3-piece set 1: D 377 “Hispania-Express”, DB.

Wagon set 1 with three express train coaches for the D 377 “Hispania Express” of the German Federal Railway.

Consisting of a 2nd class compartment coach type Büm 234, a 1st class compartment coach type Aüm 203 and a semi-baggage car type BDüm 273.

■ Coach condition as at the middle of the 1970s
■ First Büm 234 built without steam heating (22-70 001)
■ First BDüm 273 built without steam heating (82-70 001)
■ With train destination sign Hamburg – Basel/Geneva
■ Finely-detailed bogies

The “Hispania Express” operated between Copenhagen from 1963, then between Hamburg and Port Bou from 1969. In Germany, it was run from that time forward as an accelerated express train with a maximum speed of 160 km/h, as is otherwise only the case for TEE and F or IC trains.
The train is to be recreated in line with the 1976/77 timetable year prototype, as the “Hispania” hauled a particularly large number of 1st/2nd class coaches (ABüm) in that year. These were the typical through coaches of the German Federal Railway. In order to reach 160 km/h, the coaches, which included the first models in ocean blue/beige, largely had to be equipped with magnetic rail brakes.