Rode. A small station on a small branch in the GDR

[Bernard Lamb]

From time to time I have posted the odd photograph on the forum, but have never got round to starting a thread on my own modelling. I first visited the GDR in 1972 to meet up with a girl I had met on holiday in the previous year. We had several trips by train in the Berlin-Leipzig-Dresden area. Our reltionship developed and I soon became a regular visitor. Although I was interested in railways the available models did not apeal. I did aquire a Piko Reko 01-5 as I had travelled behind them a few times and liked the look of them. 

 

It was only after the wall came down and the quality of models improved , that I decided to built a DR layout. This consisted of a large continuous run with a station with six platforms on loops. A far too ambitious project for me to have any real hope of completing. About twelve years ago some major building work on the house led to the layout being dismantled. After a couple of years I started on a small layout, mainly as a place to run and display my, by now quite large, collection of stock. Rising from the ruins, to borrow a phrase, Rode was born.

 

The place is not a real location, but is based on the typical rolling forested countryside between Leipzig and Dresden. An area where the in laws have lived and farmed for over five hundred years. The name however does come from a station. There was a cult TV programme for children called  The Little Sandman. One of the best things to have come out of the GDR and the station is named Rode. My daughter was brought up watching these programmes. Although we were now living in England we decided to bring her up with German as her first language and these programmes were a big help in pursuit of that goal.

 

 

The station building.

 

 

 

The signal box.

 

 

 

Bernard  

 

 

[Keith Addenbrooke]

Looks like a really nice layout - with a lovely backstory too.  Do let us see more - and a track plan (or overall shot) with dimensions could be useful if that’d be OK.  Look forwards to seeing more, Keith.

[rekoboy]

The layout looks brilliant, Bernard! More photos please! Our children grew up bilingual with the Sandmann, too. We have a lot in common, I think.

Edited May 10, 2023 by rekoboy

[Bernard Lamb]

17 hours ago, Keith Addenbrooke said:

Looks like a really nice layout - with a lovely backstory too.  Do let us see more - and a track plan (or overall shot) with dimensions could be useful if that’d be OK.  Look forwards to seeing more, Keith.

The track layout is very simple. Two points form a loop. I run it as a through station but most local services teminate here. The signal cabin is to control an industrial siding on an at present bare board. Some time ago the German Railway Society produced a cast replica name plate. The layout is in the garage and I need to get some better lighting for photography.

Bernard

 

 

 

[Bernard Lamb]

16 hours ago, rekoboy said:

The layout looks brilliant, Bernard! More photos please! Our children grew up bilingual with the Sandmann, too. We have a lot in common, I think.

It seems that we belong to a very select club. Back in 1972 of course the GDR and the UK did not accept each other in respect of diplomatic exchanges. It must have been in 1974 when Jim Callaghan was Foreign Secretary that an embassy was established in Berlin and things became somewhat easier. The embassy staff were brilliant with their help.

Bernard

 

My favourite Saxon loco. 

 

 

[rekoboy]

Aah, yes, the British embassy on Unter den Linden in East Berlin. That's where our banns were published for the wedding - they were displayed in a glass cabinet at the entrance. More happy memories! And the staff were great. Very helpful!

Edited May 11, 2023 by rekoboy

[Bernard Lamb]

3 hours ago, rekoboy said:

Aah, yes, the British embassy on Unter den Linden in East Berlin. That's where our banns were published for the wedding - they were displayed in a glass cabinet at the entrance. More happy memories! And the staff were great. Very helpful!

That's the place. Back in our time there was no established procedure and it was trial and error as to the best plan of attack. Should we talk with local officials or go for broke at ministerial level. We had some long discussions at the embassy as to the best plan. Fortunately James Callaghan came up trumps. You could say we played our small part in improving east west relations as we were among the first handful of people wanting to get married. We were married in the new town hall in Leipzig. It was there I had my first experience of a paternoster. I could not believe how fast it moved. Many have been shut down due to health and safety concerns but the last I heard the Leipzig one is still in use.

