Kraków 2021-05-25

Personal wagons – history.

Personal wagons with exposed and indoor assassinations.

In this article, we discuss walk-through passenger cars used by PKP (Polish State Railways), i.e. those where a corridor leads through the car, through which passengers and, above all, the train crew can move. Previous cars had a passage on external gangways, which were very dangerous in use. Chronologically, after cars with an external, side passage, cars called “passenger cars with open gangways” were designed. Cars of this type began to be designed and built after the Great World War. These cars have gangways at both ends, where the entrance doors to the car were placed. The open gangway is a distinguishing feature of the car, but not only. There are more changes. First of all, the frame of the car and the structure of the body are made entirely of steel profiles. Sheet metal was riveted to this structure. These rivets are clearly visible. The interior of the car is of wooden construction. The floor, walls, ceiling and structure of the benches are made of wood. The corridor runs through the middle of the car. In the middle of the carriage there was a toilet, and opposite it a heating stove. In many carriages, instead of a heating stove, steam heating was already installed, powered by an installation from a steam locomotive. Sometimes a second toilet was installed in place of the stove.

The new type of carriages was deprived of skylights, because the carriages had their own lighting installation. The lamps were oil or gas, but most often there were already electric installations. The bulbs were low-power, but sufficient for passengers and the conductor’s team. Due to the lack of skylights, the roofs were covered only with large sheets of metal.

Carriages with open platforms were produced from 1925, in many factories in Europe. Among others, in the Gottfried Lindner AG factory, Ammendorf b. Halle (Germany). Among the carriages of this type, the Bi, BCi and Ci series are popular. Each country has its own designations for passenger carriages, but they also change from time to time. For example, the BCi-29 series passenger car, built in 1929, well-known among railway enthusiasts, had the designation S in the period 1945-1950, BCi in the period 1950-1956, ABi in the period 1956-1977, Bi from 1977. In the designation, the lower-case letter “i” means a walk-through car, i.e. not a „sidecar”.

Passenger wagon of the Ci series.

The Ci series passenger car is an example of a car with open gangways. The Ci series passenger car was designed in 1927, based on earlier designs. The car body was made using metal technology, a welded truss with a riveted cover. The rest was made of wood. These are two-axle cars equipped with open gangways at both ends for boarding. Passengers used these gangways to admire the views. They primarily allow you to move from car to car. The corridor inside the car runs through the middle. Halfway through the car is divided by a wall with doors and separates class 2 from class 3, or into compartments for smokers and non-smokers tobacco products. Halfway through the car there is also a single-person toilet with waste disposal onto the track. Class 3 has wooden benches. Luggage racks were placed under the ceiling. Class 2 has upholstered benches. The windows are 0.60 m wide and 1.00 m high. A typical carriage had 56 seats.

Series Ci carriages were also produced, which were a combination of a series Ci carriage with a series Bi carriage. The upper class compartment had windows measuring 1.0 m x 1.0 m, fewer benches, and therefore more space for one passenger.

The carriage was heated depending on the customer’s wishes. There was a possibility of steam heating by connecting a steam pipe to the locomotive. There was a possibility of heating with a coal or wood stove installed inside, which was operated by the conductor’s team. The stove was placed opposite the toilet.

The carriage was lit with kerosene lamps or electric lamps with weak bulbs. Electricity was supplied by a generator when the train was running, and by a battery when stationary. The generator was driven by a transmission belt from the axles of the carriage wheels.

The car was ventilated by means of vents mounted in the roof or by opening the windows. The windows were raised using canvas straps. There were holes in the straps, and a pin in the wall under the window to lock the window in the desired position.

By 1929, around 200 Ci-type cars had been built in Germany. The cars were manufactured, among others, in the Wrocław rolling stock factory Linke Hofmann Werke (later the State Wagon Factory). This factory built, among others, class 4 complete cars. After 1945, the cars were taken over by the Polish State Railways. Already in the 1960s, these cars ran only on secondary lines with a small passenger flow. The cars began to be withdrawn from PKP in the 1970s. The cars were adapted to the role of utility cars.

T-T data of the Ci type wagon:

Total length 13.92 m. Wheelbase 8.50 m. Number of seats 48. Design speed 60 km/h. Steam heating.

Passenger car series Bi.

The Bi series passenger car is an example of a car with covered gangways. The Bi series passenger car was a development of the Ci series passenger car. The design was created in 1928. It is still a two-axle car. The aim of the design was to increase travel comfort. The basic issue was the construction of gangways. The passage between the cars became safer. The windows were enlarged, which now had dimensions of 1.0 m x 1.0 m. Since the length of the car remained unchanged, the number of these windows decreased from 6 to 5 on one side of the car. Plus a narrow toilet window, as before. The number of seats in the car decreased to 44 seats, but the space for one passenger increased significantly.

Bi series cars were built by many manufacturers in Europe. These cars have a steel, riveted (frame) structure with sheet metal body plating. In addition to closed vestibules, the cars have open passenger compartments with a central passage along the car. The arrangement of benches in the cars varied. The lighting in the cars was electric, with weak bulbs.

After World War II, PKP inherited 80 Bi series cars, previously owned by Germany. Generally, they were class 2 cars, although they were sometimes used as class 1, after the liquidation of class 3 in 1956. These cars were still running on secondary lines in the 1980s.

T-T data of the Bi type wagon:

Total length 14.04 m. Wheelbase 8.50 m. Number of seats 44. Design speed 60 km/h. Steam heating.

After World War II, Bi and Ci series wagons were not produced in Poland. It is estimated that in 1945, PKP had 100-120 wagons of this type. They were already running on secondary lines in the 1960s. Since the discussed wagons have a metal structure, they were used in PKP for a very long time. As a result, they underwent several renovations and modifications. The running gear of the wagons was improved. The heating and lighting system was modernized. The seats were replaced with more comfortable ones. After the liquidation of class 3, all wagons were unified for class 2 level.

Written by Karol Placha Hetman