A train could have varying numbers of coaches, depending on the route, the day, the time of day and many other factors.

A long distance train can normally have up to 14 coaches (modern). Train length depends on the number of passengers using that route (based on statistics). If a train runs once a day, it might be longer than a train that runs every two hours. Some trains will also contain a combination of national and international coaches.

For model trains, most people limit their consists due to space constraints to somewhere between 4 and 7 coaches.
That given, for such a consist, the makeup in Era III and Era IV might have been

Lok - Baggage - A (1st) - A (2nd) - Restaurant - B (2nd) - B (2nd) - B (2nd)
To save space, some modellers might omit the baggage or the restaurant, which would then allow for additional coaches.
In reality, some trains might have had combined seating/baggage or seating/diner coaches for the same reason.

Here are some links to sites providing consisting information.

I will start by this one: http://www.heinrich-hank...enbahn/zugbildung/_d.htm

http://www.welt-der-modelleisenbahn.com

This website allows you to look up the various train classes and learn about routes and compositions.

There were two books published by Miba written by Michael Meinhold about Consists called Zugbildung Epoch (Era) III and IV
I have seen the Era IV as a web book that can be downloaded.
I have seen the Era III one on ebay.de
Both books are in German, but have photos and diagrams that can be of use.

Regards

Mike C

You may find this site helpful: https://www.vagonweb.cz/razeni/

Carim

The starting point needs to be which era and/or train you are looking to model. Then look at the routes for that particular train.

EG, the German InterCity trains initially were 100% first class; it wasn't till May 1979 that they then added the 2nd class to the IC trains there.

In the end, though, you should run what looks good to you. If they are distance trains then a ratio similar to what airplanes have on seating capacity in 1st/business vs coach classes may be reasonable; for local trains its often none or a tiny fraction (part of a car) as 1st class and thats it.

Your planning to run full length trains, so 7+ car trains for many of the trains I suspect. So you will have more flexibility to make it look interesting.
On my planning, as I'm focused on route dispatching and less on prototypical length, I'll be running 3 car trains, so my trains that have 1st class will have 1 car in the 1st class for normal trains, or maybe 2 if I'm doing the intercity design (which would be 66% 1st class, 33% 2nd class).

This article may be of interest as well: https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/UIC-X-Wagen_(DB)
It is in German but Google translate should be able to cope.


Carim

By way of follow-up, can anyone here tell me what type of buffet car would run with the blue and ivory coaches?

Marklin don't seem ever to have made a matching buffet car (in Z) and I'd like to know if that's just because DB didn't have one and, if so, what they ran instead?

Thanks!


Chris

Yeah, so far I've only been able to spot a limited run of a model maker producing one, but have not found a photo of an actual one from the 70's or 80's that existed. If they did, it would be rare, so I'd say just stick with the snack bar car.