Photos from this trip will be available soon
In a total break from our normal fly / drive tours we had decided to do this trip entirely by car and so it was that at 18:00 on the 12th Metal Mickey & the Exiled Brummie arrived at Blyth and loaded myself (the ex branch official) and my bag into our hired car. We were heading to Harwich and the 23:30 sailing to Hoek van Holland. We had managed to hold Metal Mickey off until 18:00, with a drive of around 3hrs we did not fancy his 17:00 set off followed by a long spell in the car park at Harwich. We delayed our arrival even further by stopping off for dinner at one of the many ‘little chef’ dinners alongside the A14. Approaching Harwich we received a phone call from Toby the Tram engine, who was to complete out party, telling us he was at Harwich station looking at a class 67 and that we would recognise him because he was wearing a green thong (please don’t try to picture this as I will not be held responsible for the outcome).
Toby was waiting for us on our arrival at Harwich, we loaded him in and headed for the ferry. Customs took an interest in us, searching our engine compartment for some reason, but their interest ensured that we were able to drive straight on to the ferry. We had booked a four berth cabin and this turned out to be surprisingly large, with a double berth and three further single bunks, you could also hold a dance in the bathroom! After dumping our luggage we headed into the bar for a pint or two before bedtime. We were asleep before we left our birth!
An alarm call at 06:45 woke us all and breakfast was enjoyed before departure at 08:00, what a way to arrive fresh, this could be the future. A two hour drive to Amersfoort was no problem, this was followed by an hour on this very busy station, we only had one freight train, worked by a very dirty 1615, but light engine and passenger movements were plentiful, in total 59 numbers were logged and we experienced the strange sight of Metal Mickey missing his mouth with an apple turnover, then suffering further indignity as it slid down the side of his face. The hour we stayed here was over far to quickly, but we loaded ourselves back in the car and headed off to Beekbergen. This is where the shed of the preservation society Veluwsche Stoomtrein Maastschappij (VSM) is and we found it with very little trouble. There were a few people around working on forming a train so we asked for a visit. They were only too happy to accommodate us, even un-locking the shed door to allow us in. Diesel shunter 532 made a good photo in it’s relatively new green livery and there was a hat full of Sik diesels in the 38 steam and diesels present during our visit. Also here were ex NS diesels 2203 & 2207 and ex DB V100093 (ex DB 201093) although this needed some work on it. One of the team putting the train together took time out to tell us that on the first full weekend in September they would be holding a festival, and will have ‘at least’ 15 working steam locomotives running that weekend, so it could be worth a visit if you are in the area. As we said our goodbyes we were asked if we had been to the other shed and after hearing we had not, we were promptly given directions. Here we found three further steam locomotives, a Sik, 218, and 2 class 600 diesel shunters, both of which carried no numbers at all. With the party over it was time to point the car into Germany.
We had planned to give the Bentheimer Eisenbahn a good coat of looking at so headed for their main depot at Nordhorn, we found it with no problems and could see locomotives in it’s yard but alas we could not get through the security barriers and a view from all angles failed to identify anything. Next we did the exchange yard, totally confusing Metal Mickey in the process, no security here and no locomotives, just loads of wagons, so we ended up at Bad Bentheim station, the place we usually call. Here were two locos of the Bentheimer Eisenbahn, both of which were ex DB, D4 (ex 335099) and D21 (ex 211125) Departing here we moved into Osnabrück and called only at the main depot, where an ask got the nod and 14 locomotives were found to be at home. ‘Coat hanger’ 212075 is still there, but this time our focus fell on electrics 140037/446, a rapidly disappearing class, Dresden allocated 232701 and 232241, a loco that most publications seem to believe is actually withdrawn. After saying our thanks we moved on to Bremen calling first at the Rbf depot. The place is a shadow of it’s former self and contained just 17 locos, electric 155081 being the only thing that got our cameras excited, although I must admit I ‘copped’ 185318. Down the road is the wagon works and this produced it’s usual two shunting locos, today 335232 & 335251 (which are again shown as withdrawn in some publications). After this came our hotel, the Ibis in Bremen Central, it’s the usual one we use and need no introduction there. After a quick ‘de louse’ we headed off to the Hbf and did an hour on the platforms 7 freights passed in that time with examples of locos from 6 different freight companies, including SBB’s 482045, Westerbahn’s 1002 and a dispolok, ES64U2030 so covered in graffiti we had no idea who it was employed by.
