Märklin - 88168 - Rail Bus, Diesel, Class 796, Epoch V - Deutsche Bundesbahn - 2-Pack

Specific Item Information: 88168 – Class 796/996 Rail Busses In the fall of 1987, the DB decided to convert several class 798/998 rail busses to one-man operation. A central pneumatic automatic door closing mechanism with corresponding buttons outside and inside on all units as well as a door closure signaling unit in the area of the controllers, a counting table, and outside rearview mirrors for the rail bus operator were all part of this conversion. The new class designation with the previous ordinal numbers followed on January 1, 1989. Starting with the summer schedule for 1997, only Tübingen was still used as a base for regularly scheduled rail busses. There they struggled with the mainly sparse traffic during the week on the remaining section at that time of the Ammertal Line Tübingen – Entringen, this however with up to six-car units. On May 29, 1999, these operations also ended and on February 27, 2000, the glory of the rail busses was finally past with the retirement of the last units.

Prototype: German Railroad, Inc. (DB AG) class 796 (former VT 98) motor car and class 996 (former VS 98) control car. Crimson paint scheme. The units look as they did in Era V around 1997. These units were used at this time in the Tübingen area.

Road Name History: Deutsche Bundesbahn was the Western Germany DB before reunification. After World War II, Germany (and the DRG) was divided into 4 zones: US, British, French and Soviet. The first three eventually combined to form the Federal Republic of Germany (the West) and the Russian zone became the German Democratic Republic (the East). German territories beyond the Oder were ceded to Poland except for the northern part of East Prussia, which was ceded to the Soviet Union in 1945.

From 1949, the new governments assumed authority for railway operations. The DRG's (or DR's) successors were named Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB, German Federal Railways) in West Germany, and Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR, German State Railways) in East Germany kept the old name to hold tracking rights in western Berlin.

Unlike the DRG, which was a corporation, both the DB and the DR were federal state institutions, directly controlled by their respective transportation ministries. Railway service between East and West was restricted; there were around five well-controlled and secure checkpoints between West and East Germany, and about the same number between East Germany and West Berlin. Four transit routes existed between West Germany and West Berlin; citizens of West Berlin and West Germany were able to use these without too much harassment by the East German authorities.

The DB started in 1968 with changing the locomotive and passenger car serial numbers to the UIC norm. In 1970 the DR followed. The DB started experimenting with the Intercity trains in a new livery (bright orange).

In 1989, the Wall fell. Train frequency rapidly increased on the existing East/West corridors; closed links which had formerly crossed the border were re-opened. On 3 October 1990, Germany was reunified; however, this was not immediately the case with the railways. Administrative and organisational problems led to the decision to completely re-organize and reconnect Germany's railways. The so-called Bahnreform (Railway Reform) came into effect on 1 January 1994, when the State railways Deutsche Bundesbahn and Deutsche Reichsbahn were formally reunited to form the current German Railway Corporation (Deutsche Bahn).

From Wikipedia

Brand/Importer Information: Gebr. Märklin & Cie. GmbH or Märklin (MÄRKLIN or MAERKLIN in capital letters) is a German toy company. The company was founded in 1859 and is based at Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg. Although it originally specialized in doll house accessories, today it is best known for model railways and technical toys. In some parts of Germany and in Sweden, the company's name is almost synonymous with model railroads.

Märklin introduced Z Scale in 1972. Connoisseurs appreciate Märklin Z as much as the most inveterate modeler: The charm of these finely constructed gems is best seen in the smallest of space. Because, this scale with all kinds of precision translated into 1:220 scale awaits you with almost unlimited operating enjoyment. It doesn't get any better.