A compartment coach is a railway passenger coach (US: passenger car) divided into separate areas or compartments, with no means of moving between compartments. [1]
The compartment coach should not be confused with the corridor coach which also has separate compartments but, by contrast, has a corridor down one side of the coach interior onto which the compartment doors open.
Originally compartment coaches were passenger coaches with several separate compartments in the same coach body, each compartment having its own doors on the side of the coach to enable passengers to board and alight. The compartment coach was developed at the very beginning of the railway era in England simply by placing a post coach body on a railway undercarriage. Compartment coaches were used across almost the whole of Europe and were built right up to the 1930s. On the European continent they were sometimes referred to as English coaches or coaches built to the English system.
The first compartment coaches in the 19th century comprised several cabins on one undercarriage, similar to the post coaches. Compartment coaches with doors for each compartment, without any connexion between compartments, were built up to the end of the 20th century. The disadvantages of this design were that passengers could not use the toilet or visit the dining car and that train staff had to climb along the outside of the coach on running boards in order to check tickets. Countless four-, six- and eight-wheeled vehicles of this type were used in Germany and especially by the Prussian state railways.
 | The examples and perspective in this section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(June 2018) |
Until about 1880, four-wheeled compartment coaches were typical. After the end of the wave of nationalisations the Prussian state railways, around 1895, acquired the quieter-running six-wheelers. For this, so-called norms were established for four-, six- and, later, eight-wheeled classes of coach. For the six-wheelers, both fixed axle and sliding axle designs were envisaged. Those coaches designed specifically for suburban traffic (Berlin, Hamburg) had no toilets. On the other coaches, a gangway was specified in order to keep the number of toilets to a minimum for economic reasons. Numerous coaches had therefore to be converted. After the end of the 19th century, fourth class compartment coaches were also procured.
Four- and six-wheeled compartment coaches were initially used in all train categories on main lines. With the advent of the D-Zug express coaches in 1892, compartment coaches were deployed in passenger trains on main lines and in built-up areas. Here it became abundantly clear that, in addition a faster turn round of passengers, access to station platforms on main lines could only be permitted if passengers had valid tickets and trains could not be boarded until shortly before their departure. So ticket checking by the guard became a function of station staff. By contrast, open coaches were common on branch lines, because there were often no platform barriers on branch line stations and so tickets had to be checked in the train itself.
From 1895, especially in Prussia and Saxony (but also to a lesser extent in Baden, Bavaria and Alsace-Lorraine), eight-wheeled compartment coaches were built. They were predominantly used in the semi-fast trains or Eilzüge introduced in 1907 and in the so-called fast passenger trains. Over 3,500 coaches were built in several batches starting in 1898. The compartments in the coaches were sometimes linked to provide access to the toilets. In third class coaches the privies lacked flushing facilities until some time later.
Initially the window frames on compartment coaches - like the coach bodies themselves - were made of wood, which very quickly warped. After 1900 they were made of a brass alloy based on a patent by the Julius Pintsch AG firm. The upper part of the window frame on these coaches was rounded.
From 1910 the paraffin lighting was replaced by more efficient gas lighting. After 1900, rising wood prices forced a switch to steel construction and then to lower value materials during the First World War.
Prussian state railways coaches were equipped with standard bogies with two and later three spring systems. Most coaches were 18.55 m long. Initially Westinghouse brakes were used, but after 1900 they were fitted with standard Knorr brakes. The hand brake was housed in a separate brakeman's cabin at one end of the coach. These were removed in 1930.
Of the 21,000 compartment coaches of all types that were built, 14,000 were handed to other countries after the First World War as reparations. Of these, 5,000 went to the re-emergent Poland.