Eventually hunger got the better of us and our usual steak house took care of that. Large mixed grills and large beers later we did a final 30mins on the Hbf, where two class 110 electrics, 110455 & 110472 both put in appearances on RE trains, before we were overcome with tiredness and headed off to bed, even the bare naked ladies German TV throws at you over the weekend held no pulling power.
Amersfort Station (09:45 – 10:45) 1615 1714/38/40/47/50/73/75 1833/53/57 2894 2949/52/64/75/89 3027/30 4011/15/24/39/40/48/49/50/51/63/70/71/76/77/80/82/85/91/93
4096 4208/10/18/20/22/27/30/32/45/47/48 4444 5035 6446/48 7746 302276 303001
203-2 (ex DB 202691) V100SP005 (ex DB 202744) Veluwsche Stoomtrein Maastschappij, Beekbergen (11:25) diesel locos 116 225/65/89 301/06/09/21/34 532 636/51/61 2203/07/33/99 2459 2530 V100093 (ex DB 201093) Tm 565 steam locos 23071/076 50110 52532 64415 441085/1593 500073 503564/3654/8091 523879 528010/8053/8139 TKP23 Veluwsche Stoomtrein Maastschappij, Apeldoorn (12:30) diesel 218 steam 44198 503618 528150 Bentheimer Eisenbahn, Bad Bentheim Yard (14:40) D4 (ex DB 335099) D21 (ex DB 211125) Osnabrück Depot (16:10) 139554 140037/446 152002/034 155023 212075 232241/691/701/901 295043/056 363438 Bremen Rbf Depot (18:00) 145026/038 152041/065/078/101/133 155081 185002/154/318 189038 295008/051/053/089 Bremen Wagon Works (18:30) 335232/251 Bremen Hbf (19:30 – 20:30) 101029/040/052/080/088 110451/491 111090/132/133/144 143174/175 145034 146108/128 155104 185200 362878 425317 628525 928525 SBB 482045 Private owner locos, Die Lei Gmbf WEB59 (ex DB 142133) 202970 (ex DR 710970) 212326 Dispolok ES64U2030 Metronom 146501/509 MNB VT528 WB 1002 Bremen Hbf (22:15 – 22:45) 101028 110455/472 111090 143916 146129 185547 295053 Dispolok ES64U2003 Metronom 146535/538 NWB VT102/05
Day two, Saturday started with the usual Ibis breakfast and painless checkout. We followed this with a long drive to Hamburg Harburg Station. Metal Mickey has a fetish for this place, the rest of us were just hoping it was worth the drive. First we paid a visit to the electrification yard, because Metal Mickey remembers ‘lines of electrification units there’, obviously these are a figment of his imagination as the yard is big enough for two and none were there today. Next we parked up and did two hours on Harburg station, it was not as busy as midweek but freight trains passed at regular intervals, the fact that locomotives repeat themselves makes you believe you have seen more than you actually have, non the less it was a good two hours. Ore trains pass in the hands of 2X class 151 electrics, the only exception being 145003+145035 on one of these workings, class 232 diesels work a good smattering of freight and 120151+115114 passed on ECS. In all 19 freight trains passed, but the undoubted highlight was steam lok 03 1010 passing on a special (with historic SBB electric 10008 on the rear, the third time we have seen this on three visits to Germany this year!).
All too soon it was time to move on, the drive to Neumunster took less time than we expected and finding the old depot took no time at all. It’s long closed to DB but a small preservation society has taken up residence and for 1 Euro 50 Cents you can look at it’s residents which include ex DB diesels 215122 (on loan from DB Museum), 216221 in the old dark red livery, 323526 & 360303. Just across the line from here is the Neumunster carriage works, within which we could see a class 335 shunter, which remained anonymous despite our best efforts. After ‘unloading’ our pockets in the gift shop we headed for the station, because it was there, 185082 passed on a freight and we saw an ICE train we had previously seen at Hamburg. Excitement over we headed to Kiel and the small loco depot there. We found this with no problems, the forman was a lady (if that’s not a contradiction in terms) and was happy to allow our visit. The depot contained 19 locomotives in a total of 21 numbers, which means it was quite full, 218185 was particularly welcome in my camera along with too many Kiel allocated class 143 electrics. We got some good photos here and when Lubeck depot closes, with the completion of the electrification, the remaining class 218 diesels are expected to be transferred here, there is certainly plenty of modernisation work going on. For now Lubeck is open and this was our next call.
