Trix 12338 - TEE Express Powered Rail Car Train

Prototype: Swiss Federal Railways (SBB/CFF/FFS) class RAm TEE I 501 and 502 express powered rail car train. Diesel electric powered end car, compartment car, dining car, and open seating car with an engineer's cab. Same design as the Dutch class DE 1001 through 1003 TEE trains. Built in 1957, original Era III version. Use: Trans Europe Express in Switzerland, Germany, and the Benelux.
 

Model: The train has a digital decoder for DCC, Selectrix, and conventional operation, as well as a sound generator. It has a 5-pole motor with a flywheel. 6 axles powered. The cab control car and the two intermediate cars have interior lighting. This along with the headlights and marker lights will work in conventional operation, and the headlights and marker lights in the powered car can be controlled digitally. The train has special couplings with close coupler mechanisms between the cars. There are also imitations of prototype couplers at the ends of the train.

Total train length 615 mm / 24-3/16".
 

One-time series.
 

In 1957, the Swiss Federal Railways and the Dutch State Railways placed identical TEE diesel powered rail car trains into service for the newly created TEE network. Next to the German Federal Railroad's VT 11.5, these 5 train sets were the stars of Europe's railroads where it was a question of comfort and prestige. These four-unit trains consisted of a powered end car with a performance level of 2,000 horsepower, a compartment car, a dining car, and a cab control car with an open seating area. The powered end cars were built by Werkspoor in the Netherlands and the cars were built by SIG in Switzerland. The shape of the ends of the powered cars and cab control cars reminded people of Dutch designs, and the intermediate cars had the features of Swiss passenger cars.

With a total length of 97.16 meters / 318 feet 9-3/16 inches, a train set offered space for 114 passengers in first class and 32 in the dining car. With a maximum speed of 140 km/h / 88 mph, these elegant trains were used on the Amsterdam - Zürich route (TEE "Edelweiss") and Amsterdam - Paris route (TEE "Étoile du Nord" / "North Star"), and later also between Brussels and Paris (TEE "Oiseau Bleu" / "Blue Bird"). Later, these trains were also used as a TEE connection between Paris and Zürich. And, finally later they were used as the TEE "Bavaria" between Zürich and Munich. In 1976, four sets were sold to Canada and ran on the Ontario Northland as the "Northlander" on the route between Timmins and Toronto. The powered end cars were gradually replaced by American FP7 diesels and were scrapped. Five cars are now back in Europe and are waiting for an overhaul to turn them back into the RAm TEE I.