Originally Posted by: Minok 
The TEN sleeper cars in the Auto Train car set are a bit appealing for the once across the whole layout nonstop trains - but I'm wondering about the beige roof, is that prototypical? I remember the blue cars rolling past as part of trains in Germany in the early 80's but didn't pay too much attention to the roof (or remember them) but the photos seem to be gray/silver/blue roofs; not tan/beige.
From Märklin 2018 Summer New Items catalog pg 5
And Märklin did put out the blue roofed variety: 4240
I'm just not finding the tan roof version in prototype. What car iteration is Märklin modeling with the latest release?
The WLABsm166 (WLAB T2S) were originally commissioned by the CIWL international sleeping car pool as a successor to the CIWL SNCF T2 (1968) and were delivered to the participating railways starting in 1975. The coaches incorporated design elements from the SBB RIC coaches and a number were built in Switzerland.
The German cars were delivered originally in DSG red and beige. As the coaches were delivered, a number were delivered in variants of the newly founded Trans Euro Night (TEN) Pool, which consisted of a blue livery with a beige stripe. The red painted coaches also received the TEN markings.
As these coaches were manufactured by different participating companies, there were slight differences. For example, the SBB coaches included models with silver roof or blue roof. The same applied to the coaches delivered to the DB, NS, FS, OBB and DSB. There were coaches with silver (metallic) roof, beige roof, blue roof and even grey roof.
I found this list on Stummi Forum:
WL T2s - 1st Series - Built1975 - Schlieren - Schlieren-Bogies:
CIWLT 6401 to 6416 = DB WLABmz 71/61 80 75-70/71 401 bis 416
CIWLT 6417 to 6449 = FS WLABmz 71/61 83 75-70/71 417 bis 449
CIWLT 6450 to 6454 = SBB WLAm 71/61 85 75-70/71 450 bis 454
CIWLT 6455 to 6457 = ÖBB WLABmz 71/61 81 75-70/71 455 bis 457
CIWLT 6458 to 6459 = NS WLABmz 71/61 84 75-70/71 458 bis 459
CIWLT 6460 to 6461 = DSB WLABmz 71/61 86 75-70/71 460 bis 461
CIWLT 6462 to 6463 = ÖBB WLABmz 71/61 81 75-70/71 462 bis 463
WL T2s - 2nd Series - Built 1982 - FIAT - FIAT-Bogies:
CIWLT 6464 to 6543 = FS WLABmz 71/61 83 75-70/71 464 bis 543
By the time the coaches were delivered, they went directly to the national railways rather than to the CIWL Pool and were integrated into the new TEN Pool.
The OBB coaches were rebuilt into WLAB33s (modified compartments and windows). The SBB, NS and a number of DB coaches were until recently running with the OBB as WLAB32s (only minor modifications). Other DB coaches were sold to Romania (CFR)
I was not aware that these coaches had Schlieren bogies. I always assumed that they had been equipped with MD Bogies, which were the preferred manufacturer for DB coaches since the 1950s.
http://www.historicschlieren.com/t2s-ciwlt.htmlThe Stummi topic gives this info for the DB coaches:
401 heute bei CFR
402 Unfall Heilbronn 1985
403 vorübergehend CNL, heute bei ÖBB umgebaut in WLAB32s
404 vorübergehend CNL, heute abgestellt/ersatzteilspender
405 vorübergehend CNL, heute bei ÖBB umgebaut in WLAB32s
406 vorübergehend CNL, heute abgestellt
407 heute bei ÖBB umgebaut in WLAB32s
408 Unfall bei Probefahrt 1975
409 heute bei CFR
410 heute bei ÖBB umgebaut in WLAB32s
411 heute bei ÖBB umgebaut in WLAB32s
412 zu CFR? (abgang 2003)
413 heute bei ÖBB umgebaut in WLAB32s
414 vorübergehend CNL, heute bei ÖBB umgebaut in WLAB32s
415 zu CFR? (abgang 2003)
416 zu CFR? (abgang 2002)
Several of the DB coaches were painted in CNL blue and used for night trains to Amsterdam. At some point, they reverted to DB Nachtzug once DBAG took control of CNL and have since passed to the OBB under the NightJet brand. I don't think that the OBB is keeping them in daily use.
It has been suggested that coaches 402 and 408, both of which were accidented, 402 in 1985 and 408 in 1975, might have been the ones with blue livery and beige roofs.
https://www.drehscheibe-...6748,3373957#msg-3373957 (Not much left of the blue one)
Another post suggests that 6403 (403) had the beige roof (if the number is right in this photo):
http://www.wagonslits.de..._showpage.php?pic_id=937You might be able to find more information at
http://wagonslits.de in the forum (German) and photos here:
http://www.wagonslits.de.../album_cat.php?cat_id=25Regards
Mike C
