Piko 53390 H0 - Dms 903 Baggage Car, DB AG, Era V

Type Dms 903 baggage van model in Deutsche Bahn livery

A model of the type Dms 903 baggage van of Deutsche Bahn in the beige and blue livery with the DB AG logo, era V. The prototypes were created in the early 1980s by rebuilding surplus postal vans, at a time when the railway urgently needed baggage stock for long-distance trains.

The model reproduces the characteristic large loading doors and the side wall without passenger windows. The NEM 362 coupler pocket with close coupling kinematics allows small gaps within a formation. A baggage van is the element that visibly gives structure to an era V long-distance train.

Model specifications:

• Scale: H0 (1:87)
• Catalogue number: 53390
• Manufacturer: PIKO
• Model length: 303 mm
• Era: V
• Coupling: NEM 362 coupler pocket with close coupling kinematics
• Minimum radius: 358 mm
• Wheelsets for AC operation, available separately: no. 56060
• The model is painted and ready to run
• Recommended age: 14 years and over

Please note: this model is not a starter set — a locomotive and powered track are required.

The wagon model does not include track, a locomotive or a controller. To put it into service you need powered track and a locomotive — analogue or digital. The wagon itself has no drive or electronics, so it behaves the same way on analogue DC track as in a digitally controlled DCC layout.

Model railways – digital or analogue control?

The digital DCC control system allows several locomotives to run independently on the same track. Each vehicle receives individual commands while the rail voltage stays constant, which makes realistic operation possible and allows the lights and sound effects of every locomotive to be controlled separately. In an analogue system all vehicles on a given circuit are controlled at once by varying the supply voltage. PIKO model 53390 is an unpowered wagon without electronics, so it can be marshalled into trains hauled in either analogue or digital operation.

About the Dms 903 baggage van:

By the late 1970s all the older series of Deutsche Bundesbahn baggage vans had passed their service life and been withdrawn, leaving the railway urgently short of baggage stock for long-distance trains. The solution was to buy fifty older, surplus postal vans and rebuild them at the Limburg repair works.

In the first batch of 1981 only the postal equipment was removed; from 1982 a thorough rebuild followed, with large loading doors, internal partition walls to secure the load, electric heating in the attendant's cabin and lavatory, and a clothes locker. The vans were cleared for service in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and East Germany.

The letter s in the designation Dms indicates clearance for 140 km/h. In era IV and the early part of era V the vans carried a blue and beige livery, which in time gave way to the product colours of Deutsche Bahn AG. The beige and blue variant with the DB AG logo is a typical sight in German long-distance trains of the 1990s.

Prototype specifications (Dms 903):

• Origin: rebuilt from four-axle postal vans
• Rebuilt at: the Limburg works
• Rebuilt from: 1981 onwards
• Number rebuilt: 50
• Axles: 4 (two bogies)
• Top speed: 140 km/h
• Role: baggage and parcel traffic in long-distance trains

About the manufacturer – PIKO:

PIKO is a German manufacturer of model railways with more than seventy years of tradition, founded in 1949 in Sonneberg. Today it is one of the most popular model railway brands in Europe and a leading producer of Polish prototype models, including locomotives and coaches in PKP, PKP Intercity and PKP Cargo colours. The range covers H0, TT, N and G scales, from individual wagons to comprehensive starter sets and digital control systems. The PIKO Expert range combines a high level of detail with modern digital technology — with factory-fitted DCC and sound decoders in selected models. PIKO products are valued by modellers and collectors worldwide.