The Schienenzeppelin was an experimental railcar resembling a Zeppelin airship, designed by German engineer Franz Kruckenberg in 1929.
Powered by a rear-mounted pusher propeller, it achieved a high pace of 230.2 km/h (143 mph), setting a land pace report for petrol-powered rail automobiles. Just one prototype was constructed, and because of security considerations, it was dismantled in 1939. The design was influenced by the sooner Russian Aerowagon, which additionally used an plane engine and propeller.
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Constructed in early 1930 by the German Imperial Railway Firm, the Schienenzeppelin measured 25.85 meters lengthy with a streamlined aluminum physique. It initially featured two BMW IV 6-cylinder engines, later changed by a single BMW VI 12-cylinder engine. On Could 10, 1931, it exceeded 200 km/h for the primary time and was publicly exhibited throughout Germany. On June 21, 1931, it set a world railway pace report on the Berlin–Hamburg line.
In 1932, Kruckenberg modified the railcar, including a brand new entrance finish with a two-axle bogie and hydraulic energy transmission. Regardless of reaching 180 km/h in 1933, the prototype confronted quite a few points. The Deutsche Reichsbahn developed the Fliegender Hamburger in 1933, which included a lot of Kruckenberg’s concepts however was extra suited to common service. In the end, the Schienenzeppelin’s open propeller design and incapacity to tug further wagons hindered its practicality, and it was dismantled in 1939.
