Last leg of the Germany Tour 2016 was the ride from Berlin back to my current home base Linz, Austria. The trip started in the morning at 8:30 and got me to my destination by 6:18 in the early evening. That sums up to a total travel time of almost 10 hours with exactly 9 hours on a train. During the journey I had to change trains in Fulda and Munich. Connections were good and well arranged and leads to an average speed…
As I said in an earlier post- there are a lot of exhibition layouts around in Germany- and LOXX in Berlin is another great example. Of course this layout was on my agenda while visiting the German capital. LOXX has always been in the shadow of MIWULA in Hamburg- be it for the smaller size or the lack of aggressive marketing. Anyways, the layout is definitely worth a visit. According to LOXX the actual size of the model train layout is about 6500…
Train watching at the modern Berlin Central Station is fun. On two levels, down below under ground as well high above street level on the historic “Stadbahn” line along the river spree. Due to construction no S-Bahn operated through Berlin Hbf today so I had to take the RegioBahn service leaving form the platform right across. While waiting for my train I enjoyed some Saturday morning traffic. Beside the occasional ICE, IC and regional MU sets the PKP (Polish Railways) EuroCity train caught my…
On to Berlin today. First order of business was a ride around the city on S-Bahn line 41. In doing so the German term for sight seeing (“Stadtrundfahrt”) gets a whole new and pretty accurate meaning. Traveling along the circle line I came across a member of the former DR class 130 family, better known to German rail fans as “Ludmillas”. Today the Russian built 6-axle Diesel is in DB Schenker Polska livree. The engine sat near Hermann Street. station when I took the shot form…
Long before Miniatur Wunderland there was a “must see” attraction for train lovers in Hamburg and the huge layout in 1-gauge at the Museum for Hamburg History is still a sight the avid train enthusiast must not miss while in the city along the river Elbe. Rail history meets historic models! Located on the 3rd floor of the museum, the layout has been in operation on almost daily base for more than 65 years! Built to 1:32 scale visitors find a recreation of…
Never a dull moment in Hamburg Altona! When I was heading for breakfast (at a great place called Jools Cafe) I stumbled about a pre-production sample of the next generation ICE sitting at one of the platform tracks just ready to depart. Those trains are being tested extensively by Deutsche Bahn right now. If all goes well, the first units will enter passenger service as class 412 in December 2017. Once in operation the ICE4 train sets are supposed to…
The Miniatur Wunderland (MIWULA) in Hamburg is well known among model train enthusiast, Hamburg tourists and kids. Located in the old warehouse quarter of the harbor meanwhile stretching over three floors (the layout actually occupies two) this model train exhibition is one of the biggest on earth- maybe the biggest of all. Size matters but it is also the high level of detail that fascinate the crowds for 15 years. Whenever I am in Hamburg, I check out MIWULA in order to…
Next stop on my Germany tour is a little town in the mountains of the “Weserbergland”. Altenbeken- generations of model railroaders interested in the German prototype dreamed about this station! On one hand side it features everything a rail buff can ask for: two busy mountain rail lines merging here- hence lots of heavy traffic, a small classification yard, a beautiful station building surrounded by platforms and tracks, a huge viaduct crossing the Beke river valley, a BW (engine facility)…….
1976 is a sad, memorable year for the little town of Ottbergen in Germany because Deutsche Bundesbahn ceased steam operation in this area and therefore closed the BW (Bahnwek – engine terminal) which was kind of a last refuge for the big steamers of DB class 44. “Ottbergen” is as famous for German rail buffs as Cheyenne for US rail fans. The station of Ottbergen still exists but 40 years later the glory of big style railroading is definitely gone. You…
Today I kicked off the “Germany Tour- Fall ’16” with a ride from the home base in Linz, Austria to Paderborn. Why Paderborn in particular will be the topic of another post coming soon. The ride from Linz Hbf to Paderborn is an interesting trip as it’s quite typical for long distance rail travel in Germany. Two ICE trains took me across the approx. 480mi/770km distance in close to seven hours. That sounds not too impressing but that is still 68mph/110kmh average…