All,
I've been meaning to jump back on the thread and say 'Hello'. I'm happy to report that the trip in April did take place and we had an absolute BLAST. It was so much fun, in fact, that we are already planning on doing it again next September to visit the Treff as well as Oktoberfest. The preliminary itinerary is as follows:
Tuesday Sept 12: Evening flight to Frankfurt
Wednesday, Sept. 13: Arrive Frankfurt, train ride along the Rhine to the DB Museum in Koblenz, then onwards to Cologne
Thursday, Sept. 14: Visit train stores, sightseeing in Cologne, trip to the train museum at Bochum-Dahlhausen
Friday, Sept. 15: Take Thalys to Brussels or Aachen, more sightseeing and railfanning, take train to Goeppingen
Saturday, Sept. 16: Visit the Treff, visit ETS, Germany's largest model train store, and its garden railway festival
Sunday, Sept 17: More time at the Treff
Monday, Sept. 18: Train to Munich, sightseeing, Oktoberfest
Tuesday, Sept. 19: Day trip to Peter Porsche layout, visit Salzburg
Wednesday, Sept. 20: Day trip to Innsbruck or Nuremberg
Thursday, Sept. 21: Morning train to Frankfurt, fly home
I'm unlikely to do it as a tour, as I found the April trip to be so incredibly fun and relaxing compared to running a tour! However if needed I'd be willing to step in, especially if the financial return would allow me to take home a 1-scale item or two from ETS!
It occurs to me that, although I wrote it over a month ago, I have never published the trip summary from our April trip. Since I'm here today, and to encourage all of you to consider a trip to the Treff a year from now, why not? So without further ado...
+++++
The initial concept for the trip arose last October. I had just finished chemotherapy and radiation treatment, and although the prognosis for my recovery was/is good, the aggressive form of cancer I’m dealing with takes no prisoners. It was time to take a long look at the bucket list and see what could be checked off. An ‘It’s about the trains, stupid’ railfanning trip to Germany was at the top of that list, and so planning began.
Traveling alone didn’t sound like much fun, so after mentioning the trip to a couple of fellow train enthusiasts a group quickly emerged comprised of myself, Dan Driessche, Werner Klein, and Adrian Wegener. In November the planning began.
As plans usually go the plan I started only slightly resembled the final product. The steam festival in Dresden and a visit to Miniatur-Wunderland were top priorities, as were visits to Marklin in Goeppingen and the DB Museum in Nuernberg. Bookending the end of the trip was another steam festival, this one in the towns of Hof and Plauen. Intermodellbau in Dortmund coincidentally fell during the same timeframe, and before I knew it, we had filled the schedule to the brim. The final itinerary looked like this, and with only two ‘free’ days (one in Berlin and one in Nuremberg) it was going to be a crazy trip:
Day 1: Arrive in Frankfurt, take the train to Basel, rent a car and drive to Wassen
Day 2: Railfan in Wassen and Erstfeld, maybe go to the Swiss Museum of Transport, then return the rental car and jump on a night train to Dresden
Day 3: Attend Dampfloktreff, take train to Berlin
Day 4: Sightseeing and train shopping in Berlin
Day 5: Train to Hamburg, visit MiWuLa, take a train to Dortmund
Day 6: Attend Intermodellbau
Day 7: Train to Goeppingen, visit Marklin Museum, take a train to Nuernberg
Day 8: DB Museum and train shopping in Nuernberg
Day 9: train to Hof, steam festival in Hof/Plauen (along with 500th anniversary of Reinheitsgebot), take train to Frankfurt
Day 10: Fly home
“To the most beautiful moment in life, better than the deed, better than the memory... the moment of anticipation…”
The next several months were filled with romanticized visions of the amazing trip to come. The itinerary now included a trip down to Wassen, Switzerland, possibly the ultimate railfanning spot, which would soon be a shadow of its former self once the new base tunnel is opened in June. A sleeper would take us to Dresden, a new experience for me, but also one on the bucket list. In January I secured our German Rail passes and found an excellent fare on Air Canada. The others followed suit and booked the same flights. It seemed our trip would now start and end in Windsor, Ontario. By the end of March I had become the poster child for over-planning and over-preparing. But on April 14, the date of our departure, I was ready.
