Where to go in Germany?

[Grizz]

I have been trawling through the various topics in RMWEB to try to pick one that was nearest to 'Rail Fanning or Train Spotting' in Germany'. Although this topic hasn't been particularly active recently, hopefully someone will feel like have a chat.

 

'Train Spotting' is, IMHO, an out dated term and mostly because it often doesn't adequately describe the desire to watch, film and photograph trains and railways or model them using the prototype as a basis.

Our annual holiday to our family home in Denmark usually involves me driving from the UK, Channel Tunnel, then through France, Belgium, Holland, Germany and Denmark. Google maps have proved invaluable to getting good line side locations, especially with street view. Northern Germany is by far the best as it has the busiest network for both freight and passenger trains.

 

A few of the places my son and I have visited are as follows.

 

In France Dunkirk yard is good for stabled freight and passing freight. It is just off of the main motorway network, has an industrial estate with good parking and a long, no fenced, view of the track.

 

In Belgium there is a lovely village called Beernem close to the main motorway network. It has a fairly busy station but with good parking in the village square, with a busy two track main line. During the day there is a regular procession of freight, longer distance loco hauled passenger and local passenge trains. The village square also has a very friendly restaurant and bar, they do a cracking cup of coffee.

 

In Holland,- Atchseweg Sud, Einhoven, has a really good view of four roads, with good parking next to the woodland park. Loads of freight and passenger trains.

 

In Germany, which probably has the highest number of freights, the following were really good locations.

Tostedt - between Bremen and Hamburg has a really great multi-storey free car park with an open top deck. This has a fantastic clear raised view of all four roads. Constant flows of freight, mixed, containers, empties, car loads, tanks, engineering and aggregates. Passenger trains include Metronome loco push pull shuttles, long distance international services, ICE, regional and privatised loco hauled.

Osnabruck Station - has two levels and numerous linking cords. Local, Regional and International Passenger services and a huge variety of freights. Both Diesel and Electric locos well catered for.

In 2014 we took these photos.

The photo below is at Tostedt with a west bound engineering train.

 

This is also at Tostedt, with an east bound container train.

 

This is at Osnabrück low level

 

This is at Beernem

 

This is at Osnabrück low level.

 

This year we are going to check out Hamburg Harburg station, Osnabrück again and possibly Bremen. The freights are without doubt the best part. But it is worth remembering that in all these countries line side locations are not the high security affairs found in the UK. Happily there are very few fences and many level crossings even on the busy routes. Vegitation is generally well managed, cut back and affords many really good open views of the railway. We have found filming and photographing quite easy and it doesn't seem to attract the adverse attitudes often found in the UK. As long as you act responsibly most people just seem to accept that it is quite normal to want to taken photos etc.

 

Anyone have any other good locations in northern Germany or Holland? Maybe some loco depots that have good visibility?

[phil-b259]

We also spotted this one whilst waiting to go home!

 

http://youtu.be/_KZjudQ7mXc

 

We think it's a loco and brake force wagons that deliver news stock from the Siemens test centre at Wegburg-Wildenrath. Is this correct?

 

Yup - I have seen them attached front and rear of the new class 700s being delivered to Three Bridges Thameslink depot.

[Nearholmer]

This website looks like a good place to start http://dium.dbschenker.com/dium/index.jsp

 

K

[Grizz]

Cheers for the info Dutch Master. We've been checking out the Netherlands - Germany (Betuweroute) freight route on Google Earth. It looks like there are a few pretty good places to film / photo freights particularly along the E15, although there now appears to have been many locations where sound baffles have been installed which limit the view.

Google Earth isn't always reliable as it is not always the latest views. We are due to travel to Hook of Holland and then on up to Denmark over a two days and three days when we return. I don't normally drive for more than a couple of hours maximum before finding somewhere near a railway to stop. Hopefully on the E15 there are still a couple of truck stop lay-bys that have a good long clear view.

Do you know if there is such a thing as a website or freight company list anywhere that documents the freight departures and arrivals from the Kijhoek yard for the Betuweroute? Or maybe DB or someone for Maschen?

