Schienenzeppelin

This set contains various versions of the Schienenzeppelin as designed by German engineer Franz Kruckenberg in the late 1920s.

• Availability: 1928 to 1940
• Speed: 240 km/h
• Capacity: 20 passengers.
• Suitable high speed tracks are included.

Some words on the trains history:

In the late 1920s, Mr. Kruckenberg, based on his experience with Schütte-Lanz airships in World War 1, tried to apply similar technology to a high speed rail vehicle. He designed a light weight rail car with a 500 hp BMW VI V-12 aero engine in the rear, driving an initially four-bladed wooden propeller. The vehicle was built at the Hanover state railway workshops and was first shown to the public on the track between Hanover and Celle (a little to the northeast) on 18th October 1930, reaching a speed of 180 km/h. A speed of 200 km/h was exceeded a few months later, and during 1931, the vehicle was shown all over Germany. 

On 21st June 1931, the Schienenzeppelin was driven from Hamburg to Berlin, crossing the 257km within 1:38 and setting a speed record of a little more than 230 km/h over some kilometers of the route. This was not exceeded until 24 years later, and still stands for petrol-driven trains. A few weeks of parked display at Berlin-Olympiabahnhof followed.

During testing, the original four-bladed propeller was replaced by a more efficient, but (typically) louder, two-bladed one. In 1932, after the tests resulted in no purchase by the Reichsbahn, the vehicle was again revised. The entire nose section was removed, the single forward axle was replaced by a driven two-axled bogie, and most importantly, the propeller was removed and replaced by an aerodynamic fairing. Probably, the engine was then relocated to the nose, but due to the nearly nonexistent documentation status of this last development step, this could not be verified. Consequently, this latest version could not be included in the set.

After the tests, the Schienenzeppelin ended up in a Berlin depot where it decayed for some years. In 1939, due to the rather bad state it was found in, it was ordered to be scrapped because the space it took up was needed otherwise.

Why did the Schienenzeppelin fail?

The vehicle was fast and could possibly have provided high speed rail service. But it was also highly unpractical. The twin-axle configuration required rather wide turn radii. With the fixed, non-reversing propeller, the train could only drive forward and needed to be turned around at its terminal stations before continuing - only during testing was a small electric wheel drive for reversing over short distances added. The lack of buffers made this vehicle unprotected against little collisions. Also, it was impossible to form trains by coupling multiple of cars, restricting both capacity and flexibility.

But most of all, an unshrouded propeller is a rather undesirable thing to run in the vicinity of crowded train platforms. Not only the propeller itself, but also its propwash is a danger to any bystander coming too close. Stones and other debris will be kicked up and blown away, possibly causing damage as well.

How to use it in the game:

The train is best used on an own, dedicated network separated from other lines. Custom rails with a suitable maximum speed are included and can be used. Running other, slower trains on the Schienenzeppelin network will not be helpful because it will never reach its maximum speed if it is blocked by slower trains. It is advisable to build embankments as far as practicable for this train and avoid having it run on bridges: those retain their lower speed limits for safety reasons and will slow down a route noticeably. If a Schienenzeppelin track needs to be crossed, it is better to let the crossing infrastructure use a bridge instead. With parallel routes, the passengers will prefer the Schienenzeppelin to slower, steam-driven offers.