Even though I have never even seen one, I have always been fascinated by electric railcars and when, many years ago, I had the chance to buy the Roco version of an ET 85 for AC operation, I took the chance on the non-Märklin product. Until I obtained a good selection of Märklin Magazin back issues, I really didn’t know anything about these interesting electric railcars.

When the German rail network began to take shape in the early part of the 20^th century, there were many branch lines that needed some sort of passenger service but with easily maintained equipment. In the Bavarian region considerable electrification had already taken place and thus electric locomotives also had to be considered, but neither steam nor electric locomotives were chosen. The answer lay in railcars and that resulted in an ingenious project to convert a number of Bavarian passenger coaches to electric propulsion and the birth of the ET 85. Much, much later the ET 85 became the BR 485.

In 1924 the Bavarian division of the Deutsche Reichsbahn Gesellschaft (DRG) selected four MCCi steam railcars built between 1906 to 1908 for conversion to electric traction. The work was done by Fuchs in Heidelberg and BBC in Mannheim. Follow on manufacturing was also done by MAN in Nuremberg. In 1925 orders were placed for six railcars as well as four control cars. (Control cars being conventional coaches equipped with controls for push-pull operation.) A third order included five railcars and 11 control cars. This resulted in 15 trains by 1927. In the interim, 35 three-axle passenger coaches were equipped with the necessary wiring and electrical connectors so that could also be used. The sum total was that by 1933 there were 36 railcars, 34 control cars and 70 trailers. All ET 85s were for standard gauge operation.

The exterior shell of the railcars were built on a frame and covered with sheet steel comparable, the whole process being similar to the construction of passenger cars. Converted and new passenger cars are very similar in their construction with the single biggest difference being the overall dimensions. In case of the control cars, a baggage compartment takes the place of heavy duty electrical and mechanical systems associated with the powered railcar. Up and including ET 85 30, there was a connection between railcar and control car that enabled passengers to move from one to the other. This feature was eliminated on subsequent ET 85s.

The two four-wheel trucks comprised one powered one and one non-powered one. To achieve a more optimal weight distribution, the non-powered truck was under the heavy equipment area. The cooling duct serving the electric motors in the powered truck is routed through the roof and the air for the transformers and associated equipment is sucked in through various louvers. The converted passenger cars used power trucks based on those for the Hamburg S-Bahn and the newer railcars used power trucks based on those from the Berlin S-Bahn. In addition to the handbrake which is a form caliper brake, there is a spindle brake that acts on one of the trucks. Conventional German buffers and drawgear were used. The pantographs were raised and lowered pneumatically.

The passenger compartment consisted of two parts – smoking and non-smoking. The seating arrangement was 2 and 3 in the smoking compartment and 2 and 2 in the non-smoking. Several ET 85s had first class seating. The trains crews had their own doors as well as a door that opened to the passenger compartment.

The ET 85 operated on lines of 15 kV at 16.67 Hz. The cooling fan equipped nose and axle suspended motors also have provisions for additional cooling. These are eight-pole motors with compensation windings and shunted commutating winding. Having been used for some time by the Hamburg S-Bahn, these were well-proven motors. Two kinds of gearboxes were used, one with a reduction ratio of 21:64 (1:3.047) that worked out to a top speed of 75 km/h (just short of 47 mph). The other gearbox, which was used only on ET 85 05 and 09 permitted the higher speed of 100 km/h (62 mph), had a reduction ratio of 26:59 (1:2.269). These two machine had no difficulty achieving this speed and performed very well at that speed.

A multiple control system was used and this meant that any number of coupled-together railcars and control cars, could be operated from any position. Signals were sent from one car to the next by means of a 20-position switching system. The newly constructed ET 85s also had a dead-man’s throttle which brought the car to stop, if the driver became incapacitated.

Various subsystems, such as cooling installations, the oil radiator, compressors and others received their 200 volts, 16.67 Hz via a bus system. A separate generator powered by one of the fan motors supplied 24 volts for lighting and charging of the 100 Amp Hour storage battery. The resistance heating system was a two stage arrangement that used either 800 or 1,000 volts.

The ET 85s served well, meeting all design goals. ET 85 13, 14, and 15 were geared for a top speed of 50 km/h (31 mph) for use in especially hilly regions. These railcars were subsequently redesignated ET 9001, 9002 and 9003 and served until about 1972. A further 19 of this type were redesignated BR 485. The original ET 85 01 to 04s, the converted steam railcars, were taken out of service before 1945. As late as 1975 several of the ET 85s were still in regular service from Bw Freiburg (Freiburg – Basel Bad – Müllheim – Neuenburg). The article in Märklin Magazin concludes with the comment that experiences gained with the ET 85, as well as other similar railcars, paved the way to much more modern ones.

Specifications

For those interested in building their own ET 85, See "H0-Modell des elektrischen Triebwagens ET 85", Märklin Magazin, 4/75, page 3. On the other hand it might be easier to find the Roco model 14148A for AC operation or 04148A for DC operation. Regrettably, this model is no longer in production.

Märklin Magazin "Die elektrischen Triebwagen ET 85 (485)," 4/75, p. 28.

Eisenbahn Magazin, "Abschied von der Schiene," 3/77, p. 12

Eisenbahn Magazin, "Wechselstrom-Triebwagen ER 85 01-04 für den Vorortsverkehr," p. 36 (includes 3-view drawing.