Bernard

[rekoboy]

This thread is turning to personal historical reminiscence! Birgit and I got permission to marry at very short notice at the registry office in Berlin-Friedrichshain - and had consequently a very impromptu wedding with few guests and transport care of the Berlin underground. We had a largely weekend relationship at that stage - I was working at the university in Halle, Birgit was teaching in Berlin-Friedrichshain. My boss Erhard, now nearly 90 and a keen railway fan, arrranged my teaching timetable so that I was free on Friday afternoons and Monday mornings. Every Friday lunchtime I caught the D-Zug Meiningen-Berlin Schöneweide, was at the flat in Berlin-Friedrichshain in time to cook dinner, and every Monday morning at 5.45 caught the D-Zug Berlin-Lichtenberg-Halle-Saalfeld which was still occasionally steam-hauled by a BR01 - but mostly we had Ludmilla power. As I said before, happy memories!

[Bernard Lamb]

Sounds familiar. We got married about three weeks after the paperwork came through. With me in England and Roswitha in Leipzig meeting was a bit more complicated. I got to know a chap at the Bulgarian tourist office in London and he would arrange trips for us to various places in Eastern Europe at a very favourable price. I would fly from London and Roswitha would fly or go by train from Leipzig. All went well untill one day he was not in the office. He had been expelled as a spy. We had arranged a trip to Bulgaria when the permission came through. Rather than cancel it or delay we went ahead with the trip the week before we were getting married. I flew into Heathrow at about 20.00 from Sofia and back out to Berlin very early the next morning while she took a flight to Prague and then on by train. We got married the next morning. There was no time to arrange things for any English family or friends. Our wedding car was a very old Auto Union convertible. If it was around today it would be worth a small fortune.

Bernard

[rekoboy]

What a life story, Bernard! Fantastic! I can just see that convertible in my mind's eye!  Our kids tell us we ought to write an account - or record the spoken version - of our lives and how we got together, and what happened next. For us it seems like yesterday - but it is actually the stuff of history books, already 44 years ago. Blimey!

[David C]

A few years ago, I got talking to an elderly couple at a party in rural Suffolk. It transpired that the husband had been the economic attache at the East Berlin embassy. On being posted there, he and his wife were told that their flat was almost certainly bugged, so they should not say anything that might give the East German authorities the idea that their relationship was rocky. Either or both  of them might then be assumed to be susceptible to "honey traps" and then potentially be subject to blackmail. Whenever the couple needed to have a row, they had to get in their car and go for a drive into the countryside. By the time they got there, tempers had usually cooled and so they went and had a drink in a pub instead.

 

There you are: not only do you get to read of interesting life stories on RMWeb, but you also get tips for keeping your marriage together! I.e., go and live in a totalitarian state where the Secret Police are bugging your accommodation.....

 

David C

[Bernard Lamb]

My stock is mainly based on the early 1970s period. There are two reasons for this. Firstly it was the time that I first visited the GDR and secondly, with the change to the numbering system being introduced in 1970, it allows me to run stock with both types of numbers. A mainstay of the local passenger service on the branch, as on many other lines, is the VT 2.09 railcar. These stem from an idea in 1955 to produce a lightweight diesel railcar to replace a whole range of very ancient steam locomotives. It took Bautzen until 1959 to produce two prototypes. They were a success and a batch of around six was made for trials. These enterd service in 1962 with more to follow in 1963. Production continued on a regular basis for the best part of ten years. Various changes took place. Flat glass in the front windows instead of curved corners, driving cabs in the trailer cars and facilities for multiple working, which allowed up to six car trains to operate, being some of them. They lasted until the change of ownership in 1992 and many were re-built and even thought worthy of being re-engined, and appeared in a new colour scheme. They lasted unil the early 2000s with the last going in 2004. Even after that some were sold as far afield as Cuba and Romania, as well as a few going into preservation.

The numbering is quite complicated with power cars and trailers changing format at various times. They started as VT 2.09, became 171 and 172 in 1970 and in 1992 became 771 and 772. The later batches were buit at Gorlitz. Seventy three power cars were made but only seveny two trailers. I have no idea as to the reason for this odd number. They could gallop a bit and had a top speed of 90kmph and could be seen on main lines as well as branch lines.