 

 

The photo below was taken at Einhoven in 2014

 

 

This was taken at Dunkirk in 2014

 

On a slightly different note. It's funny how, generally, there isn't the same negative attitude to gaining access to rail yards in Europe than that found in the UK. It is parculiar in the UK that generally we don't fence in our roads or pavements to prevent people wandering into the path of road vehicles and we tollerate high levels of road deaths and injuries. Yet we insist on extreme measures fencing in and obscuring as much of the rail network as possible and we will tolerate no deaths, even when the deaths are found not to be the fault of the railway.

Possibly for the similar reasons that although Rail Freight and Road Haulage are in direct competition there are nothing like the same safety requirements such as compulsory drug screening of drivers by employers at their own cost.

I wonder if these attitudes stem from successive generations exposed to an almost entirely negative media coverage of anything rail orientated in the UK. I also wonder if this is the case in Europe?

[Grizz]

This website looks like a good place to start http://dium.dbschenker.com/dium/index.jsp

K

Cheers Nearholmer. I will need to get my son to translate as he speaks far better German than I do.

 

Below is a link that leads to a live map that shows passenger train movements around the world. Sadly as good as it is unfortunately it doesn't show freight trains. Still pretty good though.

 

http://tracker.geops.de/?z=12&s=1&x=1431346.3800&y=6240219.3872&l=transport

[FelixM]

Dunno if it's mentioned already, but Maschen (south of Hamburg) has a massive freight yard, with a bridge across.

The bridge in Maschen is closed now, due to it falling apart. It is parish-owned and the parish has no money to renew it so it will be demolished without replacement. As this bridge has ramps to serve the marshalling yard area, DB Cargo will instead install unbarred level crossings over its tracks.

 

In Berlin the station of Spandau, despite being in the outskirts, is more suited for spotting as you get much better views and much more diversity of trains. There are freight trains too which are lacking at Hbf in the city centre.

[Grizz]

Hi FelixM, many thanks for the heads up regarding the road over bridge at Maschen, we were planning to go there, so I guess now we will stick to Harburg station.

 

That is a very sad tale that the parish can't afford to repair the bridge, although hopefully if DB Cargo are going to install an unbarriered crossing there will be some public access viewing.

 

Unfortunately we don't go as far east as Berlin on our trip up to Denmark but we do want to make it there one day. We would particularly like to see the freight yards and some of the older loco classes.

 

Do you know if German railways or more specifically DB have any public open days at Diesel / Electric locomotive depots? I have tried to search the web regarding this subject, admittedly searching in English which is why I might not have been successful in any of my searches.

 

On our previous visits my son and I have always found DB staff very approachable and friendly, particularly given our poor German language skills at the time. However my son has really improved over the last year and won an award after coming top of his in German Language in his school year. So looks he will be doing the talking this year

[FelixM]

Hi FelixM, many thanks for the heads up regarding the road over bridge at Maschen, we were planning to go there, so I guess now we will stick to Harburg station.

That's probably the better decision. I have been to Maschen back in 2013, you can look at my photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/91875255@N05/sets/72157634217350120.

Earlier this year I was at Seddin marshalling yard which is near Berlin: https://www.flickr.com/photos/91875255@N05/sets/72157664011391102

 

That is a very sad tale that the parish can't afford to repair the bridge, although hopefully if DB Cargo are going to install an unbarriered crossing there will be some public access viewing.

I wouldn't hold my breath. It would be typical for DB to provide only access for the yard and not for the public. Motorist will have to make a round trip to pass the site.

 

Unfortunately we don't go as far east as Berlin on our trip up to Denmark but we do want to make it there one day. We would particularly like to see the freight yards and some of the older loco classes.

There is already a thread with good information about Berlin running. I can provide further information in case you need.

 

Do you know if German railways or more specifically DB have any public open days at Diesel / Electric locomotive depots? I have tried to search the web regarding this subject, admittedly searching in English which is why I might not have been successful in any of my searches.