We found the gate to the tunnel locked once again, so we went round the back and followed the footpath into the depot. There were plenty of numbers to be had, but absolutely nobody in the depot (perhaps they have heard of its closure and all gone home). The electrification stanchions are all in place, they have no wires on them but this has not stopped electric locos 143182/183/236 from finding their way here and they were among the 32 numbers we found at home. As we left DSB diesel units 5076+5087 & 5079 passed by, causing us to dash for our cameras. We next did the short drive to the nearby Gbf (yard) and identified the two shunters, 362799 & 363726 which today were joined by 295013 & 295086, the most we have ever seen here. Back in the car we ‘ploughed the furrow’ to Rostock. It’s a long drive most of it on un speed limited motorway, I set the cruse control for 100mph and for 39 miles never had to touch it! I was thinking of joining the others, who were all fast asleep, at one stage, but decided against it. The depot engineer at Seehafen (Rostock), was pleased to allow our visit, telling us to ignore the ‘No Photography’ sign and pointing out the running line which dissects the depot, we even had DMU 642050+642550 pass through during our visit. Included in the 54 numbers we identified (there were two we could not) were 298080/325/327, a class I’m always glad to see, small shunter 312145, no idea where this has come from, but it should be withdrawn and MEG603 (143851) + Meg 604 (143257). We said our thanks and walked into the yard, the signal lady was happy to allow a walk round and 30 further numbers found they way into our books. The hotel came next, the Inter-City by the main station, the first beer did not touch the sides and the pork in mushroom sauce filled our bellies. We also had a pudding who’s name used every letter in the German alphabet (and some more) which our waiter made us say before he would serve it. We were adequately compensated for this when one of the waitresses bent over in her short skirt and the entire cliental of the restraint turned round to identify the noise made by Metal Mickey’s jaw had it hit the floor. We just had time for a final walk onto the station, 15 numbers, before bed.
Hamburg Harburg (09:05 – 11:10) 101005/052/054/080/090 115114 120151 140184/214/856 145003/035 151074/097/101/108/124/167 152045/047/132 155168 182010 185079/158/227/304/519 232024/122/195/255/249 401008/014/059/071/077
401082/508/514/559/571/576/577 402016/026 Steam 031010 HGK 185575 Metronom 146501/503/504/509/510/531/533/534/537/538 246003/004 EVB 42013 Dispolok ES64U2012/065/099 preserved SBB electric 10008 EF Rendsburg, Neumunster (12:15) diesel 215122 216221 323526 360303 V20036 steam 64446 012100 042271 082008 094692 503694 Neumunster Hbf (12:40) 185082 401059/559 Kiel Depot (13:45) 112140/143/155 143082/118/229/294/314/557/575/805/863/886/920 218106/185/210/324/386 648002/502 Lübeck Depot (15:25) 143182/183/236 218104/117/220/315/321/322/329/338/339/431/433/434/453/458/490 232122/572 628209/215/222/631/637 928207/209/215/222/349/631 with DSB DMU’s 5076/79 5287 passing Lübeck Gbf (16:20) 295013/086 362799 363726 Rostock Seehafen Depot (17:40) 139562 140079/178/179/195/196/213/273/542/759/803/856 145056/070/074 151049 152003/013/096/113/123/160/190 155008/043/079/264 185276 189029 232184/245/347/359/388/635 233040/112/373 290522/561 291903 298080/325/337 312145 333673 362594/791 Köf 4858 (ex DB 310758) Rostock Seehafen Yard (18:20) 140117/119/120/176/186/211/345/434/497/499/540/546 155025/052/088/124 232052/212/268/400/432/603 290001/527/532/565 291901 Private owner MEG 603 (ex DB 143851) 604 (ex DB 143257) Rostock Hbf (22:00 – 22:30) 112107 143841/860/966 362757 642048/050/053/054/183/548/550/553/554/683.
Breakfast at the Inter-City is always civilised and the whole party indulged in the bacon, egg and sausage that were offered. Checkout was painless, as was the short drive to Rostock Hbf depot. Here, just like last time, we caused an international incident and a guide was found (who was Polish!) to show us round. It took longer to find the guide than it did to go round, very little was actually ‘on shed’ with only 120201/204 being of real interest, although I did photograph 110325. After saying thanks, we headed off to Wismar, the station produced 140291 and the nearby depot has now been taken over by a preservation society, inside was a blue painted ‘Kof’ diesel which we failed to identify. Usually that’s it here, but I had found a yard on ‘Google Earth’ so we gave that a bash, I’m glad we did, 298161 & 298306 were both stabled up and we saw 3, black liveried, ‘kof’ shunters, only one had a number on it, 310109, which is destined for the aforementioned preservation society. Next came the small preservation site at Aumühle, it’s in the old depot, adjacent to the stabling point for the S-Bahn and is the home of ex DB steam loco 75 634, which was promptly photographed.
