Learn how to be a shunter with the Deutsche Bundesbahn

[readingtype]

Thanks to a post in the FREMO forum I have just watched this Deutsche Bundesbahn training film from the 1950s. Early enough in the 1950s to have quite a few 'DR Brit-US Zone' lettered wagons, late enough to have lots of EUROP pool ones too. It's in two parts, the first with steam locos covers hump-shunting procedures and the second (starting about 20 mins in) with electric and diesel traction shows a goods service dropping off wagons on its route and the process of getting these into appropriate holding sidings.

 

This is a training film, so everything is carried out scrupulously, but especially when watching them couple moving wagons together it is very obvious how skilled and dangerous the shunter's job is.

From a modeller's point of view the amount of detail is boundless and the selection of wagons and loads is very broad. This date is just as the UIC standard wagon designs start to be introduced though in fact I can't remember if I saw any in the film. Pre-war Om open wagons caught my eye, along with French K vans and at least one fairly unusual Begleitwagen (= guard's van).

 

The YouTube video doesn't allow embedding. Here is the link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZd3au8QL_c

 

Ben

[readingtype]

Again thanks to the FREMO forum I've just watched Železničáři (Railway workers), a 1963 Czech short film. It is quite superb and in an entirely different artistic league to the DB training films. Somehow it seems appropriate that the Czechs could take a pretty wretched environment, a marshalling yard in winter, and elevate the subject into art.

 

The rolling stock selection is again pretty wonderful. There are some great teaser cuts of proper Austro-hungarian freight locos with their double domes connected by a hefting great pipe. Thick smoke and plenty of sparks. Lovely stuff.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyNtet6g3MY

[nest]

Some really great detail in the first one. Films like these are gold dust for modellers looking for detail

 

Nestor