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Franz Kruchenberg designed the Schienenzeppelin (Rail Zeppelin) in 1929 after years of designing Zeppelin airships. It was his rigid airship experience that inspired him to create a futuristic train version of the Zeppelin that would literally “fly” the rails, driven by an aircraft propeller located in the tail section of the bullet-shaped train. Since this revolutionary design would require massive financial investment, Kruchenberg proposed using existing rail lines instead of having to create new monorail ones for greater speeds. His proposal went forward with Reichsbahn (Reich National Railway) approval


he sleek Rail Zeppelin during years of research and development all over Germany


Streamlined Rail Zeppelin with large BMW aircraft motor installed in the aft section

Construction began in early 1930 at the DRG Hannover repair shop and was finished in the autumn of that same year with KruchenbergÂ’s Flugbahn Gesellschaft using 8 engineers plus 30 workers.



The four wheeled, twin-axel train was 25.85 meters (85.305 ft) long, 2.8 meters (9.24 ft) high, and had an axel base of 19.6 meters (64.68 ft). The four wheels were each 1,000 mm (3.3 ft) in diameter. It was powered by a large BMW aircraft engine of 600 hp @ 1,460 rpm driving a four-bladed wooden propeller. The aluminum train was covered with fireproof canvas from the outside. Inside the car, the metallurgy, insulation, and wood was disguised. The flight compartment was followed by the passenger compartment, a non-smoker region compartment, then the entrance area with buffet in center of the car as well as the smoking compartment and a toilet. The rear car half was provisionally not developed but served during the trial trips as an area for measuring instruments, tools and spare parts. Because of the high driving speeds closed windows were implemented and a ventilating system was planned. The Schienenzeppelin was thus ready for the trials.


The dangerous props of the BMW aircraft engine

The dangers of propeller blades near a train platform full of passengers

Unexpected delays occurred, however, when no German insurance company would insure the vehicle driven by a propeller. So Kruchenberg turned to a foreign company for insurance- the famous Lloyds of London.



On May 10, 1931 the streamlined Schienenzeppelin attained a speed of 200 km/hr (125 mph) which was exceeded on June 21, 1931 to a new world train speed record of 230 km/hr (145 mph) between Hamburg and Berlin. This was made possible by the trainÂ’s light weight of just 20.3 tons (40,600 lbs) and that record stood for 25 years afterwards.



The Schienenzeppelin made a demonstration run in June 1931 from Berlin to Hanover and further research and development was approved over the next three years. The Schienenzeppelin made almost daily test runs over many areas of Germany; however, no regular passenger usage was made of the train by the Reichsbahn as it was not issued a vehicle identification number due to critical analysis over the practicality of the design. The biggest objection to the Schienenzeppelin was that the trainÂ’s infrastructure was not stressed for high speeds over long periods of time, not even after the vehicle had magnetic brakes installed.

Secondly, reverse drive with the aircraft engine was impossible. A two-piece train couple, with propellers on both sides, was briefly tested but proved impractical. The "pilot" had to have an assistant hanging from the window during reversing which was of course awkward and impractical.

By 1934, the Schienenzeppelin was considered too unorthodox and potentially a dangerous design for use on the regular railways so it was sold to DRG for RM 10,000 and kept in storage in a metal hut in Berlin-Tempelhof. Crowds had marveled at the beauty of the streamliner but had to stay far way from the aft BMW engine with large propellers.

A planned test ride to Rotterdam was subsequently cancelled. The Schienenzeppelin was immediately converted in 1934. The new Maybach diesel engine was moved to the nose of the vehicle, and became a more conventional train design minus the propeller engine.


Postwar VT 10 501 “Senator’ train

Franz Kruchenberg continued to work on the concept of the high speed rail trains which were built in the 1930s such as the “Fliegende Hamburger” (Flying Hamburg) and the inferred train couples, but the German railways were a hundred years old in 1935 and not suitably fit for the introduction of high speed rail trains.

It was therefore decided that the Schienenzeppelin was not suitable for normal passenger transport based on the following factors: attaching of additional railroad cars was not possible due to its construction; the BMW aircraft engine at upward gradients failed since the air flow decreased significantly; also, the Schienenzeppelin could not be started by the propeller alone - an additional DC electric motor drive was needed to get the train moving.


Postwar VT 10 551 “Komet” train

Only one model of the Schienenzeppelin was built and was ordered scrapped in March 1939. With the outbreak of World War II its aluminum outer skin was used for other military projects while the German Army needed the diesel fuel for other vehicles.

The gained experiences of the Schienenzeppelin, however, were used with the construction of the more practical Kruchenberg three-part railcar couple (SVT 137 155), competitor produced in 1938. In June 1939 high speed rail testing resumed with the SVT 137 155. A top speed of 215 km/hr (135 mph) was reached. After the war, Kruchenberg devised the train couples VT 10 501 "Senator" and VT 10 551 "Komet", which had little success. Afterwards, he remained involved in train developments in East Germany which met with some success.


