| M131.1238 is an M131 Class railbus, later reclassified a Class 801 under the 1988 renumbering scheme. These units were produced from 1948 until 1956 by Tatra, eventually totalling 549 for the fleet, a very large number when you consider that none remain in service today, as all were withdrawn by 1984, a service lifespan of only 36 years, with some serving less than 30. Their small size may have had something to do with this, as they could only seat 48 people to a modern 810 Classs 55, plus 40 standees, along with their maximum speed of 60Km/h compared with 80Km/h for an 810. Other antiquated features would have been their mechanical transmissions (compared to the 810s hydraulic transmission), and their antiquated Tatra T 301 engines, which were based on the old Tatra T111 from Tatras World War II-era trucks, that in spite of having 14.8 liters displacement from 12 cylinders, only produced about 155-160 horsepower. |