Class VT 88.9 Rail Bus

A Rustic Icon on German Tracks
When currently one of the numerous preserved Wismar rail busses comes on stage, even steam locomotives retreat to the background. "Pig Snouts" are the name given to these powered rail cars, which during the world economic crisis kept many small and branch lines from being abandoned. The design was ingeniously simple and at the same time extremely cost effective: A simple welded car body was used and a mass-produced drive system from the truck industry was installed in each direction of travel. As with road trucks there was a motor hood at both ends, commonly called a snout. Most cars had a roof baggage rack for baggage or small freight. The car builder Wismar built 57 units between 1932 and 1941. Railroaders and passengers loved their rustic rattling boxes and gave them the nickname "Pig Snouts". Currently, the Wismar rail busses enjoy an absolute cult status. This is not the only reason a snout belongs on the roster of every model railroader. In addition, the German Federal Railroad had three Wismar units for a short time on its roster after 1949. The red "Pig Snouts" thus goes on any Era III layout.

Prototype: German Federal Railroad (DB) class VT 88.9 (Cvt 34) rail bus as it looked in Era III.