Covered Freight Car (Gw) G DR

Info about the original

The Deutsche Staatsbahnwagenverband (DWV), founded in 1909, developed the A2 standard wagon based on the existing state-railway covered goods wagons, featuring a 4.5 m wheelbase and a 15-tonne load capacity. From 1911 onwards, this design was produced as numerous series for the Länderbahnen (state railways), private railways and later the Reichsbahn (National Railway). By 1934, an astonishing total of 121,770 wagons of this type, designated G Kassel/Munich, had been delivered to the Deutsche Reichsbahn Gesellschaft alone. Including wagons built for private and foreign railways, it is estimated that more than 160,000 wagons were manufactured based on the A2 master drawing. From 1938 onwards, these wagons were reinforced to withstand the additional stresses caused by the installation of air brakes as well as increased speeds. Diagonal struts were welded into the end sections, and in some cases, the end stanchions were rotated by 90 degrees. By the end of 1952, 35,600 wagons of this type, now designated as G10, were still in service with Deutsche Bundesbahn. Over time, the inventory steadily diminished due to conversions to Gms54 wagons, general fleet modernisation and the resulting decommissioning. In 1976, the last wagon of this type, now designated as Gklm191, was withdrawn from the maintenance fleet. However, many of these wagons remained in use as station or workshop vehicles.