Marklin 42283 - Rheingold Express Train Passenger Car Set

Prototype: 6 different German State Railroad Company (DRG) long distance express train passenger cars. 2 type SPw4ü-28 baggage cars. 1 type SB4ü-28 salon car, 2nd class, without a galley. 1 type SA4ük-28 salon car, 1st class, with a galley. 1 type SA4ü-28, 1st class, without a galley. 1 type SB4ük-28, 2nd class, with a galley. The cars look as they did at the beginning of the Thirties.

Model: The cars have interior details with lighted table lamps. Maintenance-free LEDs are used for the lighting. The cars have continuous current-conducting connections by means of special fixed drawbar couplings that can be plugged into the cars. The baggage cars each have 4 sliding doors that can be opened. All of the cars have imprinted train order numbers and destination signs. 1 baggage car has factory-installed LED marker lights.

Total length over the buffers 154 cm / 60-5/8".
 

One-time series.
 

The legendary Nibelungen treasure was the inspiration for one of the most famous luxury trains in Europe. The first "Rheingold" undertook is first cross-border run on May 15, 1928 over the 662 kilometer / 414 miles route from Amsterdam/ Hook of Holland to Basle. It was pulled by a Bavarian S 3/6 Pacific locomotive. The design for the cream/violet painted salon cars was based on the famous American Pullman cars and offered luxurious open seating accommodations with or without a galley. Two cars were always served from one galley. The arrangement of the interior spaces came from designs of famous artists and architects. These cars were also technically the newest that the railroad could offer at that time. At 23.5 meters / 77 feet 1-3/16 inches they exceeded the length of all the German passenger cars built up that time. The 26 cars eventually built each weighed 50 to 57.2 metric tons, clearly more than normal express train passenger cars. The trucks for these cars were a special design. There were also three baggage cars, all in violet and 19.68 meters / 64 feet 6-7/8 inches long. The train had accommodations in first and second class. In the fall of 1939 the "Rheingold" disappeared from the schedules. The German Federal Railroad brought back the tradition in 1951. For three decades this train was the figurehead of the German Federal Railroad. With the beginning of the summer schedule in 1987 the "Rheingold" disappeared from German.
 

The class 18.4 is the right "Rheingold" express train locomotive for this car set and is also being offered under item no. 37183 as a one-time series in 2011 in the Märklin new items assortment.