Dan drove down that morning and my wife Jennifer drove the two of us to Canada for the start of the trip. Werner and Adrian arrived shortly after we did, and after a toast to the upcoming adventure at the diminutive Windsor airport we boarded our equally diminutive commuter flight for the leg to Toronto. A short layover in Toronto kept us from continuing the celebration before we boarded our flight to Frankfurt. Although my visions of catching some sleep on the flight were dashed with the non-stop crying of the baby in the row behind me (Dan corrected me and referred to the baby as ‘shrieking’, not crying) I was in good spirits when we arrived in Frankfurt…
…an hour late. It seems that the arrival time that was printed on our tickets was incorrect. We arrived in Frankfurt almost exactly an hour later than we anticipated due to North America switching to Daylight Savings Time while Europe was still on standard time. That gave us only about five minutes to grab our luggage, head to the train station, get our German Rail passes validated, and hop aboard the train. However this is the beauty of a railpass, and as Werner pointed out, the purpose of the trip was to ride trains, and if we arrived in Wassen later we would still be riding trains, and possibly on a more interesting train or route. The only disappointment was that our reserved compartment would go to waste.
After grabbing our luggage we headed to the DB office at the airport. The ticket agent was quick to validate our passes, and when we asked him about a revised connection to Basel he mentioned that our originally scheduled ICE was running late and had not arrived in Frankfurt yet. Unfortunately we had just under ten minutes to sprint to the ‘Fernbahnhof’ or long distance train station. Thankfully we had all packed light, though we must have been quite a sight rushing along the walkway over to the station. We all burst out laughing when, as we descended the escalator to the platform, it stopped! Below us our train was already at the platform. With less than 30 seconds to spare we jumped aboard via the closest door. We had made it!
The train was full, and I was grateful that Dan had made seat reservations for us all. We settled into our compartment and were soon visited by one of the ICE’s conductors. Along with checking our passes she took our drink order, and before long a round of beers showed up in the compartment. We toasted to the success of the trip so far and the experiences to come and relaxed to enjoy the trip down to Basel.
That first train ride was, in a word, magical. I was riding an ICE, admiring the scenery and other trains we saw in stations and on sidings, and was sitting with three of my favorite people enjoying a rich, delicious German beer. Basel arrived all too quickly, and since it was lunchtime we grabbed a sandwich at the small café in the station. Our rental car company was located in the station so after a short walk and acceptance of an offer to upgrade to a more spacious vehicle we loaded our gear and ourselves into our well-appointed E-class Mercedes station wagon. The second leg of the journey was underway, a two-hour drive to Wassen on the Gotthard pass. We skirted Lake Lucerne and arrived in Erstfeld at the foot of the Gotthard North Ramp. After scouting out the entrance to the new base tunnel we drove to the station where we spent some time watching the freight and passenger traffic for about an hour. Then we hopped back into our rental car and began the drive into the Alps. Occasional glimpses of trains running up and down the pass going into or coming out of tunnels teased us for the remainder of the drive, but the remainder of the drive was short, and by mid-afternoon we had arrived at the Hotel Alte Post in Wassen. We were greeted warmly at the hotel and given our room keys. The hotel rooms we had reserved were immense, with a large double bed as well as a smaller single bed. I gave Dan the double and took the single, which I quickly realized was a wise choice as my view from the bed out the window fell directly on the railway line, meaning I could enjoy watching trains all night if I wanted to! After dropping off our luggage we grabbed a beer at the diminutive bar downstairs and headed out the door. We made the trip up the hill to the village church, and spent over an hour marveling at the view and watching trains as they passed by on three levels on both sides of us. It’s hard to imagine that this outstanding railfanning spot would soon be largely abandoned. I was thankful to have gotten to experience it one more time and that some of my fellow train lovers from Michigan got to enjoy it, too. After watching nearly two dozen freight and passenger trains, plus pusher and helper locomotives making their way back to Erstfeld, almost as a group we decided it was time for another beer.
