The DRG Class SVT 137 was a class of

streamlined Streamlines, streaklines and pathlines are field lines in a fluid flow. They differ only when the flow changes with time, that is, when the flow is not steady. Considering a velocity vector field in three-dimensional space in the framework of ...

diesel train sets of the

Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'', also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the German national railway system created after the end of World War I from the regiona ...

and later of the

Deutsche Bundesbahn The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB (German Federal Railway) was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) on 7 September 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG). The DB remained ...

(as class VT 04) and the

Deutsche Reichsbahn The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'', also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the German national railway system created after the end of World War I from the regiona ...

. With a regular maximum speed of and average speeds of up to they were the first high speed trains in central Europe. http://www.hfi.tu-berlin.de/Foettinger/Projekte/SVT137155/svt137155.pdf

Subclasses and Technical Data

Based on the prototype

DRG Class SVT 877 The DRG Class SVT 877 Hamburg Flyer – sometimes also Flying Hamburger or in German ''Fliegender Hamburger'' – was Germany's first fast diesel train, and is credited with establishing the fastest regular railway connection in the world in its ti ...

there were four different subclasses and one experimental train: * "Bauart Hamburg", two sections,

Jacobs bogie Jacobs bogies (named after Wilhelm Jakobs,, 1858–1942, a German mechanical railway engineer) are a type of rail vehicle bogie commonly found on articulated railcars and tramway vehicles. Instead of being underneath a piece of rolling stock, ...

s, , 2’Bo’2’, No 137 149 - 152 and No 137 224 - 232 * "Bauart Leipzig", three sections, Jacobs-bogies, , 2'Bo'Bo'2', No 137 153 – 154 and 137 233 – 234, DR 183 251 * "Bauart Köln", three sections, 14 built, conventional

bogie A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transp ...

s "Bauart Görlitz", , 2'Bo'+2'2'+Bo'2', 160 t, 132 Seats, No 137 273 - 278 and 137 851 - 858. * "Bauart Berlin", four sections including a power / postal car, single slow running diesel , 2'Bo'+2'2'+'2'2'+Bo'2', 210.6 t, 126 seats, No 137 901 - 903 * SVT 137 155, designed by the constructor of the

Schienenzeppelin The () or rail zeppelin was an experimental railcar which resembled a Zeppelin airship in appearance. It was designed and developed by the German aircraft engineer Franz Kruckenberg in 1929. Propulsion was by means of a pusher propeller located ...

Franz Kruckenberg Franz Friedrich Kruckenberg (born on the 21st of August 1882 in Uetersen, Germany; died on the 19th of June 1965 in Heidelberg) was an engineer and pioneer of high speed railway systems. He designed several high speed trains. His most famous desi ...

, built 1934–1938,

diesel-hydraulic A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving wheels ...

, three cars, one powered cars at the head. Did not enter regular service. World speed record of (Hamburg-Berlin), June 23, 1939. The construction led to the DB Class VT 10.5,

DB Class VT 11.5 The trainsets of Class VT 11.5 (often simply called TEE) were diesel multiple units built by Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) in 1957 and used for Trans Europ Express (TEE) services. Perceived as flagships of the DB rolling stock, they carried first-class ...

and the DR Class VT 18.16 Most SVT 137 were diesel-electric, the SVT 137 Bauart Leipzig No 137 153 – 154 had a

transmission, the SVT No 137 233 – 234 had a diesel-electric transmission. Three sections of the SVT 137 902 were originally from the Dutch NS streamline '36 and used in this train. They didn't return to the NS after the war.

History

Since the success of the SVT 877 "Flying Hamburger" DRG projected a set of Diesel multiple units for a high speed network from

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

to several German cities. First built 1934/1935, the "Bauart Hamburg" showed some differences to the prototype: The number of seats was 77 instead of 99, the placement of the seats 2+1 instead of 3+1. The Bauart Hamburg was longer. The main line Berlin-Hannover-Cologne started July 1, 1935; the route Berlin-Leipzig-Erfurt-Frankfurt followed August 15, 1935. From 1936 a service Berlin-Nuremberg-Munich/Stuttgart was initiated for a real success and struggling their routes. On February 17, 1936, the "Bauart Leipzig" achieved a world speed record of . These trains did the route Berlin-Breslau-Beuthen (now: Berlin-Wrocław-Bytom) from May 15, 1936. The scheduled time was 4:17 h, meaning an average speed of . The SVT service was halted in August, 1939. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

some of the trains were used by the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

as military trains. After World War II some of the SVT 137 were handed over to other states. The SVT 137 274 was used in the American occupation zone; it was later transported to

Fort Eustis Fort Eustis is a United States Army installation in Newport News, Virginia. In 2010, it was combined with nearby Langley Air Force Base to form Joint Base Langley–Eustis. The post is the home to the United States Army Training and Doctrine Co ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, as a "technical interesting object". SVT 137 852 served the CSD in 1949 on the line

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

. SVT 137 855 entered service at the SZD

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

as trainset DP-14. The remaining SVT 137 were used by the Deutsche Bundesbahn as VT 04 / VT 06 and the Deutsche Reichsbahn as class 137, later class 183. DRG SVT 137 225 "Bauart Hamburg" (picture above) was used by the

GDR East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

government until 1975. In 1991 this train was repainted in its original colours. Today it is exhibited at

Leipzig Hauptbahnhof Leipzig Hauptbahnhof (Leipzig main station, ) is the central railway terminus in Leipzig, Germany, in the district Mitte. At , it is Europe's largest railway station measured by floor area. It has 19 overground platforms housed in six iron train ...

References

External links

* http://www.dbtrains.com/en/trainsets/epochII/SVT_Hamburg * http://www.dbtrains.com/en/trainsets/epochII/SVT_Leipzig * http://www.dbtrains.com/en/trainsets/epochII/SVT_Koln * http://www.dbtrains.com/en/trainsets/epochII/SVT_Berlin * http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/de/diesel/dmu/historic/SVT137/pix.html good picture site * https://web.archive.org/web/20061231190335/http://www.verkehrsmuseum-dresden.de/de/presse/presse_Eisenbahnausstellung.htm 137 155 (Kruckenberg), German site * http://www.hfi.tu-berlin.de/Foettinger/Projekte/SVT137155/svt137155.pdf Details about 137 155, German {{German DMUs SVT 137 Diesel multiple units of Germany German streamliner trains High-speed trains of Germany Land speed record rail vehicles