Passenger Trains > 100mph diesels in 1930s Germany

Currently in Nurnberg and stopped in a model train shop. Couldn’t resist! Tried it in the shop before I bought it as it was used. Runs like a Kato! Like a jeweled watch.

First train in world to run at 100mph or 160kph in regular service. 1933. Fliegender Hamburger. Flying Hamburger. Hamburg-Berlin. 2 car diesel electric trainset.

 From 15 May 1933, the train ran regularly between Berlin (Lehrter Bahnhof) and Hamburg’s central station. The train travelled the 286 kilometres (178 mi) in 138 minutes – an average speed of 124 kilometres per hour (77 mph). This performance was only equalled 64 years later, as the Deutsche Bahn began to use ICE trains between the two cities in May 1997.

 Basically pioneered the diesel age. The Flying Hamburger was the inspiration for UP's Pullman and CBQ's Budd diesel streamliners that entered service in 1934 and 1935. And the rest was history!

 Here’s an article and some speed logs from Cecil Allen who ran the Locomotive Practice and Performance column for over 50 years from the 1910s through the 1960s in Britain’s Railway Magazine. Enjoy!

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Neat read and article. Thanks for sharing.

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