Roco Wittenberge/Halberstadt Steuerwagen

[Taigatrommel]

I woke up to a serious parcel arriving today, containing amongst other things a long-awaited item of rolling stock. Originally announced a couple of years ago, the Roco Bydbzf^482.1, cat number 64210.

 

The prototypes were converted from Halberstadt built commuter coaches in the 1990s, with a cab design from the works at Wittenberge. Similar conversions were also carried out on 'Silberlings', the direct West German equivalent. Their intended use is Regional services, mainly in the former DDR, but some are based in the former BRD, notably around the Rhein. More recently, some have seen top link duty covering for unavailable ICE-Ts between Dresden and Leipzig, both with traffic red and Inter City stock, as seen here. Generally, suitable partner coaches would be DB Regio Halberstadts and ex-Silberlings, although you could also run one with just a locomotive or even double deck stock. Suitable traction can be chosen from 143, 219 and 232/4. As well as DBAG, Connex also operate these coaches- I think Roco are planning a release in their colours. As yet mint green, the other DBAG livery suitable for these, is unannounced by Roco.

 

The prototype. Bybdzf^482.1 50 80 80-35 527-6 on a Cottbus RE service at Dresden. 143 556-9 was traction, with a Bimz and an ABy407 in addition to the Steuerwagen.

 

I have been wanting one of these for quite a while. I've built up a small fleet of Sachsenmodelle Halberstadts, so the announcement was a real blessing. Sachsenemodelle had announced one before their takeover by Tillig, but it never appeared. As Roco don't produce scale length Halberstadts it was a surpise too.

 

Well, finally I have it in my possession. My first impressions were very positive- everything looks well proportioned, the decoration crisp and well defined (not always a given with Roco, though generally the case) and no detail parts needing to be fitted- the only downside was that the cab door handrails on one side were bent. Lighting pickup is through bearing pickups, although the axle mounted device which changes the lighting according to direction (and hence means no need for a decoder) means that it's not completely free running. Looking through the windows, the seating looked fantastic, so I decided to remove the body for a closer look. A word of warning here- take extreme care. The lighting unit for the destination board stuck in the roof on mine, and broke the plastic spigots which locate it on the interior moulding. A bit of solvent effected a repair easily enough.

 

 

The self coloured plastic seats are not a million miles off the correct colour, and they're cracking, with armrests and everything. Certainly the best interior in my coaching stock fleet! But hang on, what's this I see...

 

 

It's not as well modelled as the other seats, but still... how many manufacturers would put details like that in?

 

Next I tried to put the body back on, reversing the motions of removing it. Try as I might, I couldn't get the chassis under the cab to sit right. Removing the body again, the clip had broken. Not a great start with a model I've owned for less than a day. I've emailed Roco about the problem, to find out whether they will accept it as a return before paying for postage to Germany in the vague hope of a replacement. This is a brand new release, so whether this would be a common problem I just don't know. Although there's no need for a decoder, that lovely interior really does deserve some passengers, so there is reason to have the body off! A solvent weld just isn't strong enough to take the pressure of body replacement.

 

Here you can see the resultant gap after my efforts...

 

 

I'm really quite frustrated, as it's a key area of the model. I hope Roco are willing to repair or replace my model via my dealer (Lokshop).

 

Turning attention away from the broken bit, I put DCC power onto track to demonstrate the lighting. Again, note that no decoder is required, simply moving off in one direction or the other changes the lighting as appropriate. I would have liked to have golden-white lighting rather than the cold bluey light Roco have used, but I'm simply not adept enough with a soldering iron to replace the SMD LEDs fitted. No provision is made for fitting a coupling at the cab end, so it's push-pull trains only with this model.

 

 

This area also shows one of few compromises on this model, and one niggle. The compromise is fitting the steps to the bogies. If they were body mounted as per prototype, the swing of the bogies would catch them. They should also be the same grey as the solebar. The niggle is the destination screen- it's much too far behind the glazing, and hard to read from many angles. All handrails are seperate items, not moulded on, as are the windscreen wipers. All detailing parts come factory fitted. Personally, I think that the "face" of these coaches has been captured well, aside perhaps from the white stripe around the corners and the aforementioned destination board.

 

Note also the very nice doorsteps. Top marks for them!

 

Turning to the back end, the roof profile has been modelled very nicely. They have also placed the join between the body and roof within a livery element so that it is hidden effectively- much better than the arrangement favoured by Sachsemodelle on their Halberstadts which led to a pronounced join on the roof. The toilet retention tanks have been omitted, presumably to allow for the swing of the close coupling mechanism, although I personally think they could have made some representation of it, as it's fairly visible on the real thing. Associated indicators and switches are present and correct however.

