In the late 1920s, Franz Kruckenberg had an imaginary idea. Trains had their advantages. Zeppelins had their advantages. Why not combine them and make some kind of hybrid that can “fly” on rails? The mission brought them in, but Kruckenberg was not new and left more than already respectable baggage. He had worked as an engineer at Schütte-Lanz, Zeppelin’s main competitor in airship production, and was aware of other similar ventures.

The result of their efforts and work, the Schienenzeppelin—the “railway airship”: no, the name is not the most original—would be a locomotive worthy of the best retro-futuristic movies. More astonishing than its appearance is its strength: the train in the summer of 1931 220 kilometers per hour (km/h) is more than a sign of respect for a propeller and petrol train.

Despite its speed, all its potential, and Kruckenberg’s connections, his proposal did not bear fruit and went down in history as a wild railroad curiosity.

Purpose: fly on rails

Its beginnings date back a century, to the first half of the 1920s, when Kruckenberg, then in Schütte-Lanz, decided to change gear and focus his attention on the railways. However, the fact that he changed planes for the locomotive does not mean that he gave up his speed.

The engineer wanted real bullets, not conventional trains.

To achieve this, he teamed up with one of his former colleagues and around 1924. Trade— Founded the company Gesellschaft für Verkehrstechnik (GVT). Four years later, Kruckenberg was already considering how to create a rail service for the Flugbahn-Schnellwagen route. By the early 1930s, the GVT had the prototype of the airship train, and only a few months later it began to buzz during a test run. 182km/h Between Hanover and Burgwedel. The speed was not yet dizzying, but it stood out for its low consumption and decidedly pointed roads.

By autumn, the airship train manufactured by the German company Deutsche Reichsbahn had already begun to be launched. The 20-ton, two-axle vehicle was powered by a 46-liter BMW V-12 engine and a massive rear-mounted propeller that allowed it to exceed 220 km/h in the summer of 1931. 230 km/h (143 mph).

As for their size, Interesting Engineering It states that the prototype is approximately 26 m long and 2.8 high and has a 19.6 wheelbase. Over the years the design has changed slightly: from the first two six-cylinder BMW IVs to a single 12-cylinder 600 HP BMW VI, first with a two-bladed propeller and later a Maybach GO 5. Its creators also redesigned the front end and added a hydraulic system to the transmission.

Neither improvements nor speed worked very well for Kruckenberg and his Schienenzeppelin. I met the opposite wind attempts to establish itself in the rail network.

Its bad star is explained by a combination of factors. He wasn’t quite convinced about its rear propeller, they believed it was too dangerous for crowded passenger stations at the time, funding was insufficient, and Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft didn’t like this “airship train” with its demonic speeds. By 1933 the company had chosen to design its own wagon, in fact, yes, heavily relying on Kruckenberg’s designs.

To complicate the picture even more, making Schienenzeppelin profitable did not seem like an easy task.

The first prototype had a capacity of only 40 passengers, and adding a propeller at the rear made adding a new wagon more complicated than on conventional machines. If we add to this the objections to building a new infrastructure, optimal At the high speeds Schienenzeppelin reaches, the picture is completed.

Kruckenberg sold the prototype to Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft and retired before the end of the decade. He considered keeping it as an example of German rail talent, but even here the airship didn’t stand a chance. The Reich Railroad Ministry refused to invest the money and space that would require the machinery to be transported to a museum.

In the late 1930s the winds of war began to blow and the Nazi authorities they found it more appropriate to scrap It reused its materials, including its powerful engines, which became light bombers in 1939. Eighty years later, his memory remains.

Pictures.

Marking.

And still in the age of AVE, the sight of a train with bullet trains and suspended maglevs makes us dizzy if we zoom in on a railroad track driven by its propeller.

Bundesarchiv Images, Bild 102-11902 / Georg Pah (Wikipedia) and Franz Jansen (†), Erkrath (Wikipedia)