Franz Kruckenberg
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Franz Friedrich Kruckenberg | |
|---|---|
 Kruckenberg (2nd from the left) in front of the Schienenzeppelin | |
| Born | 21 August 1882 |
| Died | 19 June 1965 (aged 82) |
| Education | ship building |
| Engineering career | |
| Discipline | aerodynamics |
| Significant design | Schienenzeppelin |
| Significant advance | high speed trains |
Franz Friedrich Kruckenberg (August 21st 1882 – June 19th 1965) was an engineer and pioneer of high speed railway systems. He designed several high speed trains. His most famous design was the Schienenzeppelin.
Kruckenberg was born into an old-established Hamburg merchant family. From 1904 to 1907 he studied mechanical engineering at the Technische Hochschule Charlottenburg in Berlin, graduating in naval engineering. Before World War I he designed aircraft and airships. Even then he already criticised airships because of their explosive hydrogen filling; and the civil use of aircraft because of their high fuel- and maintenance costs.
After the first World War he opened an engineering consultancy in Heidelberg. Initially he worked on a hanging monorail concept, but could not get the financing for a prototype. Later together with Hermann Föttinger he founded the Flugbahn-Gesellschaft mbH to build a high-speed propeller driven train, the "Schienenzeppelin". The first test runs were carried out on 25 September 1930 between Kreiensen and Altenbeken on the Braunschweig-Paderborn line.
On 21 June 1931 his Schienenzeppelin made the first run on the Hamburg-Berlin line. Between Ludwigslust and Wittenberge the Schienenzeppelin achieved a world speed record for trains of 230.2 km/h (143.0 mph). It was the fastest railcar in the world for more than 20 years. A major problem was the propeller, causing noise and wind. Kruckenberg rebuilt the Schienenzeppelin to a hydraulically driven car, which still had a top speed of 180 km/h (110 mph) with only 441 kW.
The Schienenzeppelin was revolutionary for its time, since the aerodynamic streamline profile and the light weight design were proven as feasible features for high speed railways. While Kruckenberg's ideas continue to influence high speed train design today (ICE, Acela, TGV, AVE) the Schienenzeppelin was scrapped in 1939.
