Rheingold

Rheingold coaches
SA 4ü-28
SA 4üK-28
SB 4ü-28 / SB 4ü-29
SB 4üK-28 / SB 4üK-29
SPw4ü-28

Rheingold coaches

Especially for the Rheingold were in 1928/29 new express train coaches built with a length of 23,5 meter. The cream/violet coloured salon coaches were made to American models of famous Pullman coaches. They offered luxurious interiors with and without kitchen. From one kitchen always two coaches were served. The design of the interiors was going back to the designs of famous artists and architects. The legendary inscriptions "RHEINGOLD" were not printed from the beginning on the coaches but they could be seen from the beginning of the thirties on both sides of the coaches.

The bogies of the coaches were all of type Görlitz II. The coaches were suitable for speeds up to 120 km/h. The coaches were categorized in the groups S, because they belonged to the category of salon coaches and special coaches (Sondernwagens) in the DRG coach scheme.

The colouring of the Rheingold coaches was cream/violet, the luggage coaches were painted blue. The coaches had the inscriptions "Deutsche Reichsbahn Gesellschaft" and "MITROPA" with the DRG logo printed on both sides. Later the name "RHEINGOLD" was printed on the coaches. The coaches had as maintenance facilities Köln-Betriebs-Bhf.

The Rheingold was pulled by locomotives of the series BR 18.3, BR 18.4 and the BR 18.4-5.

The Rheingold coaches who were standing in Western Germany after the war, were rebuilt to dining coaches, "Gesellschaftwagen" or express train coach. A couple of coaches is later restored by the Freundeskreis Eisenbahn Köln (FEK), and these coaches are now in the original state. Other coaches were sold to travel agencies like Mittelthurgau and Intraflug and to the Verein Braunschweiger Verkehrsfreunde (VBV).

The coaches who were bought by Intraflug from Zürich are rebuilt to bar coaches. The coaches are used in special trains of the travel agency.