über uns	Technische Informationen zu Triebfahrzeugen

Data sheet of NWET3 (187025)

This railcar is older than our new
locomotives. After a lengthy enforced
lay-up, it has now resumed service
on our tracks.)

The former NWET3 is the only railcar to be retained from the stock of the Nordhausen-Wernigeroder Railway. It was put into service in 1938 together with the T2, which does not exist today any longer. At the time the two railcars represented the state of the art in railcar manufacturing. Consequently, the T3 can be called a "living" testament to the development of railcar technology.

The former T1 and T2 were scrapped in the 1960s. The requisite spare parts were not available at the time.

The former T3 remained in service until the end of the 1970s. It had to be put out of commission back then because the high-pressure compressor failed. The high-pressure compressor was required for pumping the compressed air bottles of the starting system up to 60bar because the vehicle is fitted with a compressed air starting system.

In order to rectify the problem, one of the cylinders in the six-cylinder diesel engine was connected as a compressor. However, that only served to supply a sealing pressure of 25-30bar, which is characteristic of diesel engines.

The former T3 was simply discarded and people ceased to shown any interest in this vehicle. All of the spare parts for the former T3 were scrapped in 1980, including a complete set of driving engines still packed in oiled paper!

In 1981 three railway enthusiasts who were serving apprenticeships at the Wernigerode Railway Workshop wanted to refurbish the former T3 within the scope of an FDJ youth project. However, this proposal failed to draw the required backing at the time. Nevertheless, word of that good idea spread, reaching the then East German Railways Directorate in Magdeburg. They instructed the railways management to have the T3 re-commissioned. However, the three who had set the wheels of this in motion had already completed their apprenticeships by then and were consequently not involved in the "rebirth of the former T3".

After the collapse of communism people once again started to wonder what lay in store for this vehicle. The railway works in Haldensleben and Blankenburg were initially keen to return the vehicle to active service. However, the two East German Railways works ultimately rejected this undertaking.

The railcar genuinely did not appear to be easy to recondition. Damage caused by corrosion was not the main problem; it required a compressor, and more especially, there were problems with the electrics and the engine. That was no surprise since all of the coils in the generator were wound with wire insulated with fabric. None of the parts conformed to the modern-day DIN standard. There were also problems finding spare parts for the slow-running diesel engine.

This repair project, which appeared to be highly unfeasible, was ultimately successfully undertaken by MaLoWa (Mansfeld locomotive and waggon repair workshop) in Benndorf. The former railcar T3 is now running once again on the Harz Narrow-Gauge Railway network.

Repeat problems with the engine occurred. Since for reasons of the monument protection a global repair was not possible, the motor coach received another engine in the spring 1999. It concerns the same motor type, as he was built into the motor coaches 187016-019. The original engine is stored in the workshop Wernigerode Westerntor - accordingly conserved.

Because the luggage railcar NWET3 does not possess a traveler compartment (therefore also called dragging railcar) however it can pull up to four passenger cars, it is used with passenger cars at the draw hook for special trains.