Your search tag would be "Tag der offenen Tür" (~day of the open door), which describes public open events in general. The Berlin S-Bahn and U-Bahn each have one annually, but you asked for the full fat railway. There is the Technikmuseum in Berlin which has two roundhouses and is therefore certainly worth a visit but they only have static exhibitions. Dresden is a major player for annual events complete with mainline action, there is a separate thread as well. The Meiningen steam locomotive works certainly will have a Tag der offenen Tür but I don't know when. Otherwise there are smaller events, usually organised by local rail volunteers (heritage railways or other groups). I will ask some friends which live in north west Germany for further examples.

 

On our previous visits my son and I have always found DB staff very approachable and friendly, particularly given our poor German language skills at the time. However my son has really improved over the last year and won an award after coming top of his in German Language in his school year. So looks he will be doing the talking this year

Nice to read of Brits with German skills. The young generation in Germany generally speaks English fluently, and I have seen some comments on here which confirm that. Unlike countries like Poland Germans generally accept that foreigners doesn't speak German so they (we) switch often to English in international conversations. Some people claim therefore that the German language is "weaker" than English. There are some interesting and sometimes lovely accents of German around and some enthusiasts even care for German accents of regions that have not been part of Germany since 1945. "Railway English" perhaps may be considered as another one, the term "Thank you for travelling with Deutsche Bahn" (in German letters: Senk ju vor träwelling) got known by the Germans as an idiom for "just enough" English skills. There is even a satirical book with this title: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E2%80%9Esenk_ju_vor_tr%C3%A4welling%E2%80%9C. On the other hand the media and advertising industry is pressing more English words into everyday language. We have some innovative use for some English words, giving them a new sense (see here if interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYYhk9G2An8).

I am currently at the stage that I can tell northern and southern accents of English apart as well as RP and Scottish. I had a family with a strange accent earlier this year in a Cambridge bus and only learned later at home checking with YouTube that it was Scouse. But my tongue isn't fast enough yet to do any of them convincingly…

[Ian Morgan]

 

On the other hand the media and advertising industry is pressing more English words into everyday language.

 

'Vorsprung durch Technik' was, I think, the first german phrase that the advertising industry managed to get into use over here, in Audi adverts in the 1980's. I am not sure how many people here known what it actually means though. 

 

 

In the years I was working in Munich, I never had any problems photographing and exploring the railways and trams in the area. The only time I was approached was in a U-Bahn station when I was asked not to take photographs. I think they were worried in case I used flash photography and blinded a driver.

 

 

[Michael Delamar]

Im off to Berlin for 4 days in a few weeks. First time.

Is there much to see there? I believe there is a V200 in a museum there.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

'Vorsprung durch Technik' was, I think, the first german phrase that the advertising industry managed to get into use over here...

 Not by a country mile! I offer the thought that 'Sturm und Drang' has been in English usage at least 200 years for artistic products, and terms such as 'Gestalt psychology' and 'Sitz im Leben' certainly in use in the first half of C20th in the psychology and theology industries.

 

Edited to add: kindergarten, schadenfreude, frankfurter and hamburger are so well absorbed I forgot to mention them

[EddieB]

Im off to Berlin for 4 days in a few weeks. First time.

Is there much to see there? I believe there is a V200 in a museum there.

Yes, there's an extensive collection at the German Technical Museum in the old Alhalter Bahnhof, which includes a V200.

[Nearholmer]

You must worship this while you are there, too http://www.deutsches-museum.de/sammlungen/meisterwerke/meisterwerke-i/e-lok/

 

k

[bgman]

Im off to Berlin for 4 days in a few weeks. First time.

Is there much to see there? I believe there is a V200 in a museum there.

Highly recommend the Technical Museum in Berlin, I've got plenty of photographs but I think it would spoil the visit if I posted here.

Superb in all respects.

[Grizz]

This was taken at Hamburg hbf In August 2014. The crew of the double headed Rabbits were friendly and the train made a 'spirited departure' that seemed to be for our benefit!