VT 18.16 (Prototyp 1963, series 1965-1968) from the German Democratic Republic (DDR
proving that the Schienenzeppelin idea continued

But his greatest achievement was that of the Schienenzeppelin, a radical design well before its time.

The world falsely believes that the first bullet trains came out of Japan in 1956, debuting at the Japanese Olympics - the Shinkansen that started out at a mere 210 km/hr (130 mph) - 20 km/hr (13 mph) slower than the Schienenzeppelin record of 1931!

Some technical data:

Length 25.85 m (85.305 ft)
Height 2.8 m (9.24 ft)
Weight 20.3 tons (40,600 lbs)
Steel framework covered with fabric outside and wood inside
Two axles powered by a BMW aircraft motor of 600 hp via wooden propeller
Auxiliary DC–electric motor with battery (37 kW) for shunt-braking (which was done by rotating the propeller the other way and with a magnetic track brake; emergency braking distance from160 km/hr (100 mph): 360 m (1188 ft)
24 seats and luggage/measurement room

kalau ini gue sendiri nggak tahu kegunaanya untuk apa ?

ini kan buat nyingkirin salju di rel....

Ada juga kereta yang pendorongnya pake mesin jet. Aq pernah lihat gambarnya.

Mesin jet pernah dijadikan usulan pertama sumber tenaga KA TGV (saat masih eksperimen th. 1970-an) sebelum pemerintah Perancis memutuskan untuk pake mesin listrik. Salah satu alasannya pada saat itu adalah meroketnya harga BBM.
Tetapi, beberapa tahun yg. lalu aku pernah dengar pabrikan Kanada Bombardier nawarin KA bermesin jet, yg. make power unit mirip dgn. punya KA cepat Amerika, Acela. Namun, saat ini belum ada yg. minat.

aje gile......!!!!!!!!
jaman segitu orang2 barat dah bsa bikin KA yg punya kecepatan sampe 230 km/h...!!!


kita kapan??????

sekarang juga bisa,asal budgetnya ada

hehe.. bener tuh.. klo penumpang kan pasti ada, lokomotif udah banyak yang highspeed, tinggal bikin rel yang agak lebar (narrow gauge kayak di indo kurang cocok untuk high speed train), bikin lintasan yang lurus2 aja dan ga banyak tanjakan (bikin terowongan yang banyak daripada muterin bukit/gunung) tapi ya duitnya mesti nyetak sendiri alias unlimited...

ini ada lagi contoh proyek ambisius (dan gagal juga), lok uap gede...

4-14-4
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


The only 4-14-4 locomotive


The AA20 sitting in storage in 1950.

A 4-14-4, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, is a locomotive with four leading wheels, fourteen coupled driving wheels (seven axles) in a rigid frame, and four trailing wheels.

Other equivalent classifications are:
UIC classification: 2G2 (also known as German classification and Italian classification)
French classification: 272
Turkish classification: 711
Swiss classification: 7/11

A single example of this type, called the AA20-1, was built by the Soviet Union. The designation stands for Andrei Andreev (who sponsored its construction), 20 ton axle load. While some builders had produced twelve-coupled (six driving axles) designs, no one had ever built a fourteen-coupled engine. The AA20-1 holds two records: the largest number of coupled axles on a locomotive, and being the longest rigid frame locomotive in Europe. It was the largest rigid frame locomotive in the world until 1939, when the PRR S1 was unveiled.

The large number of driving axles were meant to spread out the locomotive's weight, reducing the axle load and the resulting stress on the track. A group of Soviet locomotive engineers had visited the United States, and presumably they had seen the 4-12-2 locomotives being used by the Union Pacific. The 4-14-4 could be viewed as an expansion of that type. Unlike the successful Union Pacific locomotives, however, the AA20-1 was a complete disaster.

The AA20-1 was originally intended to be a 2-14-4 (1'G2'). Construction was undertaken in Essen, Germany by Krupp, following a Soviet design. Later, the unfinished locomotive was moved to Lugansk, where a two-axle leading truck was fitted. The trailing truck supported a huge firebox. The AA20-1 was intended to run on low-quality coal, so a lot of space was needed to burn it in order to provide enough heat to the boiler.

The seven driving axles made for a very long rigid wheelbase, and provisions were made to negotiate curves. The center three driving axles were blind, and the first and seventh driving axles were fitted with lateral motion devices. These measures were not enough to make the AA20-1 work properly, however. It was prone to frequent derailments, and despite its large number of wheels, it was still too heavy for the track. As a result of its long wheelbase, the AA20-1 also spread the track and wrecked the points of the switches it passed over. It was too big to fit on the turntables, too powerful for the couplers in use at the time and unable to run at full power for very long due to its undersized boiler.

The AA20-1 made a publicity trip to Moscow in 1935. It was then put into storage and later scrapped, though this was not stated publicly.

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klo ni dr mbah google...

termasuk aneh gak?

kya'a c ni masih konsep...

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