The bus that could switch from roads to rails

A closer look

In the 1930s, the German Schienen-Straßen-Omnibus attempted to solve the 'last mile' problem by being an awkward chimera of a train and a bus. It was a standard passenger bus fitted with interchangeable rail wheels that a hydraulic lift would deploy when it drove over a track. It was supposed to seamlessly transition from rural roads to railway lines. Instead, it was painfully slow to convert, mechanically nightmarish, and widely hated by both train drivers and bus operators.