Germany-Tramcars-Berlin

Germany - Tramcars - Berlin

Ref	Description	Limited edition of
51	1924/1926 Berlin T 24 Motor Car & B 24 Trailer (1924/26 - 1934 livery). In December 1920 the "Berliner Strassenbahn" was formed and in 1924 the new company place the large order to five carbuilders (WUMAG, Linke-Hoffman, Bush etc.) to produce a series of 501 motor cars and 803 trailers, which were delivered in 1924-1926 and were called T 24, T 25 (motor cars) and B 24, B 25 (trailer cars). The orders for electic equipment were split between AEG and SSW companies. The T 24 batch consists of 500 motor cars (numbered 5701-6200) and 500 trailers (numbered 1-500). The authors of the overall style were the famous German architect Peter Behrens and Prof. Paul from Berling College of Arts and Crafts; overall technical supervisor was Ing. Kindler. Within the series, on some cars more powerful engines, different controls and cardan shaft drive were tried, but they never were adopted for serial cars. The cars of T 24/B 24 series were delivered in attractive yellow and white livery; when in January 1929 all transport companies in Berlin were merged in the Berlin Transport Company (Berliner Verkehrs AG) the city coat's of arm was appeared on the sides of the cars. Starting from early 1930s the window posts were painted brown which gives more light view to the cars. Available Options Scale 1:43 Available Now Available through SPTC, INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATIVES Limited Availability ("Add-on" Production). ) - Available as motor car only* also.
51-1	1924/26 Berliner Verkehrs-Betriebe AG T 24 Motor Car with B 24 Trailer (1934-1949 livery). In Winter 1934/1935 the BVG company adopted a new paint scheme of cream with black outlinings which remained on Berlin trams, trolleybuses and buses for a very long period. Within the 1930s, the BVG acquired many new trams to its fleet, but the T 24/B 24 remained the mainstay of the system. During the Word War 2, approx. 100 T 24 motor cars were destoyed during air bombing and street battle in April-May 1945 and on 23 April 1945 the tram traffic in Berlin was stopped. It was restored on 20th May 1945. Until 1949, when the BVG company was divided to East and West separate companies, the much work was done to restore the tram service to normal as soon as possible. At first time, because of paint shortage, some cars were even painted in the military olive-green color supplied by U.S. Army. The destination signs both in Germany and Russian appeared on the trams and the safety slogans (Don't pass on the left) on four languages were put on the dashes. Available Options Scale 1:43 Available Now Available through SPTC, INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATIVES Limited Availability ("Add-on" Production). ) - Available as motor car only* also.	25
51-2	1924 Berlin T 24 Motor Car No. 6183 U.S. Army C.C.D. Shuttle (1946-47). Between March 1946 and Februar 1947 T 24 motor car No. 6183 was used by U.S. Army as shuttle car between Schoneberg, Eisenacher Strasse and Friedenau, Grazer Platz. Called as C.C.D. Shuttle, it was painted in military olive-green color and had the coat of arm of U.S Garrison in Berlin on the sides. The Soviet Army also had its own shuttle route, called Machorka-Express", it was introduced in September 1946 between the Soviet Headquarter in Karlshorst and Kopenick. The Soviet Commandant asked BVG for ten cars painted in red colors for this line, but the regular BVG cream cars were used until December 1949. Scale 1:43 Available Now Available through SPTC, INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATIVES Limited Availability ("Add-on" Production).
