Automatic translation. Original text in: EN - show original Before the production of type 120A wagons for Polish State Railways began in Pafawag, the Wrocław factory in the years 1969 - 1970 delivered 150 type 119A wagons with the same characteristics for Romanian railroads (CFR). Without going into their detailed description, because in terms of general assumptions, both types (119A and 120A) were no different, it should only be noted that the wagons for Romania had - according to the recipient's wishes - some solutions different from those used in subsequent production for the domestic market.
The running system uses trolleys from the German company Minden Deutz. The wagons are equipped with a Knorra system air brake (KE-GPR) with automatic braking force adjustment depending on the actual load and a three-phase alternating current generator. The compartment windows were made as split, with double glazing and the upper part tilting to the interior. The electric heating system has been adapted to power alternating current with a frequency of 50 Hz and a voltage of 1500 V.
The construction documentation of the 120A wagon for the domestic market, marked with the 120A type symbol, was developed in the Pafawag construction office in 1971. Significant differences from type 119A concerned not only trolleys, electrical installation and brake but also many equipment.
The 120A wagon was designed to handle suburban and local traffic, only in national transport. It was also envisaged to be made as a first class wagon, with differences boiling down only to seat upholstery and dyed aluminum elements, but production of this variety was never launched
The dimensions of the wagon and its technical characteristics corresponded to international regulations (UIC card 567) for wagons of the "Y" standard with a total length of 24.5 m.
The layout of the interior was solved differently than in the 43A family cars. Inside there were three spacious passenger compartments - the middle one with 40 seats and two extreme compartments with 24 seats. Semi-soft seats covered with a red derma were placed in a 2+2 system with a passage in the middle with a width between the seats 640 mm. Above the windows, along the side walls, luggage shelves made of aluminum profiles were installed. Fixed tables were placed under the windows, garbage cans under them, and in both extreme compartments intended for smokers additionally two ashtrays.
Between the passenger compartments there were two entrance vestibules with double-leaf rotating and folding doors. Inside the compartments and vestibules, there remained about 17 m2 of free space for passengers in standing places. Handles in the compartments were located above the backs of the seats and in the entrance vestibules along the walls above the radiator covers and under the ceiling. In the extreme parts of the box there are two vestibules with a transition door in the front walls. These doors were made as sliding, closed with a conductor wrench and a lock with a patent insert. In both vestibules, small toilet compartments were separated, due to the limited space equipped with revolving doors with a special design. In addition, in one of the vestibules there were two additional seats folding out, in the other a switchboard.
The chassis and box were a self-supporting, fully welded structure, with the strength required by UIC regulations. The refuges were made of rolled channels with a height of 180 mm, connected by crossbars made of bent sheets with a thickness of 3 mm. Torsion beams made of sheets have been stiffened with ribs.
The refuge was covered with corrugated sheet metal 1 mm thick. The design of the refuge, made of 10HA and 18G2AC grade sheets with increased corrosion resistance, has been adapted to the future-proof installation of the self-coupling. The skeleton of the box, covered with a 2 mm thick plating sheet, is made of bent sections, and the side walls are also made of closed steel profiles. The walls of the box were covered from the inside with sound-absorbing and anti-corrosion paste and lined with polystyrene boards, as well as the roof and floor sheet. The floor of the wagon made of plywood with a thickness of 15 mm was based on wooden beams laid on a corrugated sheet. The floor covering was tightly connected linoleum boards.
The internal sheathing of the walls and ceiling made of waterproof plywood was attached to wooden slats screwed to the steel skeleton and covered with unilam boards, the joints of which were masked with aluminum decorative slats.
The windows of passenger compartments and extreme vestibules were made as bipartite, glazed with single windows, with the upper lowering part. The width of the open window in the light was 1200 mm (in the vestibules 500 mm). The windows of the toilet compartments had frosted windows, and the upper part was tilted inward. The power supply to the water system was provided by two tanks with a capacity of 400 liters, equipped with a heating system.
Passenger compartments had static ventilation using "kuck-kuck" roof ventilators. Electric convection heating 3 kV with a total radiator power of 30.4 kW had temperature control using thermostats - separately in compartments and vestibules and low-pressure steam heating with manual temperature control. 1000 W radiators were installed in the compartments, 500 W vestibules. Single oil heaters (electric-steam) with a capacity of 1.5 kW were installed in the toilet compartments. High voltage equipment was placed in an AJO-5b type box built inside the wagon.
The source of electricity used for lighting was a DC generator type PW-114d-03 with a power of 4.5 kW and a voltage of 30 V with a cardan drive. The battery of acid batteries with a capacity of 495 Ah and an output voltage of 24 V was built under the box.
Lighting was provided by fluorescent lamps with a power of 40 and 20 W powered by transistor converters. Bulbs with 24 V 5 W power were used as emergency lighting. Intercar crossings and steps illuminated 15 W bulbs, end-of-train signals - 60W bulbs.
Standardized transition bridges covered with rubber rollers with handles used for harmonizing if necessary were mounted on the front walls.
The wagon had sleeve bumpers with a length of 650 mm and a stroke of 110 mm with ring springs and unoblimisive pulling devices with a tear strength of 100 tons.
