Yes that’s the decal set I have Gino, now just gotta get all my other half finished projects out of the way.
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The ones in the post above from USAREUR Transportation Center at Rhenau, Germany look to be SSys USTC cars.
I get the impression that the SSy 45 waggons could have two different origins:
- originally built for 50 tons (ex SSys)
- ex SSkra waggons upgraded with reinforcements, these can be identified by the still visible lower edge of the original frame sides
I used a lot of my Berlin references for my DR/DB builds. Has to use PIKO rolling stock for the DR stuff.
These flatbeds look to be of the reinforced style:
Weightwise the Leopard is probably over the limit.
I don’t think so.
Compare with this image:
That wavy line (marked with red at the left end) is the original lower edge of the SSkra waggon, the reinforcement has been welded on to the old lower edge.
They don’t have to be based on older rolling stock to be reinforced, Just like to one in the B&W photo above.
OK,
what I meant was that one type (SSys) was built back in WW II with a heavier frame (the models you showed)
another type was built lighter (SSkra)
https://forums.kitmaker.net/uploads/default/original/4X/3/7/9/379085900d282844415dbd2723f38727422a9983.jpeg
and these were later reinforced, call it modified if you like, to get a higher load capacity.
Clumsy sketch by Butterfingers:
The red line is the original lower edge of the SSkra
Nice looking models there Robert. What scale ?
Thank you. 1/87.
I know when I was able to wrap up the last six months in Germany we loaded the 175’s and APC on flat cars at a depot near Giessen to head to Graf. The rest of the non tracked vehicles drove the Autobahn . Took the train once and drove it once.
Have to dig into slides to see if I have any pics. The only one I can think of now is of an ARV waiting to be loaded.
I’ll be anxiously watching if you move ahead on this!
I do plan to do a dio of probably two cars w/something (M60A3, M109A2, etc., etc…) on them. It will be a while though. I will definitely post it when I get to it though.
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I’ve asked my father this question on flatcars. He used to organize Canadian rail movements for exes in W. Germany in the early 80’s. He may not remember as he is in his 80’s, however he can possibly ask some of his friends whom may.
Did somebody ask whether they used air brakes? I asked the question over a railroads of Germany and the reply is that they started using air brakes on goods wagens in 1925, and by 1950 all goods wagons had them. Whether they removed the brakeman’s dog house on the brake cars depended on weather the particular car was scheduled to be scrapped in the near future.
Cars with the superfluous brakeman’s cabin could be seen running into the 1970s.
Mr Alan Rees over at the Railroads of Germany replied to my question:
According to Liliput’s description of these wagons, the DBAG withdrew them in 1991. Maybe some private railways kept them a lot longer ?
"Between 1941 and 1945, a total of 1,930 4-axle bogie flat wagons were built, which were mainly designed for the transport of tanks. The first series (SSkra Köln) of 100 in 1941 had fishbelly-shaped frames with cutouts above the bogies, fixable loading sleepers and a load capacity of 48.5 tonnes. In order to increase the load capacity, these wagons were equipped with welded-in reinforcement plates above the bogie recesses in 1944. The second series of 120 wagons (SSy Köln) no longer had any cutouts above the bogies; these wagons had a load capacity of 52 tonnes from the start.
From 1943 onwards, the remaining 1,660 wagons were built by four different manufacturers, which now had their final form with trapezoidal longitudinal beams and only differed slightly in the arrangement of the brake changeover devices. After the end of the war, a total of over 500 wagons remained in West Germany. They were classified as SSy 45, the rather obstructive loading ramps were removed and some of the vehicles were given to the USTC (United States Transportation Corps) for a while, until slightly modified SSy 45s were built by Krupp from 1952 to 1954. Of these, 363 went to the USTC, 100 to the F.F.A. (Forces Francaises en Allemagne) and 25 to the Dutch Army.
After the DB’s own wagons were renumbered to UIC numbers, they were given the designation Rlmmp 700 and from that point on were only used without stanchions. In 1988/89, a total of 653 flat wagons received new bogies and braking systems and were renumbered Rlmmp 651. The last vehicles were decommissioned by DB AG around 1991. After the end of the war, around 200 SSys Köln came to the DR, which were designated there as 65-40-01 to 65-43-99 and from 1977 as Rlmmp [3890]. They were used for all kinds of transport. Some of the wagons also went to Austria, where they were indispensable for a long time, for example for transporting wood."
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Thanks for the info. Sounds like they are good up to '91.
Er, anyone recall those reddish/brown versions I recall seeing?
Most of my Piko DR rolling stock is that color.
That’ll do for me - thanks!
DB use for heavy hauling were presumably red/brown
DB stock assigned for Bundeswehr use were green
I presume that the ones used by Canada and the US were also green