We all assembled at the bar downstairs, and after enjoying yet another delicious beer we sat down for dinner as soon as the kitchen opened at 5:00. The Roesti, a local favorite, was delicious and filling, and before long we were headed upstairs, exhausted from the long flight and long day. I had brought along a tally counter to count the number of trains we saw on the trip. When I looked at it upon climbing into bed we were at 92 trains for the day. I was committed to seeing one hundred trains that first day, but the last click I could muster before my eyes fell shut was 98…
Saturday morning brought morning sunshine but cool temperatures. We were up fairly early, and after a breakfast of rolls and croissants topped with meats, cheeses and marmalades we were on our way to Erstfeld. I had contacted SBB historic and had arranged a tour of the sheds at Erstfeld for the group. For the next two hours our guide walked us through the large sheds of trains and we admired the bulk of the historic locomotives the SBB has maintained in operating condition. We saw a couple of the newest passenger cars in the collection, and enjoyed spending time in the cab of the Ce 6/8 1, the legendary Ce 6/8 2 ‘Krokodil’ with one end opened for refurbishing of the hood, the Ce 6/8 that used to sit in front of the Erstfeld depot but is being moved, and the massive Ae 8/14. Imagine our delight when we were allowed to ride in the cab of the Ae 8/14 as it performed a short shunting maneuver in front of the sheds! A follow-up ride in the BDe 4/4 for a few dozen meters sealed it- this was going to be the absolute highlight of the trip! We left the depot, turned in our safety vests (with some resistance) and headed over to the Erstfeld train station. It had started raining lightly, but we found a small pizzeria with outside tables where we enjoyed a ‘Doener Box’ (cardboard box filled with French fries and Doener meat, not unlike the meat served in a gyro) and spend the next hour or so enjoying lunch and railfanning at the Erstfeld train station. The occasional rain showers kept us under the station platform roofs but we were still giddy from the depot tour and were perfectly content watching the parade of passenger and freight traffic going in and out of Erstfeld.
With eight hours between lunch and the departure of our night train to Dresden we contemplated our options. A decision was made to head to the Swiss Museum of Transport in nearby Luzerne. The rain had stopped by the time we arrived, and although most exhibits are located inside we were happy for the break in the weather. Naturally most of our time was spent in the hall dedicated to trains. I tried my hand on one of the train simulators and we all spent a lot of time admiring the large HO scale layout that features the Gotthard north ramp from Erstfeld to Wassen, a stretch of track that we had enjoyed just that morning in person. It was neat to see the miniature version of Wassen and although the hotel wasn’t featured on the model we could easily spot all the landmarks and railfanning spots we had experienced the day before.
The Transport Museum contains different buildings for trains, cars, ships and planes, with some amazing models of all four scattered throughout the respective halls. All halls feature hands-on activities for kids, too. There is a courtyard in the middle with additional land and sea exhibits and activities for kids and adults, including hands-on construction and logistics activities for kids, paddle boats and a ride-on railway, and scooters for kids to race around on (a hazard for those of us walking, but a joy for the kids). The museum is a worthy stop if you find yourself in the Luzerne area.
The same can be said for a small Italian-Swiss restaurant outside the Basel Bad Bahnhof. This is where we ended up in the early evening prior to our night train to Dresden. It was called ‘Bahnhoefli’, or ‘little train station’. We had time before our night train and spent an enjoyable hour enjoying a delicious meal of Schnitzel and other house specialties. Then, after a quick stop at the grocery store in the train station for provisions, we headed up onto the platform to await our night train.
I can now claim that I have spent the night in a sleeper car of a train. I cannot, however, claim that I actually <slept> in one. My visions of gently rocking to sleep with the quiet clickety-clack of the rails were only that- visions. The reality of that night was a noisy, rattling and uncomfortable ride across Germany, in a compartment so small I had to step into the hallway just to be able to inhale deeply. Dan, who had been on a sleeper before, began singing ‘It’s a Long Way To Tipperary’ from the movie ‘Das Boot’ in homage to the cramped conditions, though I think the accommodations in a World War Two U-boat are more spacious than what we experienced. In summary, I can check ‘rode in a sleeper in Germany’ off the bucket list. I will also never, ever do that again.
Dresden was cold and rainy, and our Prague-bound train dropped us off unceremoniously three hours before the Dresden Dampflokfest was scheduled to open. But something was up, as there were scores of people on a neighboring platform with several photographers camped out at one end. Sure enough, less than a half hour after we arrived we got to enjoy watching a class 01 DR steam locomotive with a string of historic coaches pulled in, loaded up, and pulled out again in a beautiful cloud of smoke and steam much to our delight. Not long thereafter another ‘Sonderzug’ pulled through, this one pulled by a class 50 steam locomotive and with a Rheingold-colored class E10 electric pushing from behind. Although I wasn’t feeling my best these two beauties certainly lifted my spirits.
The miscommunication on where to catch the bus to the event outside the station from the information table inside the station (along with the on-and-off drizzle) only dampened our moods slightly, and after stowing our luggage in lockers at the train station we found the bus and arrived at the venue at lunchtime. The museum at Dresden has an amazing collection of historic Reichsbahn rolling stock, especially big, noisy Russian diesel locomotives. A large area of the museum grounds was roped off for visitors and the street running along the railway line was flanked on both sides with booths of model train and train paraphernalia vendors. We took our time walking to the far end of the grounds and stopping in to see what was for sale. However the occasional whistle from a steam locomotive in the distance was like a siren’s song, hurrying us to the roundhouse and the real place for the ‘action’.