120A wagons are equipped with standard trolleys type 4ANc and 4ANc/2 (with generator) with wheelsets with a wheel diameter of 920 mm and spigots with dimensions (diameter x length) 120 x 179 mm. Two-stage compression - mandling and rocking - consisted of screw spring assemblies.
The Pneumatic brake system of the Oerlikona system uses an Est4d timing valve, two cylinders with a diameter of 14 inches, a brake force regulator depending on the speed and a non-slip device. The "vain-load" control board allowed to vary the pressure in the brake cylinders. Eight emergency braking actuation points (safety brake) are placed in the compartments and vestibules. The handbrake worked on the brake gear of one trolley.
Minor design changes were made during production. An additional pneumatic cable for central control of door closing and a 12-core radio line were built from wagon No. 276. From number 396, the distribution cabinet of the high voltage box was moved to the extreme vestibule, eliminating the tilting seats. In addition, the type of thermostats, battery (500 Ah capacity) and voltage regulator have changed. Since 1976, modified trolleys with a generator marked with the symbol type 4ANc/4 have been used
Production and operation

The first batch (20 copies) was sent to DOKP Poznań, another to the management of Gdańsk and Wrocław, but in 1975 new wagons of this type were located in all eight districts. Already at that time they also appeared in long-distance trains, replacing especially the exploited compartment wagons of post-war construction. 120A wagons certainly provided higher comfort of travel, but at the price of driving in large open compartments - cumbersome especially at night, with insufficient space to place luggage.
Production at the Pafawag Wagon Factory was carried out for six years. Deliveries of 120A wagons reached their peak in 1977, when PKP received as many as 203 copies, but this was possible only thanks to the use of the full production capacity of the Wrocław factory, which in the same year did not carry out any other orders for wagons. Increased from the delivery plan allowed to significantly rejuvenate the wagon park. In 1977, purchases of new passenger cars amounted to 585 units, which meant the implementation of the plan in 118.5%, and the average age of the wagon was reduced to 15 years. The last three pieces were delivered to Northern DOKP in October 1978. In total, 719 copies were built for PKP, one of which did not go into operation, but was intended for a measuring wagon.
120A wagons received inventory numbers in the field of
50 51 21-48,000-6 to 718-3 and the Bwix series character, later supplemented by the letter "d" meaning a wagon with a remote control cable (Bwixd). In addition, six wagons of this type from the last months of production have been exported to Albania.
The range of use of 120A wagons was very wide, from local trains (from where the last "oyster mushrooms were withdrawn at that time) to long-distance traffic. For example, in 1980, 120A wagons were provided for, among others, in the trains of hasty trains 5806/8507 Olsztyn - Szczecin - Olsztyn, 5801/8502 Gdynia - Szczecin - Gdynia or long-distance passenger trains 4511/5414 and 4513/5412 Mysłowice - Gdynia - Mysłowice, 4531/5432 Częstochowa - Gdynia But at the same time, many trains of these categories still ran much older 43A family cars.
120A wagons could be found throughout the PKP network on trains operated by all types of traction. In the absence of properly adapted rolling stock, they also played the role of trailer wagons for SN61 series motor wagons until the end of their life.
At the end of the 1990s, 120A wagons remained practically the only group of rolling stock, apart from double-decker wagons (and of course traction units), and the progressive regression of the ance was due not so much to natural consumption as due to the radical reduction of local transport, and on the other hand, the takeover of some tasks by light diesel rolling stock.
During operation, the mark of the wagon series also changed; since the mid-1980s. Bdh(Bh); recently B11p or B9pv (v - with places to transport bicycles), as well as the range of assigned numbers. The fourth group of the number "48" was changed to "18" with a reduction in the permissible speed to 120 km/h, the third from "21" to "84" in "but not all) "bicycle" wagons.
In 2018, Przewozy Regionalne, which since 2001 took over the entire rolling stock for local traffic, already had only 18 wagons (including 3 B9pv series), of which only four were put into operation. With the emergence of a large group of internal combustion engine cars in the first decade of the 21st century, type 120A wagons began to be used as trailer wagons, but in practice this was limited to the spring and summer period due to the lack of heating. This problem was solved by equipping some copies with individual water heating, and some of the wagons also with a multiple control cable. The way these wagons are painted has been adapted to the colors of motor cars.
Length with bumpers mm 24,500
The length of the box mm 24,200
Chassis length mm 23,200
Height of the wagon from the rail head mm 4050
Wheelbase of trolley steering mm 17,200
Trolley wheelbase mm 2,500
Wheel diameter mm 920
Type of trolleys 4ANc, 4ANc/2
Curb weight of the wagon t 38
Floor height from the rail head mm 1255
Brake system
O-PR
Maximum speed km / h 160/140 *
Heating 3 kV + steam
Lighting fluorescent
Number of seats 88+2/88
Number of standing places 100
Number of passenger compartments 3rd
Number of entrance vestibules 2nd
Number of toilet compartments 2nd / Sources: https://eraparowozow.org.pl/portret-wagonu-pasazerskiego-2-klasy-typu-120a/