Electric Rail Car

In 1914 the KPEV purchased a total of 6 threeunit rail car trains for the hilly route between Nieder-Salzbrunn and Halbstadt in Silesia in order to better manage the constantly increasing passenger loads in this region. These rail car trains were initially classed as E.T.501-506, and they had a visually striking appearance that reminded one of the express train passenger cars in use at that time with clerestories, truss rods, and inset doors. The motorcar was located in the middle between the two cab control cars and this arrangement guaranteed good running characteristics on curves. When the passenger loads into Halbstadt, now a Czech city, decreased after World War I, these rail car trains, now know as ET 87, were assigned to other routes. After 1932 they were painted in the attractive scheme of cream/violet used on the DRG powered rail cars. In 1945, three of these train sets were brought to Bavaria, where they were overhauled and painted in the DB's new paint scheme. They were now used mostly in commuter service around Nürnberg, mainly on the electrified routes to Fürth and Altdorf. In 1959, the last remaining ET 87 was taken out of service. Regrettably, all of them were scrapped.