Product Features and Details
Prototype: Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) city shuttle. Class 1116 electric locomotive with a B-B wheel arrangement, built starting in 1999. Nicknamed "Taurus". 4 bi-level passenger cars, 2nd class, and 1 bi-level cab control car, 2nd class. The train looks as it currently does for the "Wiesel" for the regional service concept.
Model: The locomotive has a digital connector, and a 5-pole motor with a flywheel. 4 axles powered. Traction tires. The headlights change over with the direction of travel. The pantographs can be raised and lowered and can take power from catenary. The cab control car has white headlights / red marker lights that change over with the direction of travel. The locomotive and the cars have close coupler mechanisms. Total length over the buffers 969 mm / 38-1/8".
The "Wiesel" Regional Fast Train When St. Pölten was made the provincial capital in 1986 of Lower Austria, and the provincial government moved from Vienna to the new government area in the city, the government officials and employees also had to move there, i.e. they had to commute to their jobs. For that reason the provincial government initiated the creation of bus lines to bring government workers quickly from Vienna and its outlying areas to St. Pölten and back. The "Wieselbusse" / "Weasel Busses" (swift like a weasel) were thereby born and had a brand emblem of a brown weasel painted on them. This weasel concept was then transferred to the railroad's fast city connections that guarantee quick connections on hourly schedules between the regions of Lower Austria and Vienna. The bi-level shuttle trains used for this can run at speeds of 140 km/h / 88 mph and have the latest equipment features such as a handicapped, closed toilet system, the latest fire protection equipment, multi-functional general-purpose compartments for children's cars and for bicycles (in the cab control car), an aid for entry (ramps) for wheelchairs as well as a modern passenger information system. These trains are usually pulled and pushed by a "Taurus" (= bull), the ÖBB class 1116 with its total of 282 units. This is a four-axle dual system locomotive with its striking, rounded end shape with its fiberglass-reinforced hood made of plastic that gives the locomotive such an aerodynamic look.
