Solved: Wendax 1834 - Westfalia Leipzig trailer train

[Wendax]

Another kind of caravan.

For one point, please respond and identify the trailers' manufacturer and the reason for this trailer chain.

[Wendax]

up

[Wendax]

Open for pros with less than 400 points now.

[thorax]

telephone?

[Wendax]

Nothing to do with telephone

[pguillem]

Anything to do with aviation ?

[Wendax]

Nice similarity, but nothing to do with aviation.

[thorax]

mmm.. strange thing: one car and six trailers.
mmm....trailers seems to be too little for American market, maybe European (this specific vehicle not allowed in Italy so not Italian): Wendax = German, so German?  ;D

[ropat53]

Roadside assistance?

[Wendax]

Yes, German. No connection to roadside assistance.

[thorax]

Kogel?

[Wendax]

Not Kogel

[Allan L]

Are they powered trailers?

[Wendax]

No

[thorax]

Bockmann?

[Bill Murray]

Sadly, I cannot solve this puzzle completely but I did a lot of research and the following may help others to finish it.

I believe the trailers were made by Westfalia, possibly the model "Leipzig".

The puzzle photo seems to show the trailers towed by a ca. 1933-1934 Ford but the advertisement poster in the background looks to be typically American from the 1945-1950 period, perhaps an advertisement for the petrol station in the background.
So maybe a post war photo.

I post here a period advertisement for Westfalia trailers (1950) that shows this model among others and you can see the similarities to the puzzle photo looking at the Leipzig model.

I hope this gives someone some tips to go further with the puzzle.

Bill

[Wendax]

Well found, those are indeed Westfalia trailers. And you are even right about the date. Furthermore, these trailer caravans could only be seen in this time due to a practical reason. I understand that you don't want a lock.

[Bill Murray]

Interesting puzzle indeed!!!

I found the same photo on a sort of historical site regarding Westfalia but with no details at all.

A thought, and again, no lock, given that there are multiple trailers (6) in the photo and it appears on an historical site, are these trailers being used by the company Westfalia themselves???

Bill

[Wendax]

Getting closer again. Westfalia was responsible for this caravan, but I wouldn't say that the trailers were really used as such.

[Bill Murray]

Maybe I can close this one.

I was not happy that I have found the same photo on various historical sites and no other photos but I will have to go with what I found. None of those earlier photos had any description of what was taking place.

Using the search criteria on Google.de "Westfalia anhänger geschichte", just now, I came across a link to the same photo again but with some details.

If I understand the translation (a poor one) the trailers were supplied by Westfalia and were used in small trains like the photo in the quiz because there was no satisfactory rail link from the the main railway station  to the factory.  I suppose the road network was also still underdeveloped so they used these small trains to get bulk shipments from the factory to the railway station so they could ship their trailer couplings to their dealers.

I hope that is a satisfactory answer.

Bill

[pguillem]

Maybe I can close this one.

I was not happy that I have found the same photo on various historical sites and no other photos but I will have to go with what I found. None of those earlier photos had any description of what was taking place.

Using the search criteria on Google.de "Westfalia anhänger geschichte", just now, I came across a link to the same photo again but with some details.

If I understand the translation (a poor one) the trailers were supplied by Westfalia and were used in small trains like the photo in the quiz because there was no satisfactory rail link from the the main railway station  to the factory.  I suppose the road network was also still underdeveloped so they used these small trains to get bulk shipments from the factory to the railway station so they could ship their trailer couplings to their dealers.

I hope that is a satisfactory answer.

Bill

Wow !  :applause:

[Wendax]

Well found! That is the story I wanted to hear. The source where I found it was written by a current owner and restorer of a Westfalia trailer who asked himself why his trailer had another detachable trailer hitch at its back, although it was not allowed to pull two trailers with a standard car.