I know they pulled the era 3 and 4 Rheingold TEE trains, the Helvetia, Parsifal, etc. Also skirted express cars like the iviera Express once the 103 met higher production, and the big diesel began retiring, and early intercity trains.

Great! -I am wondering about the same thing.

I understand that the first service was during "Internationalen Verkehrsaustellung München 1965". I have found many old videos on Youtube, which contains snippets of the service. (not being train-videos per se all of them)
As seen in the link posted by Alsterstreek, it was with the (slightly modified) standard D-zug wagens.
In the videos I think I have seen shorter 4-wagen long trains, including some with green 2nd class wagens too. (I might be wrong, because the resolution and colours of these videos are rather bad)

Great reading David, thanks

During the period referenced, the prototype locomotives were being tested, largely on the section between Munich and Nuremberg (Nürnberg) or Augsburg.
I don't think that the E03 was used to pull the Stammzug of the TEE Rheingold. It may have pulled the Rheinpfeil to Munich.
I will have to check my resources for more information.

Regards

Mike C

The E03 went into testing in 1965. The series class 103 entered into service a few years later.
When people refer to the E03 during the period 1965-1969, they are referring to the prototype locomotives, which were used for testing prior to the class going into production.

Once the 103 series went into regular service, those locos could be found on express trains throughout Germany, including the four prototype locos.
Prior to that, the prototype locomotives were limited to certain routes, as they were being tested and were not in regular service.

To be clear: E03 refers to E03 001-004
103 refers to all class 103, including the four prototype machines named above

You refer to the Rheingold and the Helvetia, aka 42990 and 42991. Each 3 coach set was a subject of frustration to me.
The Rheingold had 3 coaches and was missing the Apümh for the Basel-Geneva section.
The Helvetia had 3 coaches and was missing the other coaches for the Basel-Zurich section
Oh, and did I mention that somebody at Maerklin rendered the dimensions of the ARDümh at scale length (282mm), but also in window height. That dimension should have remained in 1/87, so the windows are not tall enough on the model.

I acquired a second 42991 and use the Apümh with the Rheingold and the Avümh with the Helvetia, leaving an orphan ARDümh.
It would have been nice if Maerklin would have followed up with additional coaches for those sets.

The Helvetia is now running with 282mm coaches (43854 and 43866). Unfortunately the cook on that train is not very good as he seems to frequently have kitchen fires ;)

Regards

Mike C

I never said that 42990 or 42991 were 282mm. Those were and still are 270mm models.
The only reference to 282mm was in relation to the later Helvetia sets (43853, 43854, 43866).
The important fact was the rendering of the windows on the bar coach which detracts from the appearance of the model.

Regards

Mike C

There is an ARDümh 105 in the 42991 set. You mention 42990 and 42991, then you mention the length 282 mm of the ARDümh coach (see the block I quoted). I missed that you were referring to complete different models, most likely the WRm from 26557 with the tiny windows.

????

Cream / Red versions of what???

There's no Cream / Red versions of anything in the Summer New Items let alone passenger cars.

Do you mean the 4386x, 43845 and 43894 cars in the main 2021 New Items? If so, best to reference them by number.

Where's Mike after all this?

Step up to the plate young man.....

Mike, the Roco links are not found, or expired, but their cars have always been correct to scale, and detail, yes? The Swiss windows have more rounded corners anyway.
I didn't notice the window width errors by Marklin. Perhaps in real life I would, but have never been to either country to see any yet. Apicture is worth a thousand words, but when they are compressed on a page the true dimensions can look different.

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the replies, sorry I’ve not responded. I’ve been getting some tiring duties from work so I haven’t had a lot of energy for much else.


I think the various posts do answer my questions, the blue coaches were mentioned in the articles I read, but until now I hadn’t been able to determine if they were the UIC d-Zug coaches, or the Touropa ones with skirting as the articles were not specific about that. But now looking at some of the links and the discussion it seems I can run my era 3 d-Zug coaches and be prototypical in the consist.

Maybe one day I’ll be able to find some red and cream tee coaches in era 3 markings which would be really cool, in the meantime it’s d-Zug coaches 😊

Cheers.....

Mike

Thank's jvuye^ keeps us from feeling our "oats" in frustration too! While I try to keep my posts forum oriented, none of us are perfect. Rather than chastize someone for straying off, I occasionally oblige them a reply. Only to to read the next post obliterating the topic author. I think it's rude. Why not just ignore it if they don't like it? I don't even get repiles or suggestions (often) on my site specific questions.

If I remember correctly, the first 4055-4090 coaches had Basel-Hamburg as destination (sign). That definitely does not correspond to the Blauer Enzian or Diamant.

The original topic was more about what actual trains were to be found being pulled by the prototype E03 locomotives between 1965 and 1967, which was prior to the locomotives of the 103 series going into regular service.

Regards

Mike C

The initial Rheingold and Rheinpfeil coaches were delivered in 1962. Additional coaches of those types (with modifications) were delivered in 1965 and between 1965 and 1969 most of the older coaches were repainted in the red/beige TEE livery.
As the E03 (103.0) were being tested, they were not always in TEE service, so much of the testing was done using D-Zug trains, which were normally composed of blue Aüm and green Büm coaches. Initial testing was primarily between Munich and Augsburg while they worked the kinks out. It was only in 1971 that the 103.1 went into service.

I made a mistake in my post above. The first Maerklin models of the TEE coaches was 4055-4059. The second version was 4085-4090. The next version was the 27cm models without close coupler which was 4095-4099. IC versions of the 27cm coaches with close couplings were released as 4294-4298 (red skirting). I referred to 4055-4090 instead of to the individual series.

Regards

Mike C

Thanks Mike, that does clarify it nicely. So I can run my e03 with the Aüm and Büm coaches until some red and cream coaches with era3 marking come available

Cheers....

Mike