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Mercedes Unimog Road-Railer Goes From Truck to Diesel Locomotive

Mercedes-Benz's Unimog has always been as versatile as a Swiss Army Knife and it just got a little bit better. You've probably see it tending to hedges next to the autobahn or cleaning tunnels, but have you ever seen a Unimog that can pull trains? We have, and are sharing this wonder with you guys.
Mercedes Unimog Road-Railer 13 photos
Photo: Mercedes Benz
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Mercedes recently announced two new versions of the Unimog at the InnoTrans exhibition in Berlin, the U 423 Road-Rail, which is the yellow model you can see towing a tanker train, and the U400 TLF FFR Road-Rail, designed to fight fires and in the German Metro system.

Also introduced is a new Euro 6 compliant diesel engine for the Unimog. Following the latest emissions regulations, certain particles like nitrogen oxide have fallen by up to 90 percent compared with Euro Pushing out 231 hp and capable of towing up to 1000 tons in road-railing applications, the U 423 has a few party tricks.

The transmission with eight forward and eight reverse gears enables speeds on the track of up to 50 km/h (31 mph), both forward and back. Even speeds as low as 0.1 km/h can be engaged.

Why would you ever need a Unimog on rails?

Retro locomotives used by tourists sometimes break down and need to be towed. The Unimog's mobility is great in these situations. It can also be used as a shunter to push carriages into place and doesn't need a switch to change tracks.

Also on display at the InnoTrans exhibition in Berlin is a new shunting safety system developed by Zagro. Using a 425 liter air reservoir, it can fill the Braking system of a wagon very quickly. The U 423 Road-Railer is also equipped with a radio remote control.

Fire-fighting truck on rails

Moving on the the New Unimog U 400, the other major project revealed in Germany, this is a specialist fire-fighter designed to deal sectors of railway with a limited clearance, in particular Metro tunnels. Equipped with a Ziegler fire-fighting body (TLF 30/20-5 CAFS), it can pump up to 2,000 liters of water and 500 liters of foam. Its cab has been designed to resist fire, so the driver can push the Unimog right up blaze.

In case other subway trains are blocking the tracks during a fire, the U 400 can drive on its wheels close up to the area of operation by road and then switching to the rails.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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