49618 Track HO, NMBS, Lightweight tank car Uerdingen ZZ, company number: 921766, TpIII.

Track HO, NMBS, Lightweight tank car Uerdingen ZZ, company number: 921766, TpIII.

MODEL DETAILS:

Bogie with three-point bearing

Extra attached spring packs

Extra attached brake system

Wheels made of metal

Finely engraved bogies

Brake shoes in wheel level

Extra attached axle brake linkage

INFORMATION ABOUT THE MODEL:

In 1939/40, the Cologne-Deutz and Uerdingen wagon factories each developed a four-axle tank car in lightweight construction. In direct connection, Westwaggon also created the prototype of the tub tender with which the war locomotives of the BR 42 and 52 were later coupled. The development was driven forward particularly by the military, as huge amounts of crude oil and fuel had to be transported for supplies. In order to make maximum use of the existing steel contingent, the lightweight construction was used to the maximum, as with all types of war construction - but as it soon turned out, at the expense of durability. Both manufacturers now developed wagons with self-supporting boilers. While Deutz left it with head pieces, the Uerdingen design also had long beams made of folded profiles, which were supposed to help absorb the longitudinal compressive forces. The main data of both variants were identical: the length over the buffers was 12.40 m, the pivot distance was 6.60 m and the boiler had a capacity of 63 m3. Due to the squat design, this amount led to axle and meter load problems, meaning that the boiler could not be completely filled on all routes. Pressed sheet metal bogies with a 2.00 m wheel base were used as the running gear. The cars built up to 1945 were used by Wifo and the oil associations to supply the Wehrmacht. After 1945, various European companies built more advanced versions of the cars, including Tatra in Prague in 1946. In 1955, SEAG delivered almost 500 cars developed from the Uerdingen type to the United States Transportation Corps (USTC). As a result of the war, many wagons were lost or stopped on other European state railways. The wagons located in the catchment area of ​​the western occupation zones came to VTG, which emerged from the former Wifo in 1951. In addition, mineral oil companies used other cars as P-cars and acted as the main tenants of the VTG cars. The wagons that remained with the DR remained in the state railway's inventory and were only rented out on a long-term basis, here primarily to the PCK Schwedt/Oder. The last cars were only phased out in the 1990s and were often still used as railway or station cars. They were often seen in this role even after the turn of the millennium.