 

 

 

Sadly I can't remember where the train was going. It was an afternoon train, heading north west....ish

[Grizz]

A bit off subject as this isn't Germany but France, although an ex German loco ......possibly?. The first picture has a bonus in that you can get directions to the nearest road junction on the sign above the loco.

[Grizz]

Yes D.M. It is indeed Rue Alexis Garci, Dunkerque A really great place to see wagons up close without fences. Unfortunately it is not somewhere to hang around at night, once the usual industrial estate working day is over, sadly times have changed in this area.

 

Interesting that the infrastructure company who own the Ex DB V100 have a BR Class 58 on their webpage.

 

The 'Wide Mouth Frog' has a far more pleasing look than the 'Narrow Mouth Frog'. We filmed the later at Osnabrück during our last trip in 2014. My son likes the look of this class of loco as it has an unusual look.

[Michael Delamar]

Thank you for the advice for the technical museum, superb, really enjoyed it. Went all over Berlin too, loved the Ubahn especially line u1 which reminded me so much of the Liverpool overhead railway. The units looked so similar. Id like to visit the ubahn musuem next time but was closed when we went.

 

There was an old train visible from Berlin Lichtenberg station which was interesting.

 

And the Loxx miniature world was excellent too.

[bgman]

Thank you for the advice for the technical museum, superb, really enjoyed it. Went all over Berlin too, loved the Ubahn especially line u1 which reminded me so much of the Liverpool overhead railway. The units looked so similar. Id like to visit the ubahn musuem next time but was closed when we went.

There was an old train visible from Berlin Lichtenberg station which was interesting.

And the Loxx miniature world was excellent too.

Didn't think you'd be disappointed ! Glad you made the visit, so much to see and not only railway related

[admiles]

This was taken at Hamburg hbf In August 2014. The crew of the double headed Rabbits were friendly and the train made a 'spirited departure' that seemed to be for our benefit!

 

image.jpg

 

image.jpg

 

Sadly I can't remember where the train was going. It was an afternoon train, heading north west....ish

Apologies for the late reply but I suspect the pair of 218s were headed to Westerland on the Island of Sylt that's reached by a rather impressive causeway.

 

I think the few IC services are hauled by pairs for 218 still. Should find out in a couple of weeks as I'm headed to Hamburg for a look-see!

[Grizz]

Well the weather has been terrible. I went to view the Betweroute and found some great places near Hemmen but it was raining, fine rain, so hard and very windy that I couldn't prevent the camera lense from fogging up and getting covered in tiny droplets. So irritating as I have been waiting for a year to check this out. I did travel along the A15 in the slow lane keeping pace with a double heard pair of class 189s on a huge coal consist. But as I was driving I couldn't film it. Shame as I was so close. Cut my losses and headed to Tostedt in Germany, where surprise surprise......it was still chucking down. But I did get a couple of photos......

 

 

 

 

 

Following breakfast I'm off to Tostedt for an hour or two as the to deck of the car park gives a great view......rain or no rain!

 

 

That is water not smoke coming off the class 101 pan......

[wagonman]

Didn't think you'd be disappointed ! Glad you made the visit, so much to see and not only railway related

 

 

Indeed, the DC3 over the door is quite impressive too...

[Grizz]

Well it finally stopped raining........a bit! So off to Hamburg Harburg for freight.

Stayed in the 'B&B Hotel' in a room with a view of the heavily used freight route from the Hamburg docks south of the Elb to Harburg station. So much freight.......

[Fluo66]

The bridge in Maschen is closed now, due to it falling apart. It is parish-owned and the parish has no money to renew it so it will be demolished without replacement. As this bridge has ramps to serve the marshalling yard area, DB Cargo will instead install unbarred level crossings over its tracks.

 

In Berlin the station of Spandau, despite being in the outskirts, is more suited for spotting as you get much better views and much more diversity of trains. There are freight trains too which are lacking at Hbf in the city centre.

The Decatur bridge in Maschen is still open (with restrictions for motorised vehicles). It will finally closed on 30 September 2016.

[bgman]

Indeed, the DC3 over the door is quite impressive too...

I thought you would be impressed ! Brilliant place to visit