German Reichsbahn SVT 137 155 Kruckenberg

The train set with the number 137 155, also known as the Kruckenberg express railcar, was the prototype for a future-oriented design of light and fast diesel railcars. Although only one example was made, almost exactly the same design was used on both sides of the Iron Curtain to develop their own multiple units after the war. These were VT 11⁵ for the Bundesbahn and VT 18¹⁶ for the Reichsbahn.

The train was made up of three parts and had a motor car at each end, which also accommodated some passengers. Each motor car had a turbocharged Maybach diesel engine with 600 hp, which delivered its power to one of the two axles of the front bogie via a hydraulic transmission. At the gangways between the cars, the adjacent cars shared a Jakobs bogie. Other features of the vehicles were the lightweight construction and air suspension.

Although the drive shafts broke during testing, a new speed record of 215 km/h was set on June 23, 1939. Since the entire express service had been discontinued shortly before the outbreak of war, no further sets were ordered. After the war, the SVT 137 155 was no longer used. It was located in the eastern zone and after a few years in the scrapyard it was officially retired in 1958 and only scrapped nine years later. The two multiple units developed later in the west and east had almost the same design and also had raised driver's cabs behind the engines. With these, however, each car had two independent bogies instead of one Jakobs bogie between two cars.