| Prussian class | DRG template | First built | No. of coaches | No. of seats | No. of toilets | Length over buffers | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABB | B4 Pr 95 | 1895 | 350 | 10/31 | 3 | 18.15 m (59 ft 6+5⁄8 in) | |
| ABCC | BC4 Pr 98 | 1898 | 200 | 5/21/32 | 4 | 18.20 m (59 ft 8+1⁄2 in) | |
| CC | C4 Pr 94 | 1895 | 350 | 80 | 3 | 17.88 m (58 ft 7+7⁄8 in) | |
| ABB | B4 Pr 02 | 1902 | 200 | 10/31 | 3 | ||
| ABCC | BC4 Pr 98a | 1898 | 200 | 50/31/32 | 4 | ||
| CC | C4 Pr 02 | 1902 | 300 | 76 | 5 | ||
| ABB | B4 Pr 04 | 1904 | 350 | 10/31 | 3 | ||
| ABCC | BC Pr 04 | 1904 | 250 | 5/21/32 | 4 | ||
| BCC | BC Pr 05 | 1905 | 100 | 20/48 | 5 | ||
| CC | C4 Pr 04 | 1904 | 450 | 76 | 5 | ||
| CC | C Pr 12/12a | 1911 | 650 | 76 | 4 | 18.62 m (61 ft 1+1⁄8 in) | |
| BB | B4 Pr 18 | 1918 | 40 | 47 | 3 | 19.20 m (62 ft 11+7⁄8 in) | |
| CC | C4 Pr 18 | 1918 | 86 | 76 | 4 | ||
Length over buffers (LüP) is 18.55 m, unless otherwise stated
Under the newly formed German Imperial Railways, the Deutsche Reichsbahn, measures were taken to rationalise wagon maintenance from 1920. Once of these was the removal of the centre axle on many of the six-wheeled compartment coaches, because it had been established that this had no negative impact on the riding qualities. In addition, in order to overcome the pressing shortage of coaches following the ceasefire reparations of 1918/19, another 500 four-wheeled compartment coaches of Prussian design were ordered (50 seconds and 450 Wagen third class coaches). In addition, due to the great shortage of wagons, many former Prussian coaches were reallocated to the south German railway divisions so that they could now be seen across the entire German Empire.
In the mid-1920s the brakeman's cabin was removed on those coaches that now ran on electrified routes. With the demise of the fourth passenger class in 1928, many compartment coaches were converted to coaches with heavy luggage sections (Traglastenwagen) by combining of compartments. After the DRG had introduced new four-door Typs E 30 Eilzugwagen (semi-fast coaches) in 1930, still more coaches had passenger compartments knocked into larger compartments which were classed as heavy luggage compartments (Traglastenabteil).
Several of these compartment coaches were used for express services along the Ruhr (Ruhrschnellverkehr). They were given the DRG's red and beige livery used for multiple-unit trains. The window sections of second class coaches were painted in Stadtbahn blue-green (RAL 6004) as on the Berlin S-Bahn. Even 18 new compartment coaches were bought for this purpose.
Most of the compartment coaches were rebuilt by the Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) in the 1950s into Umbauwagen (rebuild coaches). The compartment coaches that remained in the East German Reichsbahn (DR) had several compartments combined and, as on the six-wheeled coaches, every second door was removed. In the 1960s the compartment coaches were converted to the so-called Rekowagen (rebuilds).
Since the Second World War compartment coaches have largely died out in Germany, as in other European countries, and have been largely replaced by corridor coaches and, increasingly nowadays, open coaches.
Brake van and guard's van are terms used mainly in the UK, Ireland, Australia and India for a railway vehicle equipped with a hand brake which can be applied by the guard. The equivalent North American term is caboose, but a British brake van and a caboose are very different in appearance, because the former usually has only four wheels, while the latter usually has bogies. German railways employed Brakeman's cabins combined into other cars.
The Breitspurbahn was a planned 3,000 mm broad-gauge railway, proposed during the time of Nazi Germany, supposed to run with double-deck coaches between major cities of Grossdeutschland, Hitler's expanded Germany, and neighbouring states.
The DRG Class SVT 877Hamburg 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 time. Correctly named the Baureihe SVT 877, the diesel-electric powered train was used to carry passengers on the Berlin–Hamburg line. It entered service in 1933.
The Einheitsdampflokomotiven, sometimes shortened to Einheitslokomotiven or Einheitsloks, were the standardized steam locomotives built in Germany after 1925 under the direction of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft. Their manufacture made extensive use of standard design features and components.
The German term Verbandsbauart describes both a type of goods wagon as well as a type of tram.
The so-called Austauschbauart wagons were German railway vehicles produced from the late 1920s onwards which had common components built to agreed standards.