The locomotive turnout on Sunday is lighter than on Saturday, which I didn’t know but which became clear when we realized that all three of the locomotives we had seen at Dresden Hauptbahnhof weren’t at the roundhouse. Still, we did get our share, with two foreign locomotives, the massive blue ‘Albatros’ from Bratislava and the Czech express train locomotive 475.111. In addition I had the chance to see a class 95 in operation, one of my favorites, and the first time I’d seen one under steam. A BR50 was giving cab rides, and along with the two ‘foreigners’ a class 50 and class 01 were also stationed in the roundhouse. One after another these locomotives were pulled out of the roundhouse, spun a couple of times on the turntable, and returned to their stall, all the while with a narration from one of the museum personnel talking about the locomotive, its history, etc. At one point the BR95 needed to take on coal, so we got to see that ‘ballet’ as it was moved onto the turntable, backed into the coaling siding, and loaded up via an old ‘Fuchs’ crane. It was steam train operation at its best! The icing on the cake was a ‘fun run’ of the E77 locomotive with a handful of freight cars which we also got to see as it passed the museum grounds. The area across from the roundhouse has some tiered sitting/standing areas, making it a fantastic place for videographers and photographers to take pictures or do some filming. I camped out on one of the levels and filmed to my heart’s content.
Mercifully the rain from earlier in the day had stopped, and after getting our fill of the steam locomotives in the roundhouse we made our way back through the museum grounds towards the bus stop. We had nothing else on the itinerary today except getting to our hotel in Berlin, which, after a rough night in the sleeper was a bit of a blessing. so after grabbing a bratwurst (or was it two?) and a beer (it definitely was two) at one of the food vendors and checking out a few of the smaller exhibits we took the bus back to the Dresden train station. After collecting our belongings we hopped aboard a Eurocity shortly before three and two hours later pulled into Berlin station.
Perhaps it was the clearing skies, or maybe the two hour train ride, but once we arrived in Berlin we caught our second wind. Our hotel rooms at the Motel One overlooked the Berlin station, a grandiose and impressive structure. Not content to eat nearby we took dinner recommendations from the front desk and after a short cab ride found ourselves at a diminutive restaurant filled with thirty-something locals. We got a few stares from the clientele but ended up enjoying a delightful meal of traditional German (Berliner) fare. By the time we arrived back at the hotel we were exhausted. Sleep came quickly…
On Monday we awoke to brilliant blue skies and comfortable temperatures. This was good, since our day would be made up of train shopping and possibly a visit to Loxx, a large HO scale layout in Berlin, and a visit to the German Museum of Technology for more trains. Dan Driessche was feeling under the weather, so Werner, Adrian and I headed to the station to catch the S-Bahn to the first store. Only there was one problem- the S-Bahn (except for one solitary line) doesn’t stop at the new station. So instead we had to take a regional train to another station, switch to the S-Bahn, and then take that to the closest station near the first store- Micha’s Bahnhof.
About ten minutes into our train ride I began to ponder whether we were on the right train, but going in the wrong direction. Yup, sure enough, we were going the wrong way. When the train stopped again we found ourselves in the middle of nowhere, at the last stopping point of the S-bahn outside of Berlin. Luckily it was only a short 30-minute wait before we could grab the S-bahn and make our way back into Berlin. After changing trains we finally arrived at the Micha’s Bahnhof, about an hour later than anticipated.
The store is a huge mish-mash of new and used products from all manufacturers. Although it takes a while to find anything, there are many ‘nooks and crannies’ to explore and sift through the array of trains, cars, figures, and model kits. While I headed off to visit my uncle for the afternoon, Adrian and Werner headed around the corner to Turberg, another hobby shop within walking distance. Better organized and stocked than Micha’s, they spent significant time browsing and perusing. When we finally met up at the hotel later they had amassed a collection of reading material and catalogs. Both the trip to Loxx and the outing to the Technology Museum would need to wait for another trip.
