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Category: Trainwatching

Historic Diesels in Berlin

Historic Diesels in Berlin

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…

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Big trains put on a great show!

Big trains put on a great show!

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…

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Next Generation ICE in Altona

Next Generation ICE in Altona

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…

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MIWULA

MIWULA

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…

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Altenbeken

Altenbeken

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)…….

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Modellbundesbahn

Modellbundesbahn

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…

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Linz- Paderborn by ICE

Linz- Paderborn by ICE

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…

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Shuffling Commuter cars in Linz

Shuffling Commuter cars in Linz

Hanging out in Linz Hbf (main station) in the morning hours still is an exciting endeavor- at least for rail fans. Despite the fact that more and more commuter as well as long distance rail operation is handled by MU sets, commuter train compositions with coach cars and heavy electrics still provide their share hauling people to and from work, school and the city. On my way to Vienna in order to attend the annual model and train show, I encountered electric switch…

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Alpine High Speed Rail

Alpine High Speed Rail

Rail jets (RJ) are the Austrian contribution to European high speed rail travel. The train’s seven coaches are coupled to class 1116 and 1216 electro locomotives and operated by the Austrian Federal Railway- ÖBB in a push-pull mode on major routes in Austria as well as neighboring countries. 140 mph (230 km/h) top speed enable swift hops on new built lines between major cities in Middle Europe although there are still good chances to enjoy cruising historic tracks at a lower pace across mountain passes in these state…

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Climbing the “Schafberg”

Climbing the “Schafberg”

Another famous Austrian cog-railway was target of my recent train watching trip in the beautiful “Salzkammergut” region at the border of Upper Austria and Salzburg. This line climbs from St. Wolfgang at the lake called (surprise!) Wolfgangsee up to the top of the mountain called “Schafberg” (Mount Sheep). It is the steepest of all Austrian cog lines and was opened in 1893. The railway still runs the original steam engines on Sundays in Summer but the daily, on nice days…

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