the Deutsche Bundesbahn's Donald Duck

Postcard showing the original livery

the Lufthansa Airport Express livery

a scene from 1984 underneath the old Schloss Rheinstein

The former class 403 electric railcar sets of the former Deutsche Bundesbahn (German Federal Railways) were a series of only three examples. As the first German high speed train (by modern standards), it was a forerunner of the Inter-City Express and was a DB showpiece in the 1970s.

Each set consisted of two powered end cars and two intermediate powered cars. The intermediate cars were referred to thus as the 404 series; one of the two was a big-space car, the other was configured as a half dining car with 24 seats.

Because of the distinctive front design, the trains got the nicknames of "Donald Duck" and "white shark" (in the original "second Reich" livery; we don't know what nicknames the later white and custard livery earned them).

With the prompting of the Verkehrsministerium (Ministry of Transport), these railcar sets were from 28 March 1982 on behalf of the German Lufthansa airline and liveried by it, employed as the Lufthansa Airport Express. The trains traveled between the airports of Düsseldorf and Frankfurt am Main partly as five-part or coupled units as a direct and (for Lufthansa) low-cost aircraft replacement service. The trains were only allowed to be used with flight tickets and were operationally classified as TEE trains. The route it traveled on the left Rhine bank enabled the travelers to enjoy one of the most beautiful German railway lines. The Lufthansa Airport Express was used into the 1990s to avoid short domestic flights.

Specifications:

Build year: 1973
Withdrawal: 1993
Axle formation:: Bo'Bo'+Bo'Bo'+Bo'Bo'+Bo'Bo'
Service weight: 235.7 tonnes
Top speed: 200 km/h (220 km/h previewed)
Output: 3,840 kW
Tractive effort: 200 kN
Current: system: standard DB system 15 kV 16 2/3 Hz