Compartment Car. German Federal Railroad (DB) type BC4i-33, 2nd and 3rd class, lightweight design. Era III, grab irons on the entry doors separately applied, ladders on the car's ends separately applied. NEM coupler pockets, close coupler mechanism. Length over buffers 255 mm (10-1/16").
The German State Railroad needed fast, powerful motive power and cars for use in the Ruhr express service. These units had to be suitable for the expected increase in passengers and had to meet the technical requirements at the start of the 1930s. The question had already arisen then: "locomotive-hauled train or powered rail cars?".
In 1933, the German State Railroad ordered the development of special passenger cars for the Ruhr express service in order to investigate this question. These cars differed considerably from the previous designs. They were equipped with trucks like the passenger cars built since 1930 for main lines, and with open crossovers with footplates between the cars. Instead of large entries at the ends, these cars had a large number of side doors similar to those on the earlier compartment cars.
