DR VT601 Max Liebermann 6 Car DMU IV

DR VT601 Max Liebermann 6 Car DMU IV

1:160 scale model produced by Fleischmann. This model is ready-to-run straight out of the box and would make a excellent addition to any model railway collection.

Features:

• Analogue DC Model
• Best suited to Epoch IV Model Railways
• This model mainly operates in Germany
• Decorated in DR company markings
• Best suited to 192mm radius curves
• Direction dependent tail lights and headlights.
• Flywheel Fitted
• Version as IC "Max Liebermann"
• Operating condition: 1990
• Livery and lettering true to the original model
• Equipped with factory-installed interior lighting

Details

The DB Class 601 began life in 1957 as the VT 11.5, a luxury diesel multiple unit built for the Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) to haul Trans Europ Express (TEE) services connecting major cities in Germany and neighbouring countries. These trainsets were designed for first-class-only comfort, with air-conditioned interiors, restaurant and lounge cars, and modern styling that symbolised the post-war renaissance of European rail travel.

Nineteen powered end cars were built by MAN, with 48 matching trailers by Linke-Hofmann-Busch (LHB) and Wegmann. In 1968, DB reclassified the powered units as Class 601 and the trailer cars as Class 901 under the new numbering system. Running at up to 140 km/h (later capable of 160 km/h on some sets), these elegant trains became a familiar sight on premier TEE routes.

As electrification expanded through the 1960s and 1970s, many TEE services shifted to electric locomotives and conventional coaching stock. Surviving VT 11.5/601 sets were used on InterCity services until the late 1970s and then in tourist and charter roles into the 1980s. A few trainsets even featured experimental gas turbine power units renumbered as Class 602, though these proved short-lived.

Although all Class 601/VT 11.5 sets are retired, a number survive in museums and special collections, making them an iconic and nostalgic prototype for model railway layouts depicting 1950s–1970s European express services.