Dinner was more casual. Dan Driessche was in search of the perfect Doener so we visited a small Turkish restaurant in the Hauptbahnhof. It was a tasty meal, though Dan only gave the Doener a ‘B+’. We finished off a couple of beers and headed back to the hotel. One nightcap later it was time for bed. Tomorrow was going to be a long day…
There was some confusion that next morning as our ICE was replaced by, well, another ICE. At 9:28 we boarded that train and due to our seat reservations being on the original train (thanks, DB!) we ended up scattered around a ‘Grossraumwagen’. But the trip to Hamburg was short, and after saying goodbye to Dan (he was headed to visit a friend) and enjoying a ‘Streuselschnecke’, one of my all-time favorite pastries, we stowed our luggage in a locker and headed to our U-bahn for the short ride to Baumwall and the walk to Miniatur-Wunderland.
The layout is not to be believed. I hadn’t been there since 2003, and the added attractions of Scandinavia, the massive harbor, the Swiss section, and the airport left me in awe. I was most taken by the little scenes and vignettes that are scattered about the layout. Combining those with the amazing technology one sees at the airport makes the visit to the layout an event I will try to repeat more often. We were at the layout for five hours, which included a behind-the-scenes tour in English, something I absolutely recommend for anyone. Seeing how the technology operates the road and rail traffic, the ships and the airport, plus hearing about some of the creative and unusual solutions they came up with is worth both the time and the minor expense.
In 5 hours not only had we seen the entire layout including the Italy section currently under construction, but I also managed to burn through the high-capacity battery of my camcorder (including a recharge during lunch), and the three of us filled our phones with pictures until there was no more space. Werner had brought an excellent camera, and very nearly filled his memory card. Although we could have spent another hour or two at the layout we were beat, and we still had a long trip to Dortmund ahead of us. So we braved the windy Hamburg afternoon and made our way back to the U-Bahn station for the ride to the Hauptbahnhof.
The train ride to Dortmund was uneventful, and we switched off enjoying dinner and beer in the dining car. I had my first taste of Nuremberger sausages, a treat I would get to enjoy several times before we headed back home. Knowing we might have some time after tomorrow’s main event I scouted for railfanning locations shortly before we arrived in Dortmund. Looking out the window we flashed through Werne- that one I would remember. We arrived in Dortmund tired and content, and with our hotel a short walk from the station we grabbed another couple of beers before heading up to our impressive and spacious two-room suites at the NH Hotel, a big change from the cramped quarters of the Motel One we had left that morning.
Wednesday brought with it another warm and sunny day, though we would be spending the majority of it in the halls of the Dortmund exhibition grounds attending the Intermodellbau model expo. Several halls packed with remote control cars, airplanes, boats, submarines, and model kits of all kinds along with of course, trains were going to keep us busy the majority of the day. Dan Driessche arrived that morning from Muenster and we wasted little time dumping his luggage in our room. We then sat down to an exquisite breakfast at the hotel, one of the best, if not the best, we experienced on the trip. After that it was a short 20-minute S-bahn ride to the Intermodellbau venue. We decided to split up and meet later for lunch. That allowed me to head to the 1-scale manufacturers and distributors in attendance while the rest of the group could go enjoy the HO exhibitors and layouts. I visited several 1-scale providers, made a handful of purchases , and enjoyed several beautiful layouts in HO, O and 1-scale. We met for lunch and agreed to meet again at 2:00 p.m. There was so much to see there was no way to make it through every hall in the remaining time. I focused on the large number of hobby shops with items for sale. I found a few good deals and with my budget depleted and my shopping list checked off I met up with Adrian, Werner and Dan and we hopped the S-bahn for the short ride to the hotel.
It was still fairly early when we arrived at the hotel so I suggested we take a train out to the railfanning location I had discovered. As mentioned before I had taken note of our train the day before blasting through a little station at ‘Werne’. Having made a mental note of that being a great spot to watch ICEs, Intercity trains, and possibly even freight trains blast through the station we agreed to give it a try. So once we got back to the hotel we dropped off our bags of items purchased at Intermodellbau and grabbed the next train to Werne. I got more and more concerned the further we went. Our ‘main line’ has devolved to a catenary-free single track, and I knew something was askew. We did disembark at Werne, but this was not the same station I had seen from our train the previous day. Frustrated we boarded the next train back to Dortmund, which luckily arrived only about ten minutes after we had exited our previous train. I later discovered that the station I had seen the day before had been closed and replaced with this diminutive one on the other side of town. Back in Dortmund we contemplated our dinner choices and what to do with the rest of our evening. Looking at the train schedule in Dortmund station we discovered a train headed to Cologne leaving in a few minutes. Thanks to the flexibility of the Germanrail pass we hopped an Intercity and arrived in Cologne about an hour and a half later. Having grabbed dinner in the dining car of our train we decided that, instead of wandering into the city we would do some railfanning at the very interesting Cologne station. We spent over an hour walking the platforms and watching everything from regional trains to ICEs and the Thalys pass through the majestic hall. We considered taking the Thalys back to Dortmund (it was ending there) but a seemingly endless string of announcements suggested delayed trains and ‘Umleitingen’ (re-routing of trains), so we hopped aboard an Intercity across the platform from the Thalys. We had time, not a care in the world, and no schedule whatsoever.