We moved on to the large yard at Hamburg Maschen, here we obtained a visit to the depot but were asked not to cross the running lines into the holding sidings, if I say we missed around 50 numbers I would not be far off the mark, we actually identified 94. It rained, as usual, the delinquent Haddock returned, 185300 was fresh out of it’s box, 232800 was photographed, 291010, a recent transfer from Rostock was there, the Exiled Brummie had rain dripping off his nose and Toby’s green thong shrank. At around the time Metal Mickey was coming down with hypothermia, we got back in the car and headed of to Btrunswick depot, a mere 2hrs drive away (why, oh why do we do these things?). We had to stop for fuel and (somehow, and please don’t ask) Metal Mickey got confused between pump 4, which we had used, and pump 17, which did not exist, throwing the entire petrol station into panic mode before a nice German lady explained which pump we were actually at (using the words dumbkof & Englander) allowing our graceful exit. On arrival at Brunswick we were asked to wait 15mins for a guide, something we were happy to do, before we were allowed a full visit. To start with he loaded us on a DMU and gave us a run up the depot yard, we left our transport there and walked back through the many units stabled up in the depot yard and followed this with a full tour of the depot it’s self. Many of the recently stored class 110 electrics are here, filling many holes in our photograph collections, Berlin allocated 218834 was inside the running shed undergoing maintance and ‘tunnel rescue’ loco 714003 was posing in the sun, in total 73 numbers entered our books. After saying our thanks we headed to Lehrte, the SP here contained 13 electric locomotives, the most we have ever seen stabled here. As we left 151092+151093 (it’s so nice of DB to run them in numerical order) passed with a coal train and EMU 424005 trundled into the station. We pointed the car towards Hannover, and despite a diversion (road dug up, again) found the entrance to Seelze Depot. The foreman granted our full visit with the proviso that he did not have to come with us (he claimed he had seen all the locomotives before!) so we indulged. There were 62 locomotives at home today, nothing out of the ordinary but the presence of 140013 brought our cameras to life and we did manage a couple of further photo cops.
We did the 10min drive to our hotel, the Best Western at Garbsen, which is right opposite the DB Netz track work yard, where we were expected. A scene from a ‘Carry On’ film followed resulting in some wet undies and bruised ribs, this is the first real accident we have had on a European tour and, fearful of the intervention of the ‘Health and Safety authority,’ the Europen Branches strict euthanasia policy was enforced. These were probably the best rooms of the trip, we let the restaurant feed us and these were probably the best meals of the trip and we drank plenty of ‘Bitburger’ beer, probably the best of the trip! Sleep came easy in our room; I was counting sheep long before the room went dark.
Rostock Hbf Depot (08:00) 110325 112107/114/151/185 114003/018/032 120201/204 143224/564/567 333670 362757/853 628639/642/645/653/654 642051/052/551/552 928639/642/645/653/654 Wismar Hbf (09:09) 140291 Wismar Yard (09:10) 298161/306 310109 Aumühle SP (11:00) 472029/035/502/554 Aumühle Preservation Centre (11:10) Steam 75634 PK3 DMU 137137 VT209 EMU 1624a Maschen Depot / Yard (12:30) 139255/553 140184/214/534/692/766/826 145037/067/074/077 151008/034/041/073/079/085/101/108/122/124/166 152005/045/048/095/117/120/131
152134/137/140/144/146/164/167 155039/048/172/236/254/261/263 182001 185073/079/082/110/179/225/227/237/253/266/279/282/287/292/297/300/327 189012/016/049 232024/195/255/437/471/800 233249/696 291010/033/034/036/037 295017/022/023/026/029/066 335234 363036/162/215/626/734 365181 ES64U2023 Brunswick Depot (15:40) 110284/329/403/464/465/479/489/490 111136 143090/302/311/326/838/958 146124/129 218208/272/447/452/473/474/834 614049/050/065/066/077/080 628271/274/454/517/523/547/550/553/554/562/606/616
628624/660/663/665 648251/255/259/751/755/759/771/774 714003 914027/029/037 928454/517/525/547/550/553/554/562/606/616/624/660/663/665 with 401054 passing Lehrte SP (17:35) 139137/172/285 145008/022/031 155010/196/228 182024 185060/163/277 with 151092+151093 and 424005 passing Seelze Depot (18:30) 139131/157/314 140013/042/107/109/185/187/197/238/369/383/539/585/621/836 145030/032/066 151028/048 152062/168 155020/023/057/061/078/081/139/245 182019 185006/075/112/160/199/228/239/260/281 189024 294159/707/741/763/838 296023/028/029/030/041/044/047/048/049/058 335213/227/238 363146
