The Esslingen railbus (German: ''Esslinger Triebwagen'') is a diesel
railbus
A railbus is a lightweight passenger railcar that shares many aspects of its construction with a bus, typically having a bus (original or modified) body and four wheels on a fixed base, instead of on bogies. Originally designed and developed d ...
first delivered in 1951 for private railways (''Nichtbundeseigene Eisenbahn'') in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
History
The Esslingen railbus, sometimes shortened in German to ''Esslinger'', had been developed during the 1950s by the
Maschinenfabrik Esslingen
Maschinenfabrik Esslingen (ME), was a German engineering firm that manufactured locomotives, tramways, railway wagons, roll-blocks, technical equipment for the railways, (turntables and traversers), bridges, steel structures, pumps and boiler ...
for small branch lines and private railways. Fifty examples were built in three variants: power coaches (''Triebwagen'') or VT, trailer coaches (''Beiwagen'') or VB and driving coaches (''Steuerwagen'') or VS.
Of the first series, 25 VT, 6 VB and 4 VS were delivered into service, of the second series (from 1959) 6 VT, 4 VB and 5 VS.
Gallery
Image:SWEG-Esslinger-alt.jpg, VT 103 of the SWEG at Odenheim station (1990)
Image:SWEG-Esslinger-neu.jpg, VT 114 of the SWEG at Menzingen station (1989)
Image:SWEG-Esslinger.jpg, VT 112 of the SWEG at Münzesheim station (1992)
Image:AVG-Esslinger.jpg, VT 452 of the AVG on the Murg Valley Railway (2002)
Sources
* Thomas Estler: ''Esslinger Triebwagen''. Transpress Verlag, Stuttgart 2002,
External links
Verbleib des VT 103 bei der Chiemgauer Lokalbahn (Bad Endorf–Obing)historisches zur Regentalbahn - Heimat der Esslinger
{{German DMUs
Diesel multiple units of Germany
German railbuses