a little history of the dome car.

Due to the popularity of the dome cars the DR decided to develop for the non electric routes an observation wagon.
In 1936 the prototype of the VT 137 240 was first delivered. the roof of the wagon was covered with a blind, which was opened / closed by 2 motors, allowing on a clear day the passengers to enjoy the view above them.
it was possible to turn the seats, so that the passengers were always facing the direction in which the railcar was travelling.the railcar was furbished with 2 toilets.
the railcar was powered by 2 motors with hydraulic gears working the respective bogie, allowing a top speed of 75 miles an hours (over 110 kmh)
in 1939 two other railcars were build
after the war 2 remaining railcars were changed to VT 90500 (in service until 1960) and VT 90 501 (in service until 1962 with the wine red colour scheme).

regards.,

John

Juhan,

I didn't look properly if they do detach themselves but it looks like they can be, when looking at the spare part list they can be ordered separately, when I stuck them back in again they just fell out again, hence I thought they were broken. I may not have pressed them in hard enough but I didn't want to break anything else by putting too much pressure on it.

there are some dealers who offer the railcar for less and I paid half the price you paid for but I was just saying paying Euro 231 for the recommended retail price I thought it was a bit steep.
changing the decoder isn't dramatic but you have to tuck in the wires and at the same time trying to get the 2 motor contacts tongues from the circuit board on each side of the motor.
to take the housing off, I used my thumbnails on both of the doors on each side and pressed them outwards holding it while I used my finger to press down on the buffers and this released the housing on the front and then worked my way backwards.
taking the interior off you have to take a small screwdriver and get behind the clips (4 on each side) starting on the inside ones and than tackling the outside ones, the moment you've got one side loose its easy to do the other side. after releasing the inside clips I was holding it again until the outside clips had been released. the circuit board lies loose and is held firm in position after you refit the interior. when replacing the decoder I would recommend using some type of tape to keep the wires rolled up. the decoder sits on one side recessed cavity, the interior has also free space for the decoder and should only be put back in one direction, the circuit board has 3 contacts on one side instead of 2 on the other side and the extra contact provides the contact for the slider. the same goes for the interior is has also got a recess cavity where the decoder sits.
I would suggest to put the housing back in such a fashion by using one end and fold it underneath the interior so the little light diffusers don't get ripped off when trying to put the housing back on again and than try to fit the other side carefully by pressing it down and getting passed the interior. I think the reason there is a tight fitting so the light doesn't intrude into the upper level of the railcar but by fitting the light diffusers onto the inside of the housing the scrape against the housing, if they would be flush with the housing this wouldn't have happened so I assume a small design fault unless I'm doing something wrong here.
At one stage I looked at the front of the housing and I thought I also chipped something of the housing (plastic) but found out it was where the housing sits behind the buffers, a slight huge relieve.
anyone interested in buying it try Modellbahn Kramm http://www.modellbahn-kramm.com/index.cfm without the VAT its about Euro 59.-- under Liliput - 3 rail special offers

regards.,

John

Rinus, I can't really tell you because its a model from the 1930's and they may not had a lot of details, to me it looks like a plain railcar but this doesn't mean the detail isn't there. you know what I mean.

John