Verbandsbauart

The German term Verbandsbauart describes both a type of goods wagon as well as a type of tram.

In order to standardise the goods wagons classes of the various German state railways (Länderbahnen), the German State Railway Wagon Association (Deutscher Staatsbahnwagenverband or DSV) issued regulations. The so-called Verbandsbauart (association) or DSV wagons, named after this association, were built from 1910 until the emergence of the Austauschbauart (interchangeable) wagons in 1927. Externally, the Verbandsbauart wagons looked very much like state railway goods wagons, but they were equipped for considerably higher maximum loads of up to 20 tons. A total of 11 classes were defined by norms defined by master drawings (Musterblättern). The wagons were built in numbers that today are hardly conceivable. The most important ones were the A2 and A10 Class wagons of which over 100,000 of each type were built. The Om Class A10 wagons were, including wagons of identical construction made by other nations, the most widespread goods wagons of all time and formed the major part of the German goods wagon fleet until the 1950s. Only then did they slowly disappear from the tracks. Many were also modified as part of the German goods wagon reconstruction programme.

The other meaning of the term is used for one of the tram classes that arose after Second World War in West Germany. The Verband wagons succeeded the rebuilt, war-damaged trams and were built to guidelines issued by the Association of Public Transport Companies (Verband öffentlicher Verkehrsbetriebe, VÖV).

See also

• History of rail transport in Germany
• Länderbahnen
• Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft
• The table of standard state railway vehicles, which includes the 11 DSV wagons.

External links

• There is an English-language discussion forum at Railways of Germany