After grabbing a couple of beers in the Caribbean-themed bar at the NH Dortmund it was off to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day…
Thursday turned out to be the pick day of the trip weather-wise. We awoke to a gorgeous sunny morning. After enjoying yet another spectacular breakfast (fairly early this time) we headed to the station to grab our train to Stuttgart on our way to Goeppingen to visit Marklin.
Our train ride was uneventful, and the ICE made good time into Stuttgart. We had no seat reservations, and had to switch seats a couple of times to make sure we weren’t taking reserved seats. It was a bit sad to see some of the Stuttgart station wings had been removed, and we shared a lively conversation with another passenger on the fiasco that is the ‘Stuttgart 21’ project of moving the station underground.
In the massive construction area that is Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof we made our way to the Regional Express to Goeppingen. The ride is short, only about a half hour, and we arrived in the same warm and sunny weather we had experienced in Dortmund. After hurrying out front we hopped into a taxi for the ride to the Marklin Erlebniswelt, the current temporary version of the Marklin Museum.
I was hoping to find a little bit of one-gauge in the ‘outlet store’ in the museum, and although there was quite a bit of stock I didn’t find the prices to be appealing enough to warrant a purchase. Instead I spent time looking at the several layouts and displays of new and historic rolling stock on display in the main area. This was a little disappointing, as there were only three layouts, two of which were fairly small, and none of which were in my scale of choice. I also caught up with Nigel Packer and his wife Chris, who were just finishing up a driving tour and were stopping in Goeppingen for the night before proceeding on to Intermodellbau themselves the next day.
After completing our purchases we hopped into another cab to make our way to the small ice cream shop in the pedestrian area of Goeppingen where we met up again with Chris and Nigel. On the warm, sunny day the ice cream tasted especially good, and the huge portions were just the thing for a hungry group of railfans!
We arrived back at Goeppingen station earlier than expected, so the four of us spent some time on one of the platform benches enjoying the plentiful freight and passenger traffic on this major railway line. It’s a fantastic railfanning spot with a great variety of train traffic. An hour or so later we grabbed a Regional Express back to Stuttgart to catch another ICE to the next city on our whirlwind tour, Nuernberg.
When we arrived in Nuernberg it was late, but we were hungry, so after checking into the hotel (who managed to screw up my specific request to have rooms facing the train tracks
) we took food recommendations from the front desk and headed into the pedestrian zone. We were bushed, it was late, so we vetoed the restaurant we were headed towards and instead headed into the ‘Barfusser’. This turned out to be a lucky decision. Our dinner was the ‘local specialties for four’ platter, which we lovingly dubbed the ‘Mountain of Meat’. It featured chicken kebobs, Nuernberger sausages, pork shoulder and Schweinshaxe. Along with a pair of Maß of beer this would be another culinary highlight of the trip. We feasted on the meats and plentiful side dishes until we could eat no more. It was well after ten when we returned to our hotel, but with a (thankfully) light schedule the next day we could sleep to our hearts’ content.
There is something magical about the walk to the DB Museum, especially when the weather on that Friday could only be described as gorgeous. Although it was probably my fifth or sixth trip to the museum I was still filled with anticipation as we passed the Hauptbahnhof on our way there. There were several very nice changes in the museum since I last visited, including a small café next door. With the whole day dedicated to the museum (and possibly a train store or two) we took our time crawling through the museum at a snail’s pace, enjoying each exhibit, model and prototype more than I can ever recall. We marveled at the large HO layout that has been the cornerstone of the museum for decades, and read somberly an account of a transport train taking Jews to a concentration camp. In my previous trips the massive 1:10 and 1:12 scale models were scattered about the museum, but one of the modifications made recently has most of the models in a single area, making it much easier to enjoy those beauties together. A small second train layout was also a new addition, which gave me some excellent ideas on how to scenic a module for the ETEGL club layout I’m planning.
