Brawa 51299 - Covered Freight Car Gllmehs52 DB

To speed up the transport of large volumes of parcel freight, Deutsche Reichsbahn introduced purpose-built light goods trains, referred to as “Leig” trains. These trains featured two large-capacity goods wagons, coupled closely together and connected by a wide gangway and a guard’s compartment. This design allowed onboard personnel to sort parcel freight while the train was in motion.

In the 1950s, Deutsche Bundesbahn revived this concept for the development of new goods wagons and began planning the construction of modern Leig units. Based on the Glmehs 50, ninety-eight Leig units of the Gllm(e)hs 52 type were built. Initially, they were distinguished by the prominent “Stückgut-Schnellverkehr” (“Express Parcel Service”) lettering painted across their wooden side walls.

Each Leig unit was assigned to a specific home station, from which they operated on regular rotations. From the late 1970s, Deutsche Bundesbahn began modernising some of these Leig units, replacing their wooden walls with panel sections and rotating their U-shaped box profiles. In this modernised configuration, the last Leig units remained in operation until 1991, before being fully replaced by lorries for parcel freight transport.