They were popular and aquired several nick names. 

Blutblase. The seats were also blood red as well as the exterior. A less common later variant was Eiterbeule.

Ferkeltaxe. On branchlines farmers' wives would carry piglets in baskets to and from the weekly market.

Sandmannchen. They appered in the childrens' TV programme.

 

 

Several models have appeared at various times. Sachsenmodelle made one quite soon after the end of the GDR and Piko have issued one in the last few years. I have both versions, the Piko one having finer detail but both are good reliable runners. Spot the differences. I suppose a curved windscreen version would be a good subject for a spot of 3d printing.

 

 

The Piko version with original classification.

 

 

 

The Sachsenmodelle version in post 1970 style.

 

 

 

Bernard

 

[Bernard Lamb]

A vehicle that I do not have a model of, and I have never seen such a thing, die Gefangenenwagen.

Marklin did make a version back in the very early tinplate days, but I imagine it did not have the political connections that later vehicles would carry.

They had been used in parts of Germany since about 1900. The BRD went over to road transport in the early 1960s but in the GDR area the authorities continued using rail until some time after unification. The latest was built, or probably converted from a normal coach as late as 1987. The bodies were built at Halberstadt and fitting out was done at Potsdam. All under the utmost secrecy. There were five coaches constructed in the 1980s to replace older stock. They could hold up to 72 prisoners plus staff and moved mainly at night. Loading and unloading obviously took longer with the prisoners being handcuffed and best efforts were made to bring the train to a halt with the prison wagon close to the station building and the exit to ongoing road transport.

Probably not the right word in this context, but enjoy.

Bernard

 

[Bernard Lamb]

Early on a Saturday morning many of the good citizens of Leipzig would take the train to various parts of the local countryside where they had weekend houses. The history of these settlements and their survival through the communist era is well outside the scope of this thread. Many of these developments were setablished in the mid 1930s. The family were there some time before that. Some folk would head for Beucha and a few brave souls would continue on the branch towards Trebsen. They were heading for a little known place 'die Leipziger Alpen'. This area was a well guarded secret with a few people setting up little more than a shanty town in the late c19. Even today many Germans have never heard of the place and regard it as a myth. it is a real place and a few faded photographs survive to tell the tale of the pioneer days. Now the whole area has been developed and has become very gentrified. It is of course not to be confused with the much more well known mountain region 'Sachsische Schweiz' to the south east of Dresden.

 

If you are lucky you might catch a glimpse of a Saxon XI HT later BR 94 waiting to take a train into the mountains. These machines were built as shunting engines from 1908 with a top speed of 45kmph, but later found use on passenger trains on  steeply graded branch lines. The locomotive is by Piko and the Pwgs41 van is the new Roco model.

 

 

 

The first settlement in die Leipziger Alpen c 1907.

 

 

A typical ossie family meet for a Sunday walk. That must be 1978. My daughter is in the push chair. She was born with a dislocated hip and her legs are in plaster and held apart with a broom stick. Fashions have changed.😀

 

[SimonBoulton]

On 16/05/2023 at 10:06, Bernard Lamb said:

My stock is mainly based on the early 1970s period. There are two reasons for this. Firstly it was the time that I first visited the GDR and secondly, with the change to the numbering system being introduced in 1970, it allows me to run stock with both types of numbers. A mainstay of the local passenger service on the branch, as on many other lines, is the VT 2.09 railcar. These stem from an idea in 1955 to produce a lightweight diesel railcar to replace a whole range of very ancient steam locomotives. It took Bautzen until 1959 to produce two prototypes. They were a success and a batch of around six was made for trials. These enterd service in 1962 with more to follow in 1963. Production continued on a regular basis for the best part of ten years. Various changes took place. Flat glass in the front windows instead of curved corners, driving cabs in the trailer cars and facilities for multiple working, which allowed up to six car trains to operate, being some of them. They lasted until the change of ownership in 1992 and many were re-built and even thought worthy of being re-engined, and appeared in a new colour scheme. They lasted unil the early 2000s with the last going in 2004. Even after that some were sold as far afield as Cuba and Romania, as well as a few going into preservation.

