Gauge: H0 Era: III

Prototype: German Federal Railroad (DB) class VT 10.5 "Senator" daytime articulated train. 1 powered end car A, with an engine room, baggage area, and compartments. 1 powered end car B, with an engine room and an open seating area. 1 intermediate car e, with a galley. 1 intermediate car g, with an open area. The paint scheme is white aluminum / crimson. The train looks as it did around 1955.

Model: The train is a 4-part basic set. It has an mfx digital decoder and extensive sound functions. The train has controlled high-efficiency propulsion with a flywheel, mounted in powered end car A. 2 axles powered in the truck for powered car A. Traction tires. The train has factory-installed interior lighting. The dual headlights and red marker lights change over with the direction of travel. They and the interior lighting will work in conventional operation and can be controlled digitally. The table lamps can be controlled digitally. The headlights, interior lighting, and table lamps are maintenance-free warm white LEDs. There is a special multiple conductor current-conducting coupling and close fitting diaphragms between the cars. The train has a pickup shoe changeover feature with powered end car at the front of the train picking up power. The train has a reproduction of a covered Scharfenberg coupler (non-working) at both ends.

Train length over the couplers 69.1 cm / 27-3/16".

Highlights:

• Powered rail car train constructed of metal.
• Prototypical tooling changes in the area of the engineer's cabs.
• High-efficiency propulsion and a sound generator in one powered end car.
• Factory-installed interior lighting.
• Table lamps can be controlled digitally.
• Electrical connections through the entire train.
• Pickup shoe changeover with the direction of travel.

One-time series.

VT 10.5 - "Senator" by Day, "Komet" by Night. At the start of the Fifties, the German Federal Railroad (DB) developed two articulated powered rail car trains for long distance service. These two articulated powered rail car trains were presented for the first time at the German Transportation Exhibition (DVA) in Munich in 1953: The VT 10 501, built by Linke-Hofmann-Busch as a daytime train "Senator" for the DB, and the VT 10 551, built by Wegmann as the overnight train "Komet" for the German Sleeping Car and Dining Car Company (DSG). In addition to their use and paint scheme, these two trains also had design differences. While the cars for the "Senator" were equipped with single-axle running gear, the "Komet" had Jacobs trucks between the cars. The end cars on both trains each had a two-axle power truck. MAN diesel motors with originally a performance of 118 kilowatts / 158 horsepower, later with 154 kilowatts / 206 horsepower, were used in the motor cars. The maximum speed was 120 km/h / 75 mph; a planned increase to 160 km/h / 100 mph was not carried out. The power transmission was done hydraulically by means of a four-speed transmission. The "Senator" offered its passengers 135 seats in 1st class, 24 of them reclining seats.

The trains went into regular service with the beginning of the summer schedule in 1954. The daytime train, road no. VT 10 501 as Ft 41/42 "Senator" on the route Frankfurt/Main - Hamburg, the overnight train as Ft 49/50 "Komet" between Hamburg and Basle (starting in the summer of 1955 to Zürich). The running characteristics of the overnight train received a positive evaluation. Those of the daytime train were the opposite according to DB documents: "All things considered, it is apparent that the freight car characteristics cannot be removed from this train." The "Senator" was in use until June of 1956, was rebuilt several times, and tested in experimental runs. In 1959, it was taken out of operation and in 1962 was scrapped. All of the cars from the two trains were scrapped except for the intermediate car VT 10 551i from the overnight train that is used by Nürnberg railroad enthusiasts as a home for their club. The experiences with the two Kruckenberg designs fed the development of the subsequent DB VT 11.5 TEE powered rail car train.

Charlie's Tip: The 39101 4-part basic set for the daytime powered rail car train can be expanded to the prototypical 7-part unit with the Marklin 41101 add-on car set.

This model can be found in a DC version in the Trix H0 assortment under item no. Trix 22809.

Released in: New items brochure 2012