 on, the State Railways also placed 4th class cars of this type in service. Combination post and baggage cars came later. As the cars were quite popular with the public, they were soon in service outside of their home district. German Federal Railways decommissioned the cars in the 1950s. Numerous cars found new jobs in construction train service.
