Waggonfabrik Rastatt

Waggonfabrik Rastatt ('Rastatt Coach Factory') was a public limited company ("Aktiengesellschaft" or "AG") based in Rastatt in the the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwestern Germany. Its chief products were tramway vehicles and railway coaches and wagons. The firm was founded in 1897 and built, for example, tramways for the Upper Rhine Railway Company ("Oberrheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft" or "OEG"), Karlsruhe Transport Company ("Verkehrsbetriebe Karlsruhe GmbH") and Stuttgart Tramways ("Stuttgarter Straßenbahnen AG"). It the early days it also built rolling stock for the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways.

After the acquisition of the majority of shares by Bauknecht the coach factory in 1971 was converted into a limited liability company ("GmbH") and its production was refocussed on the repair and conversion of wagons. After several name changes and takeovers, not least due to the bankruptcy of Bauknecht, it finally became the 'BWR Wagon Repair Company' ("BWR Waggonreparatur GmbH").

External links

* [http://www.bwr.de/gesch.htm Website of the present-day "BWR Waggonreparatur GmbH" with a history of the company]
* There is a relevant English-language forum at [http://germanrail.8.forumer.com/index.php Railways of Germany]