Trix 15884 - Bicycle Express Passenger Car Set

Prototype: Three German Railroad, Inc. (DB AG) commuter cars. 1 type ABnrz 418.4 car, 1st/2nd class, 1 type Bnrz 436 car, 2nd class, and 1 type Dduu 498.1 bicycle car.Use: Bicycle and regional express trains.Product description

Model: All of the cars have close coupler mechanisms. Lighting kits can be installed in the cars. Total length over the buffers 495 mm / 19-1/2".

Charlies Tip

The lighting kit to go with these cars: 66616 LED Lighting Kit.

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Prototype information

Hidden behind the German Federal Railroad's traffic red painted commuter cars are the 26.4 meter / 85 foot 10 inch commuter cars with stainless steel car bodies, which were popularly known as "Silberlinge" / "Silver Coins". At the start of the Nineties, these "n" cars were modernized since they had reached about half of their useful life and no money was available for new cars. As part of an expanded overhaul, these cars were to be more attractively equipped for the passengers. The following were specified as design features: seating, luggage racks, and trash containers, self-contained restroom systems, new materials and colors, as well as a general-purpose area on demand with folding seats and floor space for strollers, wheelchairs, bicycles, etc.

All kinds of design variations were tried out here, which led chiefly to a considerable increase in the variety of types for interior area design. The cars missed the "Corporate Identity" of the time and they had a mint turquoise / pastel turquoise / light gray paint scheme, which initially gave them the nickname "Grünlinge" / "Green Things".

Starting in 1996, there was another new paint scheme concept. The modernized "Silberlinge" / "Silver Coins" were now given a traffic red paint scheme with light gray doors and decorative striping. Later, older modernizations were successively adapted to the new paint scheme concept and the cars thus mutated to "Rotlingen" / "Red Things".

Due to regionalization and the purchase associated with it of a variety of new powered rail cars, the DB AG's "n" cars have since become mostly history and are still encountered only in special or backup services. One of these special services are the so-called bicycle express trains, which can still be seen especially in Baden-Württemberg, because the combination of train and bicycle has enjoyed increasing popularity for years, especially in day excursions. A special feature of all bicycle express trains is the use of cars with extra-large bicycle capacity such as converted baggage cars as bicycle transport cars with space for about 100 bicycles.

The most beautiful areas of Baden-Württemberg can thus be experienced in an environmentally friendly way with a big advantage. Compared to an excursion with an automobile, you do not have to return to your starting point after a bicycle tour. You can come home from the station of your choice.

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