Hi everyone,

I've recently taken an interest in HAG's 2-axle die cat freight cars. I rarely see them, and don't know anything about them. Researching online hasn't gotten me too far, and I was wondering if anyone knew of a place to learn what was produced and part numbers? Also, about how old they are as I suspect they are all newer than they look?

Thanks! An example would be numbers 330 or 345 etc...

Yes, the information is fully available in the HAG-UNUM-Database, but this is a topic which is very difficult to understand. I'll try to give you an introduction:

- Production of all the HAG 2-axle die-cast freight vans began in the mid-1950's and continued (with interruptions) until 1984
- Basically, there are three types: a flat car, a gondola, and a covered van
- These all came with or without brakeman's cabin and the flat car with or without stakes
- The colors are brown, green, gray and (only for the covered vans) white (plus one covered van in blue, but those are so rare that we can forget them)
- The big problem is that HAG once changed their entire numbering "system" within these models: For instance, cat.-no. 340 was changed to 305 and cat.-no. 345 to 300, etc.
- You will only be able to find your way through the resulting maze (or better: mess) if you search the UNUM database by the road numbers of the models:
- 43216 will show you all covered vans
- 58136 will show you all gondolas
- 67045 will show you all flat cars
- Due to the long production period, there are varieties regarding the couplers and the axles (these are mostly DC, but the flanges are so high that the wagons won't run on Roco-Line track)

You can find a further resource on the site of my friend Stephan Wenger: http://www.blechundguss.ch/289.html

If you get lost, come back here with your questions...

Here's an "appetizer", this picture was only possible "once in a lifetime".


© Stefan Unholz

Edited by user 21 May 2019 12:57:40(UTC)  | Reason: Additional link

Nice to hear, keep collecting them!

What I forgot to mention above are the weathered/"blackened" varieties (geschwärzt in German language). They were only brought up as a sideline in the HAG catalogues and are sought after by collectors. I came across my first weathered HAG gondola on Australian (!) eBay:



And if you happen to see one, there are also four white varieties of the covered vans with decals, a private production approved by HAG:

- Feldschlösschen (a brewery)
- Falkenbier (also a brewery)
- Bell (a meat production company)
- Circus Knie

Happy hunting!

I'm slightly hijacking this thread because it seems more or less appropriate for the following information:

Since 1999, Chris Umbricht and I maintained the so-called HAG-UNUM database for collectors. Earlier this year, both the hardware and the software we used reached their end of life, and security requirements have also greatly increased in the last 20 years.

To make things short, we had to abandon the utility, but it has now been resurrected by the German two man team Konrad and Max Froitzheim. The name of the database has consequently been slightly modified to FRUNUM and is accessible at

http://www.frunum.de

Any criticism, amendments and other improvement proposals can be addressed to mecker at frunum.de

Like before, FRUNUM only lists traditional HAG products manufactured at St. Gallen or Mörschwil between 1954 and 2012. The often inferior stuff that has since been churned out by a new company at the location Stansstad is not considered worthy of being recorded in this database because it is hardly being collected. Thank you for your understanding.

My own website https://www.stefanunholz.ch will be shut down in a few days.

thanks for a good run Stefan! (and to the new moderators for picking it up!)