Then it was time to head across the street to enjoy the open air display there. Aside from a collection of additional rolling stock we got to climb into a recently decommissioned signal tower overlooking the tracks into Nuernberg Hauptbahnhof and throw some signals the ‘old fashioned way’ in another ‘Stellwerk’. The warm temperatures soon had us heading back into the museum and taking a look at the souvenirs in the gift shop. As usual, a stack of train destination boards drew my attention, and soon I had another dozen or so to add to my collection. By lunchtime the stunning weather and thirst were having an effect, so we stopped at the café next to the museum and enjoyed a beer at one of the tables outside.
Then it was up the street to Modellbahn Doerfler, an easy walk from the museum. We spent over an hour wandering through this well-appointed shop where Werner found a Kibri kit he had been searching for and I made an ‘impulse buy’ of SR24 smoke fluid. We now had the rest of the afternoon and the evening to ourselves. Dan Driessche mentioned a Restaurant nearby called ‘Zum Gulden Stern’, known for its Nuernberger sausages and labeled as the oldest sausage restaurant in Nuernberg. It didn’t take much convincing and after a short walk we found ourselves as the first customers of the evening (or the last for lunch) at this quaint restaurant. The menu was fairly sparse but with sausages on the brain we happily found what we were looking for and had little trouble deciding what to order. The meal was terrific and filling, and after another beer we headed back out into the sunshine.
We had nothing left on the day’s agenda, so I suggested we do some railfanning in the Nuernberg area. I had no idea what would be a good location, but looking on Google Maps I thought I had found one, that could easily be reached by the same streetcar that stops outside our hotel. Alas, the location turned out to be a bust, and we were soon aboard a train headed past Nuernberg and stopping at Fuerth. This turned out to be a much better decision, and although we arrived shortly after 6:00 p.m. when the station had already closed we could still hang out on the platform. We watched regional trains stop at the station or speed through, watched ICEs race through the station at 60 mph (actually that’s barely a trot for these speedt beauties) and even caught a couple of freight trains on their way to the large freight yard south of Nuernberg. It was an enjoyable evening but we had to head back to the hotel. It was our last night in Nuernberg and our second-last night in Germany. Packing would take some time…
The weather turned during the night, and Saturday morning greeted us with showers and very cool temperatures. In fact, it was the worst weather of the trip, and a real shame, since our destination today was a steam festival in Hof and a trip to a nearby brewery to enjoy the 500th anniversary of the German Purity Law for beer brewing. We arrived at the Nuernberg station early to stow our luggage in a locker since our evening train to Frankfurt would be stopping in Nuernberg anyway. The two hour train ride to Hof took us through some beautiful landscape that not even the sour weather could keep us from enjoying. We passed from lush valleys through tunnels and across viaducts, with a tumbling river next to us most of the way. In Hof we were in for a surprise. We saw a BR52 sitting on a siding but other than that locomotive and a pair of era III passenger cars on another track there was nothing to be seen- no other trains or locomotives, no vendors on the platforms, and no throngs of train enthusiasts. We headed through the station lobby out front to find… nothing at all. We finally discovered a small room where a very kind and frustrated pair of women were facing questions and complaints with a line of disappointed railfans. Only two locomotives had shown up, the afore-mentioned BR52 and the East German 18 201, a streamlined steam locomotive that is the fastest steam locomotive ever built. It was a locomotive I was very much interested in seeing, and had managed to miss in Dresden at the steam locomotive festival. The locomotive was out on an excursion run but was slated to be back in a couple of hours. We would make sure to be at the station when this beauty arrived. But with lunchtime approaching it was ‘first things first’…
Since the advertised shuttle bus service never materialized we hailed a cab and rode to the Scherdel brewery on the outskirts of Hof. The rainy weather and some poor planning resulted in a very small turnout, though we did get to enjoy watching a steam-driven pumper fire truck in action, though the spray of water was less impressive in the rain. However the afternoon was far from a bust. The food vendors were in attendance, and the brewery’s large warehouse had been rearranged to provide a space for lots of wooden tables and benches for enjoying both food and beer. Although the advertised model train swap meet was only attended by a small group of sellers one of them had a significant collection of model train books, including every one of the Bernhard Stein books and others that presented layouts and construction tips. I believe each of us left with at least one book! With full bellies and reading material it was time to head back to the Hauptbahnhof. However a quick search on the DB website suggested a station that was closer to the brewery, one where we might get to watch the class 18 streamliner pass by at speed. To a person we all agreed this was the thing to do.
