90 YEARS OF RHEINGOLD EXPRESS – A LUXURIOUS TIME TRIP IN MINIATURE

On their way to Switzerland and onwards to Italy countless luxury passengers from Great Britain and The Netherlands used CIWL couchette cars of CIWL through France. DRG was very interested in “redirecting” this wealthy clientele to their routes. For this reason it introduced a luxury day train with the name “Rheingold Express” in 1928 between Hoek van Holland/Amsterdam and Basel SBB. From 1929 the train service was extended in the summer to Lucerne and Zurich. The extent of the competitive pressure can be seen in the fact that CIWL reacted to the DRG offensive as early as 1928 with its own day train “Edelweiss” via Brussels Luxembourg, Strasbourg.

When designing the train, DRG took reference to the similar CIWL day trains. The interior included open-plan cars and in some cases partially divided compartments, in first cases even with freestanding benches. Each car had a different decor made of different precious woods or cloth-covered walls and ceilings. The exterior of the train was a dark violet – ebony coloured special paint.

Thus 26 cars were produced in four different versions (each in 1st and 2nd class with and without galley), as well as three luggage wagons. A train generally consists of five carriages – one carriage each with and without kitchen in first and second class (one galley served two cars) as well as a luggage wagon. Since at that time the luggage wagon still had to run as a protective wagon behind the locomotive, when changing direction in Mannheim, an additional luggage wagon was needed. For this, DRG repainted two Prussian and Baden-Wurttemberg cars according to the Rheingold colour scheme. In the Netherlands the traction was transferred to the 3700 and 3900 series. On the German section, for many years the BR 184-5 of the Mainz railway depot ran as far as Mannheim. From 1936 the new Deutzerfelder 01 pull the Rheingold Express. Offenburger 183 transport the train on the southern section, having already been replaced by the BR 01 in 1930. From Basel, Ae 4/7 bring the train into the interior of Switzerland in the summer. When the war started in 1939, the luxury train was stopped without a replacement.

PRE-ORDER RHEINGOLD-EXPRESS UNTIL 15. March 2018

Valid for each order of the complete Rheingold-Train – including the Steam Loco BR 01 and the Rheingold Express Car-Set, all buyers will receive a Special Edition of the Luggage Car PW4ü DRG (worth RRP € 99,- respectively € 149,-). The Luggage Car will be packed in an exclusive, golden tin packaging with Rheingold-imprinting as well as a Key Ring with 90 Years Rheingold-Express.

Don't miss the opportunity and reserve your personal model of this legendary train.
Your specialist dealer will be glad to advise you.

Model details

• Single axle bearing
• Boiler, driver's cab and tender made of high-quality, impact-resistant plastic
• Perforated underframe and spoked wheels in die-cast zinc
• Smoke generator and sound decoder, either built in or as a retrofit option
• Illuminated driver's cab
• Drive in the tender
• Epoch-typical toe bearing
• True-to epoch lighting, multipart lamp housing
• Standard shaft rear with link guide
• Close coupling between locomotive and tender
• Perfectly replicated back boilerplate
• Finest paintwork and printing
• Lines and extra mounted parts in minimum material thickness
• Extra mounted steps

With the version Digital EXTRA the following features can be controlled digitally:

• Light changes

• Fire flickering

• Illuminated driver's cab

• Gear lighting

• Smoke generator

• Sound

Rheingold express train coaches set with most beautiful details

For a true to original train combination BRAWA offers a rheingold express train coaches set. The set includes four passenger coaches and one luggage coaches. The BRAWA models are created true to original and are qeuipped with many complex details:

• Precise replica of the Görlitz II schwer bogies
• Different roofs and car bottoms
• Metal wheels
• Three-point support in metal axle support
• Multi-part and multi-colored interior fittings
• Individually placed table lamps
• Short coupling kinematics
• Finest paintwork and printing
• In-plane assembled windows
• Precise replica of the brake unit
• Originally reproduced frame
• All specific details of the different eras taken into account

Digital Version EXTRA:

• Entry lighting
• Roof and table lighting
• Operating and kitchen sound

THE CARRIAGES OF THE RHEINGOLD EXPRESS IN THE POST-WAR YEARS

After 1945 at least 16 passenger cars and the three luggage wagons of the Rheingold Express remained with Deutsche Bahn. Since the train no longer ran in its previous form, the carriages were repurposed for different roles. Eight of these were used to create the DSG dining cars 1230, 1232 and 1234 – 1239. Five were converted into normal twin-class compartment carriages 11355 – 11359 and three were used to create the coaches 10801 – 10 803. The luggage wagons retained their role and were taken out of service between 1968 and 1977. Only one of them was retained by FEK Cologne. Today this society still has four original Rheingold carriages, which are however no longer all serviceable.

In addition the shareholders of “Transeurop Eisenbahn AG” have now brought together a further six original carriages, of which two are operational to date. At least one carriage remained at CSD and was being used as the dining car 479 / 88-10 006-4 in the seventies. Presumably it was this carriage which was rescued by TEAG from a scrapyard in Most to be refurbished. One more carriage which was presumed lost turned up in a US military barracks near Wiesbaden and was also taken over by TEAG. This means that ten original Rheingold saloon cars remain today.

The BRAWA models show the period-relevant differences in construction details of the carriages and are each equipped with an exact reproduction of the frame, which has many attached details. Numerous details such as e.g. the finest reproduction of the roof rivets and the sharply contoured engraving of the fine details ensure that the reproduction is true to life. The carriages are fitted with a multi-part interior and precisely fitted windows and are prepared for internal lighting.

RRP: Recommended retail price (incl. 19% of VAT). Prices are subject to change. Products modifications are possible. Subject to modifications in design and shape. Colour deviations are possible. Pictures show layout versions and replica of the original.