[darwins]

I enjoyed the video. Thanks Laci.

Some more history. Getting off topic a bit. A railcar with hydro-mechanical transmission entered service in Northern Ireland in 1933.

"The first of these, No.1, was 56 ft (17 m) long and seated 61 passengers. It had a traditionally constructed wooden body and was powered by two Leyland 130 bhp (97 kW) petrol engines with hydraulic transmission in the form of Lysholm-Smith torque converters. No.1 was re-engined with Leyland diesels in 1947 and again in 1959." Wikipedia

Some 4-wheeled railcars with the same transmission entered service in Britain in 1934.

Also in 1934 another bogie railcar with petrol engines and Lysholm-Smith transmission was put into service in Australia.
The Rail Motor Society

Not sure when the transmission was first used for rail vehicles in Sweden or Germany.

[Laci1959]

Quote

Thanks again. It seems likely from the need for ease of operation and the description about idling the engine and braking as needed that a freewheel would have been present in the automatic transmission.

Well, now the meaning of the freewheel has dropped (reminded me). Even though I was driving a car that was idling. The iconic vehicle of the German Democratic Republic (DDR), the Trabant. He was also a freewheel.