The numbering is quite complicated with power cars and trailers changing format at various times. They started as VT 2.09, became 171 and 172 in 1970 and in 1992 became 771 and 772. The later batches were buit at Gorlitz. Seventy three power cars were made but only seveny two trailers. I have no idea as to the reason for this odd number. They could gallop a bit and had a top speed of 90kmph and could be seen on main lines as well as branch lines.

They were popular and aquired several nick names. 

Blutblase. The seats were also blood red as well as the exterior. A less common later variant was Eiterbeule.

Ferkeltaxe. On branchlines farmers' wives would carry piglets in baskets to and from the weekly market.

Sandmannchen. They appered in the childrens' TV programme.

 

 

Several models have appeared at various times. Sachsenmodelle made one quite soon after the end of the GDR and Piko have issued one in the last few years. I have both versions, the Piko one having finer detail but both are good reliable runners. Spot the differences. I suppose a curved windscreen version would be a good subject for a spot of 3d printing.

 

 

The Piko version with original classification.

 

 

 

The Sachsenmodelle version in post 1970 style.

 

 

 

Bernard

 

Piko do the version with the panoramic windscreen as well now. Do you know how long it took to convert all the numbers to the new system?

[Bernard Lamb]

19 hours ago, SimonBoulton said:

Piko do the version with the panoramic windscreen as well now. Do you know how long it took to convert all the numbers to the new system?

Thanks for the information. I wasn't aware that they had produced it. I better try and find one.😃

The updated list of class numbers was issued on August 15th 1969 after discussions lasting a year or so. See attached scan. An article that I have seen quotes that new plates were to be fitted at the locomotive's own depot between Jan 1st and May 31st 1970. Looking at dated photographs this time slot seems to have been very much adhered to. Some machines were not changed. A few Leipzig P8s that were due for withdrawall remained in service until April 1972 with the old numbers for example. There was a 24 that should have become a 37 but did not, but that was an oddity. Some narrow gauge machines received a painted version of the last digit. I have no idea how long this style lasted. Probably not long as quite a few lines closed around that time.

Bernard

 

[Bill Jamieson]

On 02/07/2023 at 14:04, Bernard Lamb said:

Some narrow gauge machines received a painted version of the last digit. I have no idea how long this style lasted. Probably not long as quite a few lines closed around that time.

Bernard

The locos involved would have been (mainly - see below) those which received four digit numbers at the 1949 nationalisation of numerous 'private' lines. By the mid 1970s line closures and withdrawals had reduced these to 14 machines still in service - eight at Wernigerode/Gernrode. five at Putbus and 99 4532 at Zittau. During the first week of September 1977, 99 5906, 6001 and 6102 on the Selketalbahn were running with EDV smokebox door numberplates but still with old-style plates on the cab-sides and bunker each suitably updated with a painted Kontrollziffer. 99 5902 (Gernrode) and 99 5903 (Wernigerode for the Traditionszug to Benneckenstein) were both running with a full set of correct plates.

By the time of my next visit to the Harz in September 1980, all the locos working the Selketalbahn had a full set of EDV compliant plates (albeit some of them looked to be home-made painted replacements - no doubt enthusiast theft had hit the DDR by then!) but 99 6101 at Wernigerode only had a correct numberplate on its smokebox door. The cab-side numbers were painted (with the 9s in the correct curly-tailed style), while the plate on the bunker still had the old style 9s so I assume was an original  plate but it's impossible to tell whether there was also a painted Kontrollziffer - if so it was probably the very last example of this. 99 4532 at Zittau definitely had a full set of the correct plates in August 1979 as did 99 4632 and 4802 working from Putbus in September 1978 but I can't be sure when the other three locos there received them.

The one curiosity I alluded to above was 99 2322 at Kühlungsborn which was photographed (by Hans Müller) in September 1973 with the correct smokebox door plate but otherwise with old 99 322 plates each with a painted -8 Kontrollziffer. Presumably this was corrected on its next visit to Görlitz.

Bill

PS In the above I have ignored the locos on the Waldeisenbahn Muskau which was really an industrial line and it's not obvious why it was taken over by the DR (in 1951).