Somehow the distance on a Google map is never quite as short as it seems, and our walk to the station was almost entirely uphill. With the scheduled arrival time (well, the time I surmised it would pass our location near the brewery) of the class 18 fast approaching we had to hustle our way up the road towards the station. The arrival time came and went, and with no station in sight I began to fear the worst- we had missed the train. Surprisingly when our road finally arrived at railroad tracks we found no station. We arrived at a bridge crossing over the double-track main line from Hof to Plauen, and just past the bridge the road passed under a railway bridge where the branch line, with our station, stood. Now came the big question- had we missed the steam train? The answer quickly made itself apparent. Camped out on the railway embankment below us stood a man with a camera, and through shouts and hand gestures I confirmed it was a railfan, and no, we hadn’t missed the locomotive yet. After about twenty minutes in the drizzle another railfan appeared on the bridge and also asked about the steam train. Perhaps ten minutes later we were surprised by the fairly close high-pitched blast of a steam whistle. I scrambled to get to the vantage point I had picked out earlier and pull up my video camera. The BR18, sporting a massive plume of smoke, came roaring up the grade around the curve. What a sight! The half-hour-plus and the difficult walk were immediately forgotten as we marveled at the locomotive bearing down on us! Then as quickly as it had appeared it disappeared below us under the bridge, and disappeared in a cloud of smoke on the other side of the bridge. Even with the rain we felt no urgency to scamper to the train station, and stood and enjoyed the dissipating smoke and associalted steam smell before heading to the station.
As luck would have it we only had a ten-minute wait for the train back to Hof, and within a matter of a few minutes our commuter Triebwagenzug pulled into Hof station. Net to us the BR18 sat at the front of the train it had just pulled in. We stepped onto the platform and snapped a few pictures. The BR52 was moving around the station, so we got to enjoy some historic trains after all. With the long journey on our minds we soon boarded our first train of the afternoon to get back to our luggage in Nuernberg.
Back in Nuernberg we collected our belongings. We had a few minutes to spare and decided to hit the largish Doener stand in the station’s underground. With Doener in hand we made our way out to our platform for the Intercity to Frankfurt. It had stopped raining in Nuernberg and the weather kept improving as the Intercity train whisked us westward towards Frankfurt. By the time we arrived in Frankfurt the setting sun even managed to peek through. We checked into the Intercity Hotel across from the station and, after the obligatory beer, made our way back to the Hauptbahnhof to enjoy our last evening in Germany watching trains at Frankfurt station. As always, traffic was plentiful and diverse, but the toll of the long day was showing itself, and before long we were heading back into the station hall to look for- you guessed it- a beer. At a small restaurant I was able to order (besides the beer) the last item on my food wishlist for the trip- German Frickadellen! It was dark when we returned to the hotel and we were in bed quickly. A large amount of rather talkative foot traffic in the alleyway behind our hotel (it was Saturday night, after all) interfered slightly with our sleep, and the alarm came much too early after the ten of days of comparatively late awakenings.
Sunday morning brought with it chilly temperatures but clear skies. As fate would have it, our last train ride ended up being the one to Frankfurt the evening before. Construction on the railway line to the airport had cancelled all early morning trains on that line, so our last ride of the trip would be in a taxi. Arriving at the airport in plenty of time allowed us to check in, pass through security, and even stop at duty-free for some souvenirs (though no beer for me that morning) and head to our gate. The flight to Toronto was pleasant and seemed to go by relatively quickly. We had a long layover in Toronto which we spent at a small restaurant which featured good beer, excellent poutine, and a bartender who knew an awful lot about hockey. We were, after all, in Canada.
Thankfully our puddle jumper to Windsor was on time, and an hour after leaving Toronto we arrived where we had started- the diminutive Windsor airport.
Jen was stuck in Ambassador Bridge traffic and was running about twenty minutes late. I wasn’t at all bothered by that. It was as though I didn’t want the trip to end. Even on the drive home Dan and I began discussing what the next trip would or could be like, what we would add (maybe a couple of days in Munich) and what we would drop (spending the night in a sleeper, for one!). We arrived in Ypsilanti in mid-afternoon, and I felt for Dan as he began his additional drive home, a drive that would find him stuck in a traffic jam and taking nearly two hours longer to get home.
It was days before I finally unpacked my belongings, and it has taken me a month to get through all the train magazines I bought. I still haven’t done a compilation of the three (!) hours of video I shot, and the four of us keep talking about putting a full digital photo album together. On top of all that, there have been some off-hand remarks about the next trip. With the Marklin Modellbahntreff aligning nicely with Oktoberfest in 2017 I think there’s a strong chance we’ll be looking at another trip in just over a year’s time…
+++++
- Carsten
