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German Reichsbahn No. 801 to 804
German Federal Railway VT 709 and German Reichsbahn class 1908
Germany | 1927 | 4 produced
WEG VT 04 in October 2002 shortly before it's retirement in Vaihingen/Enz
WEG VT 04 in October 2002 shortly before it's retirement in Vaihingen/Enz
Ulrich Klumpp

The four vehicles with road numbers 801 to 804 were the first two-axle diesel railcars that the Deutsche Reichsbahn procured. They were built in 1927 and, after various rebuilds, especially with regard to the power train, some of them had a very long career in regular service, one example remained in service until 2002.

The car body came from Wegmann from Kassel and had a rectangular shape. Despite an exterior length of just under twelve meters, there were three doors on each side to speed up the boarding and deboarding of passengers on secondary routes with many intermediate stops. It offered space for 43 seated passengers, but later this number was reduced to 30 in favor of individual space.

Initially, it was powered by a four-cylinder diesel engine from MAN with 75 hp. This drove one of the two axles via a mechanical transmission. Since this performance was not sufficient in the long term, the engines were replaced in 1934 with new ones with six cylinders and exactly twice the power. With this conversion, the number 803 was the only one to receive a new hydraulic transmission

After the Second World War, two pieces each came to the Bundesbahn and Reichsbahn. The latter did not last very long, as one was converted into a trailer in 1950 and was later only used in construction trains. The other railcar was also retired in 1960.

The two Bundesbahn vehicles were given the numbers VT 70 900 and VT 70 901. They were sold to the Württembergische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft in 1954 and used there to pull trailers. For this purpose, they were equipped with new engines several times, most recently both received two 210 hp units, each driving one axle. As mentioned, one of these two was retired in 2002 after the line on which it was used was closed. The other is still in use today as part of the museum service of the so-called Teuto Express.

General
Built1927
ManufacturerWegmann
Axle configA1 
Gauge4 ft 8 1/2 in (Standard gauge)
Seats44
Dimensions and Weights
Length41 ft 7 13/16 in
Wheelbase22 ft 11 9/16 in
Rigid wheelbase22 ft 11 9/16 in
Service weight52,690 lbs
Adhesive weight26,676 lbs
Axle load26,676 lbs
Boiler
Power Plant
Power
Power sourcediesel-mechanic
Top speed47 mph
EngineMAN
Engine type6-cyl. diesel
Engine output148 hp (110 kW)
Calculated Values
DMU
local
last changed: 02/2022
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