It's a Harz Life, or, A Day Out on the Harzer Schmalspurbahnen
Entry posted by NGT6 1315
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Morning, everyone!
Understanding that German steam locos and narrow gauge are subjects keenly followed by numerous RMwebbers, I wouldn't dare withhold a couple of photos which I took on a day trip to the HSB narrow gauge railway yesterday, which my wife has given me/us for my birthday.
I probably don't need to say that much about the 1,000 mm gauge network in the Harz Mountains which has been operated by Harzer Schmalspurbahnen since 1 February, 1993. Consisting of the Cross Harz Railway ("Harzquerbahn"), Selke Valley Railway and Brocken Railway, the entire system comprises 140.4 km of trackage. And although the majority of services continues to be provided by a fleet of lovingly cared-for steam locomotives, HSB should not be mistaken to be just a museum railway, instead running to regular timetables and indeed contributing to regional passenger traffic in the Harz region.
We began our trip at Wernigerode, which is a town of about 33,500 residents and the place where HSB are headquartered. Along with Nordhausen Nord and Gernrode, the town also comprises one of the three depots, as well as the workshops at Wernigerode Westerntor Station.
An outbuilding adjacent to the locomotive shed has had a viewing platform set atop which is obviously convenient for enthusiasts! Here, two coach formations had been prepared at the platforms, and connected to steam pre-heating outlets until the locomotives would couple up.
Standard coaching stock on the HSB comprises the KB4ip series of reconstructed bogie coaches, which are steam heated and air braked.
Draw gear consists of central buffers and double screw link couplers with balancing levers.
This would be our train, still waiting for the locomotive to couple up.
Preparations were going on in the depot grounds, with 99 236 sitting outside the shed and providing steam pre-heating. This is one of eleven Class 99.23 2-10-2 tanks built in the mid-1950s by the Karl Marx Locomotive Works of Babelsberg which form the backbone of HSB's locomotive fleet, with 99 236 (or 99 7236, actually) – works number 134013 – having been built in 1955.
These locomotives were obtained to replace the ageing pre-WW2 and indeed pre-WW1 locomotives which had long been the regular fare for the Harz narrow gauge lines.
99 7241 was standing by inside the shed, making steam.
Signal box and turntable inside the depot grounds.
Our locomotive for the special we were booked on was 99 5902, seen here finishing preparations outside the signal box and with a Class 648 DMU departing Wernigerode on the HEX 80222 HarzExpress service for Goslar on the standard gauge line.
99 7239 was first to emerge from the depot, however – running up for working the timetabled HSB 8925 service to the Brocken.
In time, 99 5902 was making her appearance, too…
…and coupling up.
She was built in 1898 and is one of three remaining B'B configured ex-NWE Mallet locomotives later operated by Deutsche Reichsbahn as Class 99.590. NWE, or Nordhausen-Wernigeroder Eisenbahn, was one of the two independent companies (the other company having been Gernrode-Harzgeroder Eisenbahn) which had built the network of metre gauge lines in the Harz, and had been absorbed by Deutsche Reichsbahn on 1 April, 1949.
At Drei Annen Hohne, the tiny Mallet needed to take on water, and was duly scrutinised by crowds of enthusiasts and travellers.
Further up the line at Schierke, we needed to await the HSB 8932 service from Brocken Station…
…which was powered by 99 7247.
Upon arrival at Brocken Station, not too far below the mountain's summit of 1,142 m or 3,747 ft, 99 5902 was uncoupled and ran around the coaches.
The Brocken has a subarctic microclimate, characterised by figures such as an average of 300 days of misty and foggy weather, mean annual temperature of 2.9°C, and a maximum wind speed of 263 kph to have been recorded in 1984. The greatest snow depth to have been recorded on the mountain was 380 cm, in April 1970.
And it was very windy at the summit indeed, which together with the dense, drifting fog and natural scenery made it easy to comprehend why so many folk tales of mystery and witchcraft developed in areas like these. In fact, one cultural event having taken place on the Brocken for a couple of years now is a rock opera performance of Goethe's "Faust", which I haven't seen myself yet but which I'm sure is an excellent idea and a creative modern adaptation of this cornerstone of literature.
Back at the station, 99 7241 was running around her coach formation, having arrived with HSB 8920 from Nordhausen Nord and preparing to sortie with HSB 8922 for Drei Annen Hohne…
…while 99 5902 was sitting and waiting with the windows blanked with stiff tarpaulins.
I rather liked this impression of 99 7241 in dense fog, hissing and steaming like a ghost of steel.
Back at Drei Annen Hohne during the return to Wernigerode, 99 5902 and 99 7239 at the head of HSB 8904 from Eisfelder Talmühle for Wernigerode needed to replenish water.
Draw gear, brake and heating lines…
…and the LP and HP engine on our little Mallet.
I found the idea of having digital passenger information displays concealed like old style departure boards quite intriguing, too!
Night had fallen already as we arrived back at Wernigerode, concluding an enjoyable day out!
Thanks for reading!
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