Passenger Coach Bghwe DR

Info about the original

Like the DB, the DR also struggled after the Second World War with the enormous maintenance costs of ageing wooden type compartment coaches. It was therefore also decided at the Deutsche Reichsbahn to completely redesign the sub-frames to a uniform length. In 1963 the first coaches of this design were supplied by the repair shop in Halberstadt to the DR. This procedure was quickly given up due to the poor condition of the reused assemblies. It was decided to build the coaches completely with new components. The running gear used was the recently developed, „Görlitz V“ bogie without axle holders. The selected length of 18.7 m resulted from the structural conditions of the factory. Thus from 1963 to 1977, 3030 coaches of Class „Bghwe“ were produced, which was therefore to be found in nearly every passenger coach of the DR in the 1970s and 1980s. Initially the coaches were used especially in special trains, due to their very modern comfort, and therefore also reached destinations in the Federal Republic. They were regularly seen in Nuremberg, Hamburg and the Ruhr area. When they appeared their livery was green with a continuous decorative stripe under the windows offset by a black sole bar band. Although the DR had planned to convert coaches, for example with new windows and new interior furnishings, they were removed from stock by 1995 after unification of the two German railways due to altered traffic conditions. Vehicles of this type are still used today by the DB AG and by many clubs and heritage railways.