German Reichsbahn No. 701 to 704

Since diesel engines were still very heavy in the 1920s, the Reichsbahn also procured various railcars with benzene engines. Some two- and four-axle examples of these vehicles with riveted car bodies, later also referred to as “heavy-duty versions”, were built in 1926. The four two-axle vehicles were given the operating numbers 701 to 704. The designs envisaged railcars weighing around 20 tonnes with a large compartment for 50 people. With regard to the engine, transmission and other components of the machinery, the aim was to use only commercially available and tried and tested components from truck construction. This was not only intended to reduce manufacturing costs, but also to enable maintenance and repairs to be carried out by regular truck workshops.

A four-stroke benzene engine with six cylinders took over the propulsion, which drove one of the two axles via a mechanical transmission. The engine was housed in the car body and there was a cooler on each end. The gearbox was below the passenger compartment. Due to the use of two types of gearboxes and some other assemblies that were designed differently on a trial basis, each vehicle had a different curb weight. What was special was that the power lever only actuated an electropneumatic circuit that controlled the engine and transmission. This system was developed by AEG exclusively for these railcars and their four-axle relatives with the numbers 755 and 756.

The four vehicles were mostly used in the area of Frankfurt (Oder) or the now Polish towns of Pyritz and Meseritz. Later, a second-class compartment and a toilet were installed, thereby reducing the third-class space. After the end of the war, three of the four cars had already been written off as losses and only number 702 was still available on the territory of the East Reichsbahn. This was no longer used, but was only scrapped in 1957.