FAKULTATIVWAGEN NIEMIECKI - UNIWERSALNY WAGON OSOBOWO-TOWAROWY Z 1891 ROKU

Fakultativwagen is a German universal passenger car, produced in large numbers by many companies in the Second Reich since around 1880. The idea of creating Fakultativwagen arose in connection with the requirements of the command of the German army, which aimed at the use by civilian carriers in Germany before World War I of simple carriages with a pedestrian structure, which, at the time of mobilization of troops, could easily be used to transport them to the front. Fakultativwagen was in its essence a kind of railway platform that could be quickly adapted to specific requirements by building benches and a body for passengers or beds for the injured. Over time, these very simple wagons were modernized by changing candle lighting to oil or gas lighting and using Westinghouse or Carpenter system brakes. Fakultativwagen wagons were characterized by an incredibly simple, but relatively solid structure and were very cheap to operate. For this reason, they were used in Germany for a relatively long time. After World War I, they also became part of the Polish State Railways, being one of the most important types of passenger and freight carriages of this carrier.