Original Photograph by George Pahl | Colorized by Jecini
In this colorized photo by Jecini, we see the Schienenzeppelin in Berlin in June of 1931. A train on the way to Hamburg passes the newly arrived ‘rail zeppelin’ at Spandau main station.
The Schienenzeppelin or rail zeppelin was an experimental railcar which resembled a Zeppelin airship in appearance. It was designed and developed by the German aircraft engineer Franz Kruckenberg in 1929.
Propulsion was by means of a pusher propeller located at the rear: it accelerated the railcar to 230.2 km/h (143 mph) setting the land speed record for a petrol powered rail vehicle. Only a single example was ever built, which due to safety concerns remained out of service and was finally dismantled in 1939. [source]
