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Modelling German Railway Help


Earl Bathurst
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I have had an interest in the railways of Germany since my visit in 2009. As with any enthusiasm i got carried away and tried to model everything  (disaster).

 

Is there a document or a list with all the different locomotive classes on which shows when they would have been seen on the network i.e. to and from

 

Thanks in advance

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hi,

 

I bet every trainspotter in Germany has these

 

https://www.ebay.de/itm/6x-Franckh-Taschenbuch-Eisenbahn-Lokomotiven-eb201/324036463600?hash=item4b72140bf0:g:yVYAAOSwJStcVLAz

 

books, They are small and handy, (11X15cm) and contain one page for every class with some dates including first and last use.

 

should be easy to get through ebay.de or abebooks.de

 

Michael

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Hey.

 

Is difficult.  Here's the first tip: Get all your catalogues in the DE (german) language and learn German. 

Then do your searching in German, otherwise Go-Ogle will muck you about.

 

Here's the Deutsche Reichsbahn Gessellschaft list of DRG loco classes. The DRG amalgamated all the former 'kingdom' railways, after the first world war. As a result, it rationalised all rolling stock and re-classified it. This classification remained until 1949 (AFAIK).   Beyond that, I have little knowledge.

 

The most confusing  point in this period, the legal change from Deutsche Reichsbahn Gessellschaft (DRG); to Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR or DRB).

 

DRG was incorporated into German legislation to generate income for WWI reparations.  Technically the DRG stopped paying reparations in 1933 when Hitler became Chancellor.  The legislation was officially changed in 1937 when the Nazis came to power.  At this time, the Reichsadler, including the nazi swastiker, replaced the DRG's eagle logo.

 

A further complication to all this is that the former East Germany continued to use the name Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR)

So you really need to understand what that DR really means on your coal wagons..

 

Aside from the obvious elephant in the room, ERA II German rail is a unique snapshot of political and industrial development.

 

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There’s a whole wealth of books and magazines in the German language, besides quite a few in English.  There are basic picture books, showing lots of locos, but they won’t convey the atmosphere or cover the breadth needed for a model.  Your best starting point would be to decide what year/period you’re thinking of representing and then it will be easier to point to suitable resources.

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  • RMweb Gold

I'd agree.

There is a PECO special on modelling German railways.

If you're interested in "era 4” DB (late 70s–mid 80s West Germany) I'd suggest looking for a (secondhand) copy of DB Heute by Georg Wagner—full of colour photographs of trains in the landscape with detailed (German) captions, regional maps and shed allocations.

If you're serious, you might also consider membership of the German Railway Society: https://grs-uk.org/ There is also a Railways of Germany forum: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/germanrailfr/index.php

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Hello there,

You are probably experiencing German railways along similar lines to me! Although I did a brief visit aged 12 with my parents, my next proper trainspotting trips were from about 2006 or so and my observations at such places as Hamburg & environs, along the Rhine and down in Bavaria would seem to indicate that pretty much anything can appear anywhere!

From this, I deduce that the situation is akin to that in Britain in that class 66's for example turn up all over the place - as they do in Germany however, in Germany, there is a far, far greater variety of locomotives still running and in many different operators liveries too.

Passenger units are more geographically restricted for example around Hamburg, a lot of passenger trains are run by "Metronom" in their blue & yellow livery but their reach was still considerable. I say "was" because I believe Metronom lost the contract a little while ago but you can still see that livery in use.

Most DB locos and units are in either Traffic red, "ICE" white or some units in 'local' colours eg. dark grey with green doors! However, local and/or private operators can use either their own, sometimes quite garish liveries OR classic DB liveries, complete with locos so similar to the old DB "keks" (biscuit) logo, you really have to look twice.

So, I think the best way for you to choose rolling stock is to simply peruse the catalogues of the usual manufacturers and select anything and everything you like with say, an "era VI" logo on it. You're not even restricted to 'just' Germany either!

European wagons go all over the continent with the exception of the broad gauges and coaches also turn up in strange places too, especially on international services. Just the other day, I was in the Czech Republic and saw international trains with domestic, neighbouring and Russian coaches in the formation.

Electric locos - you can be realistic and only use locos that actually can operate across borders, of which there are masses OR just say, what the heck! Diesel locos obviously don't have quite such restrictions AND have been exported to neighbouring countries, eg. Czech/Slovak "Goggles" are used in Poland and Italy. Former "Nohabs" are used in Germany and so the list goes on.

In fact, I might suggest that a layout set in modern times that is composed of purely "German" stock would not be so realistic!

I'd be happy to advise if you've more specific aims but for a general aim, I'd say that should set you up quite well.

Cheers and good luck,

John.

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  • 2 months later...

I took up modelling the DB in the early 1980s after a holiday there where I met a fellow loco driver. The DB then was a very traditional railway with most trains loco-hauled, plenty of tradiional wagon load freight as well as the block trains. It was a time of great change. Over the next few years saw the re-unfication of the 2 bits of Germany and DR locos on loan to DB on S-bahn services in the Rhine-Ruhr area. 

 

I built myself a small branch terminus which done the rounds of exhibitions, and I had a great time operating it. With British stock of decent quality becoming available, my interest waned in the dB, but maybe agian one day..but it would have to be era 3 or 4.

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