Märklin Trains: TRC >> Railroads and Eras


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Country	Abbreviation	Original Name	Railroad
A	ÖBB	Österreichische Bundesbahnen	Austrian Federal Railways
B	SNCB	Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Belges	Belgian State Railways
	NMBS	Nationale Maatschappij van de Belgische Spoorwegen	Belgian State Railways
CH	SBB	Schweizerische Bundesbahnen	Swiss Federal Railways
	CFF	Chemins de fer Fédéraux Suisses	Swiss Federal Railways
	FFS	Ferrovie Federali Svizzere	Swiss Federal Railways
	BLS	Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon-Bahn	Bern Lötschberg Simplon Railroad
	SOB	Südostbahn	Southeast Railroad
D	KPEV	Königlich Preußische Eisenbahn-Verwaltung	Royal Prussian State Railroad Administration
	K.Bay.Sts.B.	Königlich Bayerische Staatsbahn	Royal Bavarian State Railroad
	K.W.St.E.	Königlich Württembergische Staatseisenbahnen	Royal Württemberg State Railways
	DRG	Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (1929-1945)	German State Railroad Company (1929-1945)
	DB	Deutsche Bundesbahn (1945-1994)	German Federal Railroad (1945-1994)
	DB	Deutsche Bahn AG (ab 1994)	German Railroad, Inc. (starting in 1994)
DDR	DR	Deutsche Reichsbahn (1945-1994)	German State Railroad (1945-1994)
DK	DSB	Danske Statsbaner	Danish State Railways
F	SNCF	Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français	French State Railways
I	FS	Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane	Italian State Railways
L	CFL	Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Luxembourgeois	Luxembourg State Railways
NL	NS	Nederlandse Spoorwegen	Dutch State Railways
N	NSB	Norges Statsbaner	Norwegian State Railways
S	SJ	Statens Järnvägar	Swedish State Railways
UdSSR	SZD	Sovjetskije Zeleznyje Dorogi	Soviet Railways

Era I (1835 to about 1925)
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Provincial and privately owned railroads with in some cases extensive route networks came into being in the beginning phase of railroading. Era I is characterized by a multitude of car and locomotive types, colors and lettering.

Era II (1925 to 1945)
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The large national state railroads were established in Europe. In Germany the provincial and privately owned railroads were merged in 1920 into the German State Railroad Company (DRG). Standard designs cut down on the multiplicity of car and locomotive types.

Era III (1945 to 1970)
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The 1950s and 1960s were characterized by rebuilding and economic growth. The young German Federal Railroad (DB) grew quickly; steam locomotives had to make way for more powerful and more efficient diesel and electric locomotives. The German State Railroad (DR) in the German Democratic Republic of that period developed parallel to the DB.

Era IV (1970 to 1990)
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The beginning of this era was marked by the European wide standardized computer UIC lettering system for all cars and locomotives. This process took place over several years, so that you could still see cars with the old and new lettering next to one another.

Era V (1990 to the present)
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New color schemes signaled the "new era" of modern railroading; at the same time almost all of Europe began to think in terms of basically new railroad structures that are being realized today. After the unification of Germany the German State Railroad (DR) and the German Federal Railroad (DB) were merged in steps into the German Railroad, Inc. The new logo for the German Railroad, Inc. has been in use since 1994. This era has also been marked by the juxtaposition of different color and logo variations.