DB BR515 537-9 Railbus & Trailer IV (~AC-Sound)

DB BR515 537-9 Railbus & Trailer IV (~AC-Sound)

1:87 scale model produced by Roco. This model is ready-to-run straight out of the box and would make a excellent addition to any model railway collection.

Features:

• AC Sound Model
• Best suited to Epoch IV Model Railways
• This model mainly operates in Germany
• Decorated in DB company markings
• Best suited to 358mm radius curves
• Control car with correctly painted roof area
• Clear view through the detailed passenger compartment and driver's cab
• Separately applied plug-in parts, such as windshield wipers, shunting handles under the buffers, and heating cables
• Finely detailed bogies with separately applied parts
• With decoder in the power car and control car
• Z21 driver's cab available

Details

Battery-powered railcars have a long history in Germany and remain an interesting and unusual subject for model railway enthusiasts. As early as before the First World War, railways experimented with electric storage-battery traction, most notably with the two-car “Wittfeld” battery railcars, easily recognised by their distinctive battery compartments mounted in the end sections. Remarkably, some of these vehicles remained in service until after the Second World War.

Following 1945, the Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) revisited battery traction as a practical solution for lightly used, non-electrified branch lines. One of the early post-war designs was the ETA 176, nicknamed the “Limburg Cigar” because of its streamlined shape, although only eight examples were produced. Greater success came with the introduction of the ETA 150 from 1953, which provided similar performance but at lower cost and with improved operational flexibility.

By 1965, a total of 232 ETA 150 units had been built, later redesignated Class 515, along with 216 ESA 150 driving trailers (later Class 815). Their widespread use on rural passenger services, distinctive appearance, and quiet operation make these battery railcars an appealing prototype for model railway layouts depicting German branch-line operations from the 1950s to the 1980s.