 

 

Keeping my attention low, the rest of the underfloor detail is well represented, even if I don't know what it all is I can at least compare to my photographs. All the lettering is correct, except for the omission of the DB Regio branding- I understand this is quite a recent addition, so Roco make the model more flexible by not having it. It's easier adding decals than removing printing. Perhaps Dominik can tell us what all the writing means! Another aspect visible here is how Roco have modelled the window frames- the outer frame is part of the body moulding, which give a very nice appearance compared with the more common arrangement of having the frames part of the glazing. It comes to the fore on the opening windows. Perhaps the inside of the frames could have been painted silver though, as a red lip is visible all round!

 

 

Lastly, I feel it's worth comparing the model to the older Sachsenmodelle/Tillig tooling.

 

 

Although it's not hugely apparent in the picture, the interpretation of traffic red is quite different. Sachsenmodelle's is very dark, almost blood red. I feel Roco's is closer with the slight orangey hint. Also, the benefits of Roco's window frames is very apparent, much more realistic. Roco have the correct arrangement of opening/non opening windows as well- all SaMo's are opening, fine for as-built but not for 1990s/2000s. The Roco model also scores for having seperate handrails, ETH cables etc- all such items are moulded on the SaMo model. Both have the benefit of a close coupling mechanism and NEM sockets, and both come supplied with Roco's close couplings. SaMo's clip on roof is very apparant, and generally the parts do not fit as closely as the Roco model, nor are as crisply moulded- the bogies in particular. Perhaps this is an unfair set of comparisons though, after all, the SaMo/Tillig model dates from over 10 years ago, but as I'll be running the Roco in the same set I hoped it wouldn't show the older models up quite so much. In this case I think, "normal viewing distances" rules must apply.

 

The RRP is Eur76.90, slightly less than equivalent models from Fleischmann, Piko (not Hobby range) or Trix, but still high compared to British models. Of course, Fleischmann and Trix's models are not scale length either! Current RRP for Tillig Halberstadts is Eur41.90.

[alcoRS1]

I miss riding the rail in Germany.

[NGT6 1315]

All the lettering is correct, except for the omission of the DB Regio branding- I understand this is quite a recent addition, so Roco make the model more flexible by not having it. It's easier adding decals than removing printing. Perhaps Dominik can tell us what all the writing means!

 

 

 

You called me? Well, let's see...

 

 

Leftmost, just to the right of the door: handbrake with braking weight of 20 tonnes - followed by:

 

"TB 0 o. Zub": central door blocking at zero speed and fitted for conductorless operation ("ohne Zugbegleiter")

 

carriage number and type - Bybdzf encoding the following information: 2nd class (B); open commuter coach with overall length in excess of 24.5 metres and central aisle in 2nd class, eleven "fictional compartments", two centrally located door areas, fitted with 34-conductor command conduit for push-pull operation (y); carriage fitted for handicapped passengers (B); carriage with multipurpose or bicycle compartment (d); carriage fitted for ETS supply (z); driving trailer with 36-conductor command conduit or time-multiplexed push-pull controls (f)

 

top speed of 140 kph

 

owned by the DB - other country certifications, if any, would be written out in the grid to the right

 

indications pertaining to the ETS, which but I cannot decipher in your photo

 

passenger information system installed (the loudspeaker-like icon - not sure what the "3" means, though), lavatory installed (WC)

 

regional branch and depot allocation (DB Regio AG | RB Berlin-Brandenburg | Cottbus)

 

empty and average loaded weight (42 and 48 tonnes) as well as number of seats (61, if I'm not mistaken)

 

"R" brake setting according to UIC norms (R inside rhomboid)

 

type of braking gear: Knorr-Einheitsbremse with settings G, P and R and direct brake (mZ = mit Zusatzbremse)

 

braking weights: R red 70 tonnes, R white 67 tonnes, P 48 tonnes, G 42 tonnes

 

distance between bogie pivots of 19 metres and overall length of 26.4 metres

 

place and date of last overhaul: Wittenberge repair works (WWX) on 19 January 2006

 

 

Located below the frame are several battery boxes and other electric equipment, as well as the brake setting selection and emergency brake release levers (just below the DB Regio inscription). However, I am not familiar with these coaches well enough to be able to say what exactly is inside which box.

 

 

HTH .