Between 1932 and 1941 train builder Waggonfabrik Wismar built a total of 57 “Typ Hannover” railbuses for lightly used branch lines. These were nicknamed “Ameisenbär” (ant eater or ant bear) or “Schweineschnäuzchen” (pig’s snout) because of their distinctive front-mounted engine compartments.
This DVD contains footage of standard and metre gauge preserved examples in operation (the latter including those of the Borkumer Kleinbahn and the Bruchhausen-Vilsen to Asendorf line) and archive black & white scenes of the vehicles in service. Also covered are their post-war successors, the VT 2.09 railcars (known colloquially as “Ferkeltaxen” (“piglet taxis”)) in the former East Germany and the Uerdinger Schienenbusse in the West.
German commentary. 58 minutes running time.