The Prussian T 18 was the last class of tank locomotives developed for the Prussian state railways. They were originally intended for services on the island of Rügen as replacements for Class T 12 and T 10 engines. They emerged when a class of locomotive was conceived in 1912 that was to handle express and passenger trains in border areas or in shuttle services on short routes. A tank engine design with symmetrical running gear was envisaged because, unlike a tender locomotive, it could run equally fast forwards and backwards and could be operated on return journeys without having to be turned on a turntable. Its power and top speed were to be the same as those of the P 8. Robert Garbe designed this 4-6-4 (2′C2′) tank locomotive for 100 km/h with a 17-ton axle load and contracted the Vulkan Werke in Stettin to build it. It was given the designation T 18.
The DRG Class ET 85 was a German electric motor coach with the Deutsche Reichsbahn and, later, the Deutsche Bundesbahn.
The DRG locomotive classification system was developed by the German Imperial Railway Company or Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG), which was formed in 1924 following the merger of the German state railways (Länderbahnen) in 1920. A common classification and numbering scheme was needed in order to organise effectively the four hundred or so different steam locomotive classes taken over from the state railways, as well as new locomotives. This process lasted until 1926. Only then was the final renumbering plan fixed.
The Saxon Class XVIII was a German six-coupled tender locomotive built for the Royal Saxon State Railways in 1917/18 for express train services. The Deutsche Reichsbahn grouped them in 1925 into DRG Class 18.0.
The Henschel-Wegmann Train was an advanced passenger express train operated by the Deutsche Reichsbahn in Germany, which ran non-stop express services between Berlin and Dresden from June 1936 to August 1939. Both the DRG Class 61 steam locomotive at its head as well as the coaches were streamlined.
The Prussian S 6 was a class of German steam locomotive with a 4-4-0 wheel arrangement operated by the Prussian state railways for express train services.
The Prussian state railways grouped a variety of different types of passenger tank locomotive into its Prussian Class T 5. Several examples of the sub-classes T 5.1 and T 5.2 transferred into the Deutsche Reichsbahn as DRG Classes 71.0 and 72.0.
The Prussian T 9 was a class of German steam locomotive which included several types of tank engine, all with six coupled wheels and two carrying wheels operated by the Prussian state railways.
The Umbau-Wagen or Umbauwagen was a type of German railway passenger coach operated by the Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) which appeared in the mid-1950s. The name means "rebuild coach" and they were made by rebuilding or converting former state railway (Länderbahn) compartment coaches, many of which were over 30 years old.
The Eilzugwagen was a type of railway passenger coach specially developed for German semi-fast trains, known as Eilzüge. These coaches were first built in the 1930s and continued to be produced until the 1950s. Today all coaches of this type have been retired. A number still run on museum railways.
The Prussian Class G 5.1 steam engines were the first 2-6-0 goods locomotives in Europe. They were developed for the Prussian state railways from the Class G 4 and a total of no less than 264 units of this class were placed in service in Prussia between 1892 and 1902. The twin-cylinder G 5.1 had been designed to raise the speed of goods trains on main lines. In addition, more powerful engines were needed for the increasingly heavy train loads. The locomotives, which were equipped with a compressed air brake, were used in charge of fast goods trains (Eilgüterzugdienst) and also passenger trains due to their impressive top speed of 65 km/h. The G 5.1 was fitted with inside Allan valve gear and the carrying wheels were of the Adams axle design. The engines were coupled with tenders of Class pr 3 T 12. In Prussian service they were renumbered in 1905 into the 4001–4150 range.
A brakeman's cabin or brakeman's caboose (US) was a small one-man compartment at one end of a railway wagon to provide shelter for the brakeman from the weather and in which equipment for manually operating the wagon brake was located. They were built in the days before continuous braking was available and the locomotive brake needed to be augmented by brakemen applying the wagon brakes individually.
Goods wagons of welded construction were developed and built by the Deutsche Reichsbahn in Germany from 1933 to about 1945. With the introduction of welding technology in 1933 almost all wagon components were joined by welding and no longer by rivetting. This enabled goods wagons to be designed, for example, for higher speeds or for higher payloads through the use of different types of steel and other engineering changes, but their further development was so heavily influenced by the exigencies of the Second World War that, as early as 1939, the Deutsche Reichsbahn had to temper the design of goods wagons to the new economic circumstances. Because there were overlaps in the change from the Austauschbauart - goods wagons made with interchangeable components - to the new welded classes, the period of the changeover cannot be exactly defined. Several standard goods wagons and their classes are covered in other articles. Goods wagons built during the Second World War that were purely intended for military transport use, are covered under the article on Kriegsbauart - wartime classes.