HN9509 DR, 4-unit pack coaches "Rekowagen", contains one luggage van and three 3-axle coaches, dark green livery with one decor line, period III

DR, 4-unit pack coaches "Rekowagen", contains one luggage van and three 3-axle coaches, dark green livery with one decor line, period III

Like the Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB), the DR also had to contend with a significant shortage of coaches after the Second World War , and up until the 1970s with a significant aging of the passenger coach stock. The Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) called Rekowagen railway wagons that were created by converting pre-war wagons. Three- and four-axle compartment wagons of Prussian and Saxon designs and a large number of two-axle wagons from the period before and after the First World War still formed the bulk of the wagon fleet for passenger and express trains . The few double -decker trains procured for metropolitan areas and commuter trafficand the new middle-entry cars from the 1950s were not enough to renew and rejuvenate the less up-to-date equipment for passenger transport , especially since their maintenance had meant an increased effort. Like the DB in the 1950s with the conversion cars , the DR also started modernizing the pre-war cars - called reconstruction. Such large numbers were reached that in the mid-1970s more than half of all DR passenger coaches were Reko coaches.

Originally, all Rekowagen were painted dark green with a gray roof. In addition, there was a white, thin decorative stripe analogous to the modernization wagons below the windows and a contrasting black stripe at the level of the longitudinal beam. In the late 1970s, both were eliminated on repaints. Only a few four-axle vehicles received the chrome oxide green paintwork introduced in 1984. Because of the use in the express train service, however, numerous half baggage cars were painted in chrome oxide green/beige from 1984 onwards.