German Reichsbahn VT 18.16

A few years after the Bundesbahn had presented the VT 11⁵ based on the Kruckenberg multiple unit 137 155, the Reichsbahn also used the same basic structure for the VT 18.16. The designation stood for a total output of 1,800 hp and a top speed of 160 km/h. The trains were intended for international express trains and were diesel powered, as many of the routes to be traveled were not electrified or had different power systems.

As with the prototype, the drive systems were housed in the end cars, half of which were used for passengers and luggage. Two to four trailers were possible, although Jakobs bogies were not used here. If four trailers were taken along, the top speed was limited to 140 km/h.

The engines, together with the hydraulic transmission, sat directly on the outer bogies of the end cars in order to decouple the car bodies from the vibrations. The engines were the same as in the V 180 and each had 1,000 hp in the production version. The gearbox with three torque converters could be obtained from Voith Austria. The prototype with two times 900 hp was retired in 1977.

The routes traveled started in Berlin or Leipzig and ended in Malmö, Copenhagen, Karlsbad, Vienna and Bautzen. The most famous train here is the “Vindobona” from Berlin to Vienna. Since part of the two Scandinavian routes was covered by ferry, only two instead of the usual three intermediate cars could be accommodated. Towards the end of the 1970s, the international routes were replaced by locomotive-hauled trains because the capacity was no longer sufficient. As a result, the trains soon only ran from Berlin to Leipzig and Bautzen.

At the beginning of the nineties there was only one operational set left, which was used by DB AG as a nostalgic train until 2003. After a long period of inactivity and several changes of location, a first trailer was brought in for restoration in 2021. At least two other, incomplete sets are still existing not in working condition.