Germany Used To Make The Coolest Railroad Maintenance Cars Out Of Volkswagen Buses

One of the most important requirements for keeping a railway running around the clock is ensuring trains can travel down tracks safely. Railway maintenance vehicles are vitally important to the safe operation of the impressively powerful locomotives that travel the rails, and the maintenance machines can be just as fascinating as the big locos they support. Back in the 1950s, the German Federal Railway operated what were probably history’s coolest railway maintenance vehicles: VW Buses on train wheels. The reason Type 2 buses were chosen actually makes a ton of sense.

Volkswagen Belgium recently wrote about how Volkswagen procured an interesting piece of German rail history, something pretty awesome that had until then gone under everyone’s radar. The Klv-20 T1 rail car seen here was last used on the Deutsche Bundesbahn (German Federal Railway) in the 1970s before later falling into the hands of a collector. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (VWNO) recently found the van and decided not just to bring it back to VW, but put it back on the rails.

Perhaps the coolest part about these vans is that they’re not merely old VW Bullis (as they’re called in Germany) fitted with train wheels but otherwise close to stock, and much greater effort was put into making them practical rail vehicles. Somehow, we all missed the existence of the Klv-20, but English news sites like New Atlas are finally picking them up.

Part of why this is such great news comes down to the fact that the VW Bus and its many derivatives were a global sensation. Volkswagen Transporters, Kombis, Microbuses, Buses, and more have served roles ranging from reliable workhorses to the symbol of freedom and counterculture movements. The Bus is an incredible vehicle in part because of how versatile it is. Buses have been everything from mobile cranes to tow trucks, and that’s awesome.

As it turns out, they were also great for railroads, too.

Riding The Rails

As Volkswagen says, the story of the Klv-20 starts in 1954.

The Deutsche Bundesbahn was formed in 1949 in what was then the freshly established West Germany. This was the direct successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft, a state-owned railway that ran between 1924 and 1937. According to a magazine or newspaper called Signal Engineering in Germany Today in 1954, the Deutsche Bundesbahn controlled 18,921 miles of track in West Germany. There were an additional 4,660 miles of trackage in Germany at the time, but those were owned by private railways, industrial and mining railroads, and the rapid transit systems of West German cities.

The paper noted that, at the time, West Germany did not expect to expand its rail network. However, it did expect traffic to increase. The explanation given in the paper was that the trains operating in the region were getting split up into smaller more numerous trains. Because of this, the maintenance and upgrade of railway signals was of great importance.

For the Deutsche Bundesbahn, this meant it needed compact vehicles to service its tracks. Specifically, it was looking for vehicles to be used at rail and signal maintenance depots. Deutsche Bundesbahn could have built custom vehicles for the task, but it discovered a better option. It would turn the existing Volkswagen Bulli van into a train!

Volkswagen explains what happened next:

​Two companies were commissioned to build this compact vehicle with an internal combustion engine, which was given the designation Klv-20. Within the space of a year, the companies Martin Beilhack (Rosenheim) and Waggon- und Maschinenbau GmbH Donauwörth each converted 15 units for rail use. The vehicle now in the VWNO collection was manufactured by Beilhack.

​​These ‘railway Bullis’ were mainly used at rail and signal maintenance depots to make inspection and repair trips. And the Klv-20s remained in service for a considerable time: it was not until the 1970s that they were largely phased out. Today, there are only a handful of these vehicles remaining that are still in running order and that are in such a good condition as VWNO’s Klv-20, which has the vehicle number 20–5011.
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​The Klv-20 essentially consists of three components: the body of a T1 Kombi van, a 21 kW/28 PS Volkswagen industrial engine and a chassis with a hydraulic lifting/turning mechanism. This allowed the Klv-20 to be lifted up, turned around and put back on the rails by one person, instead of having to drive back to the starting point in reverse gear. The compact rail vehicle could thus be used very flexibly.

​To ensure that the ‘rail Bulli’ complied with the regulations for auxiliary railway vehicles, the lights at the front and rear were removed and these areas were covered up with metal panels. The standard lights stipulated for rail vehicles were then installed in new positions: two white lamps at the front and one red lamp at the rear.

​Volkswagen continues that the Klv-20 was powered by a four-cylinder four-stroke Volkswagen engine, but tuned to 28 HP for use in industrial equipment. That engine was then bolted to a four-speed manual with a reverse gear. So, driving the Klv-20 should be like driving a car. However, the builders never intended the Klv-20 to drive on a road ever again, so the rearview mirror, steering wheel, and steering shaft were completely removed.

The ‘Rail Bulli’ shown here today started its service at the Deutsche Bundesbahn rail depot in Plattling/Bavaria before later moving to the Plattling signal maintenance depot. Volkswagen Belgium says this unit was taken out of service in the 1970s before finding a new home in Palatinate in southwest Germany. In 1988, a railfan in the state of Hesse picked up this Klv-20.

A Unique Piece Of Rail History

Now, the rail Bus has come full circle and has landed in the hands of the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Oldtimer department. Volkswagen notes there was a brochure for the Klv-20 rail Bus, which called it “Rail track vehicle for universal use.” The brochure also says:

​The power unit is mounted in a chassis frame welded together from strong sectional
​steel; the frame also holds the wheel sets, which are well-sprung and guided. The wheels are made of steel and have a diameter of 550 mm. Rubber elements are fitted between the wheel rim and wheel core according to the ‘Bochumer Verein’ system, which results in very effective damping of the vehicle noise. However, the vehicles can also be fitted with regular wheels. The axles run in roller bearings.

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​All four wheels have internal shoe brakes, which are activated using the brake pedal via an oil-hydraulic system. One wheel pair can also be braked mechanically using the lockable handbrake lever.
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​The body is connected to the frame by rubber elements. It has three wellupholstered seat benches: one in the driver’s compartment with two seats, two in the passenger compartment with three seats each. The two benches in the passenger compartment can be easily removed so that the space can be used to transport goods. The driver’s compartment has two doors, while the passenger or load compartment has one wide wing door. The headlights, tail lights and interior lights are harmoniously integrated into the body. The power unit is located at the rear of the vehicle and is easily accessible from the outside through a separate door.

Volkswagen says that there are just a handful of these left that still run and now one of them will be preserved for future generations. Some of our European readers may have already seen it at International VW Bus Day back in early June.

I’m left fascinated by the Klv-20. If you explore railway museums you’ll find all sorts of interesting railway maintenance equipment. All of them, from railway speeders to vintage handcars, are awesome. However, you won’t often see something with the swagger of a Volkswagen Bus.