51-3	1924/26 Berliner Verkehrs-Betriebe AG (BVG-West) T 24 Tram with B 24 Trailer (post'50s livery). Berlin was conquered by the Red Army in late April and early May 1945. All tram traffic in Berlin was discontinued on 23 April 1945 and was restored only on 20th May 1945 on lines 28, 128 and 87. In the preceding year, the Allied powers had already agreed upon dividing the German capital into occupation zones – in the same way that the country as a whole was to be divided. Originally, three zones had been planned: an American, a British and a Soviet zone. In the summer of 1945, France joined the Allied agreements, and four zones had to be created. The tram service slowly returned to normal. In June 1948. a monetary reform had been carried out in West Germany and West Berlin. In protest against this, the Soviet army blocked the major access routes to West Berlin. To secure the provision of the population of West Berlin with food, coal etc., the Western Allies in turn organized the famous "air lift" until the Soviet blockade was lifted in 1949. These events, which historians call "the First Berlin Crisis", had deepened the division of the city into East and West even before two German states were founded in the following year: the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) - commonly called "West Germany" - on 23rd May 1949, and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) - commonly called "East Germany" - on 7th October 1949. East Berlin became the capital of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), while Bonn, on the river Rhein, became the capital of the FRG. On 1st August 1949 the BVG company was divided - a separate BVG-Ost administration begins work in East Berlin. All rolling stock was divided between two companies; 244 T 24 cars and 256 B 24 trailers were allocated to BVG-West. However, there were still some routes between West and East Berlin with joint operation, but they were disappeared in early 1950s and by 16th January 1953 all tram traffic between two parts of the city was closed, except line 96 between Seehof and Machnower Schleuse, which was operated by BVG-Ost (closed in 1961). By 1952, the BVG-West operated 40 tram lines with total length of 432 km. In 1949, 56 motor trams of T 24 type (called T 24/49) were equipped with more powerful 60kw motors (GBM 430), new controls and driver seats. In early 1950s, the trolley poles on Berlin's trams were replaced by pantographs. In July 1954 the plan to convert the whole West-Berlin tram system to bus and U-Bahn operation was announced and the system was finally closed on 2d October, 1967. Some T 24 cars were preserved, car 5725 with trailer car 1, restored to original livery as possible, are now in the Deutschen Technikmuseum in Berlin, car 5984 (T 24/49 type) is owned by Berlin tram group, car 5964 is in Hannover Tram Museum (still in livery as operated in Karlsruhe in 1967) and car 5954 is in National Capital Trolley Museum is USA. Trailer car 339 is also preserved. Available Options Scale 1:43 Available Now Available through SPTC, INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATIVES Limited Availability ("Add-on" Production). ) - Also available as motor car only; as motor car with 2 trailers*.
51-4	1924/26 Berliner Verkehrs AG (BVG-Ost) T 24 Tram with B 24 Trailer (post'50s livery). The BVG-Ost was created in August 1949; it received 164 T 24 motor cars and 164 B 24 trailers at total. By 1949, the company had 24 routes, include six jointly operated with BVG-West. Between 1950 and 1954, ninety T 24 motor cars were modernized by LEW Henningsdorf and some other factories; these cars received new 60kw motors, new controls, 760 mm wheels instead of regular 720 mm, driver's seats etc. and were called T 24E. As well as in West Berlin, the trams were converted from trolley poles to pantograph operation is early 1950s. Starting from 1959 all remaining East Berlin T 24 cars were used as a donors for "Rekowagens" (Rekonstruktion Wagen); first of the them (No. 3911) was built in Autumn 1959, using parts from car 6114. The East Berlin's cars lookes almost the same as their relatives at the West, except that the window posts were painted cream which gives cars much heavier look. The old BVG logo (introduced in late 1930s) was used on BVG-Ost T 24/B 24s until the end. Available Options Scale 1:43 Available Now Available through SPTC, INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATIVES Limited Availability ("Add-on" Production). ) - Also available as motor car only*.
51-5	1924/26 Berliner Verkehrs-Betriebe AG (BVG-West) T 24 Work Car (A 451-A 502; A 511-A 514; A 521 - A524 series). Starting from 1960, the BVG-West modified almost sixty T 24 trams for use as work cars. Cars A451-A470 with original motors were painted in the traditional for Berlin's work cars green color, while cars A471-A502 with new 60kw motors retained regular cream color and cars convered after 1964 (started from number A511) were painted out in the new orange colors due to safety reasons, they also had the white and red stripes on ends. Available Options Scale 1:43 Available Now Available through SPTC, INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATIVES Limited Availability ("Add-on" Production).