Edited July 4, 2023 by Bill Jamieson

[SimonBoulton]

Some standard gauge locomotives also received the painted extra digit, Roco have represented it on their DR Era IV model of the BR55 and the recent BR56.20 

https://www.roco.cc/ren/products/locomotives/steam-locomotives/70037-steam-locomotive-56-2009-1-dr.html

Edited October 17, 2023 by SimonBoulton

[Bernard Lamb]

That must represent a very short time scale. I have the Gutzold version in pre 1970 form. I don't know how widespread they were. I cannot remember ever seeing one. Far less common than the larger BR 58, but being rather more compact I think a better looking machine.

Bernard

 

[SimonBoulton]

56 2009-1 was shutdown on 21/12/1970 and stored on the 25th, so yes a very short time scale

[Bernard Lamb]

Time for a progress report, or more like lack of.

Having far more locomotives than I need to operate the branch, I have been thinking about building a depot. To be used as a display location and to allow them to be run. I have started to collect material, a Peco turntable, a Faller loco shed and various Auhagen kits. I have plenty of track knocking about and I will try to use that. I have made a very rough sketch of the wiring for the turntable, to be non motorized at present, and where to divide each road into isolated sections to hold as many locos as possible. It will be fun over the winter wiring it all up.

To get the maximum run along one wall of the garage I have space for a 1200mm module. This will have another small station with a siding. I have found a very old station building and have started to refurbish it and also started on the scenery.

I could not resist the temptation to add a curved windscreen Ferkeltaxi to the stock.

Bernard

 

[Bernard Lamb]

Doing a spot of reading recently I came across various photographs of a paper mill that had an extensive run of 600mm Feldbahn track. People seem to like the odd and quaint, so I will post a few of them here. The mill had a very interesting history, but that is for another time and involves the war.😀

The mill belonged to Wiede & Sohne and was located in Pauschwitz south east of Leipzig.

it was built around 1893 and was rail connected. Very soon a short run of 600mm track was laid to form an interchange siding and eventually this was extended to become a system with over 8kms of track. The line was worked by horses. However in 1927 a decision was made to purchase a locomotive from O & K. This was a 10hp petrol machine. Another joined it later in the year and a third arrived in 1928. The last having a cab, at extra cost,  to provide protection for the driver. In 1938 these machines were converted to run on LPG, kept in a cylinder on top of the engine compartment.

Bernard

 

 

Early days with horse power. Unloading lime or kaolin.

 

 

The mill with 60mm tracks.

 

 

Loading paper circa 1939. Note LPG cylinder.

 

 

 

O & K 1928.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[David C]

Fascinating stuff - but then I am just a bit prejudiced having been interested in narrow gauge for many years!

 

David C

[Bernard Lamb]

15 hours ago, David C said:

Fascinating stuff - but then I am just a bit prejudiced having been interested in narrow gauge for many years!

 

David C

Glad it is of interet David.

How about this from the same area. The quarry at Hengstberg. Date not known.

Bernard

 

[Bernard Lamb]

I have cleared a space in the garage to make room for the new locomotive depot. I will build this off site. I have for the short term put in place a narrow plank with a run of track, just to allow some of my main line stock to have a run. Quite a few locos need some serious wheel cleaning. To provide some relief from this work I dug this out of storage and with a 6m plus length of straight track let her have a gallop. Kato made these a long time ago and they seem to have recently made another run, at a heck of an increased price. Originally VT 18 16 but known by various other designations at later dates. Mine is in the VT 175 series.

The prototype emerged from Gorlitz in 1963, with a production run of, I think, 8 four car sets between 1965 and 1968. There were extra coches for some services and a reduced number of coaches on the service that used the train ferry to Scandinavia. They could be seen, on selected routes, anywhere between Copenhagen and Vienna. I never rode on one but saw them in Leipzig during the fair, where they were used on a service from Berlin, back in the early 1980s from memory. I also saw the preserved example at Rummelsberg much later, where it was stored for several years. I still have friends who live in Kopenick. After various moves the last I heard, was that it was at Halberstadt for a refurbishment. There is also a set at Lichtenberg but I have not seen that one.

Bernard