Rail zeppelin – kit from LEGO® bricks

Designing a Zeppelin for rails – it takes a long time to come up with such a crazy idea. But the railway designer Franz Kruckenberg was so enthusiastic about rigid airships that he dared to give it a try. Well, there was no need to fear a spectacular fire and crash like the legendary Hindenburg had suffered.

Designed, built - a speed record was quickly achieved with the lightweight structure made of aluminum frames, canvas and a little wood. But alas, the silvery speedster was not suitable for pulling a train and rotted away in no time. So it remained what it was from the beginning: an idea that was as beautiful as it was useless.

However, this idiosyncratic vehicle can certainly be seen as the forefather of today's high-speed trains. Franz Kruckenberg was responsible for other fast multiple units, which laid the foundation for the long-distance trains that now race along the tracks all over the world at enormous speeds.

• Number of original LEGO® bricks: 724
• Dimensions of the model: 40.4 x 6.5 x 9.3 cm

This kit contains the LEGO® bricks for a model of the rail zeppelin. The building instructions are not included in the kit. You can find these in the book "Building LEGO locomotives!" by Gabriele Ruthsatz and me.

Please note: The electrical components required to operate the locomotive (motor, battery box and IR receiver) are not included in the kit. However, bricks are included as replacements for the electrical components where they are required for structure/appearance.

I also offer a version of this model with 4 straight track pieces and a nameplate. This version is suitable, for example, if the model is to have a place of honour in the display case.