The Exiled Brummie and Toby were already in the breakfast room when we arrived, having rose with the Sun and gone tram spotting. Breakfast was well laid out and quite expansive, with plenty of choice. It was a leisurely start today, our first call being the locomotive works at Bremen at 10am. We were expected, our usual guide had been called away in on an emergency, so we became aquatinted with Kurt, who quickly got to grips with the point of our visit and showed us all we wanted to see. The place was full of class 218/225 diesels, as you would expect, but scattered among them was the occasional treat, 211015 (HF Wiebe V100-015), 212381, 216123 (OHE 200 0087) 217017 & 221117 to name a few. We got many a photo for our collections and made a new friend, we said our thanks, gave him a bottle of English beer (we will never be allowed back now!) and headed into the sun for a spot of ‘Hunt the Kof’. Around the Bremen area are many private railway sites which operate ex DB shunting locomotives and it’s these we were after. First call was Weyhe, at Leeste is Kleinbahn Leeste EV and they operate 332032, which we found in their shed, in dark red and numbered V21. Just down the road at Kirchweyhe is RBS Kirchweyhe Gmbh, a wagon repair facility and they have two. We had to wait here until the shunting stopped, but then the kind man put them in the sun for photographs, them in this case being 323858 (RBS1) & 323939 (RBS2). After capturing these on ‘film’ we moved on to Syke Barrien, here VTG-Lehnkerring AG have 323108, which carries the number 201142, when we asked if we could see this we were asked if we wanted to see both. We could not turn an offer like that down and so 324057 was produced for us (you could just see this happening at Worksop wagon works carn’t you!). Our final site was the Delmenhorst – Harpstedter Eisenbahn Freunde eV, when we arrived at Harpstedt, where there workshop is, we were just in time to watch a steam special depart with a mass of German School kids on, they had obviously just had an English lesson as they all insisted on practicing on us by shouting ‘good morning’ even though it was 1.30pm and introducing themselves. The Exiled Brummie put a stop to that by answering, in broad Brummie, and blank expressions crossed their faces. Inside the workshop we found MWB V243 (332289) and outside RG1 (323346) & V126 (321081), ‘hunt the kof over, for now, we headed for our hotel in Oberhausen. We used the Mercure at Oberhausen Central, you can easily recognise it, it’s disguised as a building site! That said we got refurbished rooms, which were very nice, overlooking the railway and the building work did not bother us at all. We deposited our bags and headed back out, we went first to Bottrop Hbf, which we soon discovered was poor for photography, and then Oberhausen Osterfeld Sud for some lineside observation. When the freight flows slowed down we moved on to the nearby depot at Oberhausen and, as the football was on telly, secured an un-escorted visit. Oberhausen is obviously starting a collection of blue liveried shunters as there were three here today 364762, 364890 & 365131 in the 51 locomotives at home. Visit over we headed back to the hotel for some well earned food, which was at least as good as yesterdays offerings, before bed called, which was welcomed with closed eyes despite the freight trains rumbling past our window all night.
Bremen Works (10:00) 211015 216123 217012 218105/107/160/168/178/182/183/221
218229/235/253/263/269/271/276/278/284/288/291/297/298/319/339/346/352/361/377
218381/395/407/419/425/454/469/482/486/492 221117 225025/101/802/809 295005/008/039/054/075 324023 335126 363185/223/682 365183/221 714013 V36107 Weyhe Leeste (11:00) ex DB 332032 Kirchweyhe (11:30) ex DB diesel 323858/939 steam 503562 Syke Barrien (12:25) ex DB 323108 324057 Harpstedt (13:10) ex DB 321081 323346 332289 Bottrop Hbf (16:35 – 17:05) 420258/347/383 643341/342 private unit 643.21 Oberhausen Osterfeld Sud (17:25 – 18:15) 151023 152011/116 155182 185563 225071 232011/083 294630/831 Private DMU 643.05 Private diesels 6602 & 360608 Oberhausen Depot (18:35) 140644/797/854 145021/073 151062/087/147 155016/163/208 185183 225001/016/075/120/131/134 232260/298
232509/534/553/589/694/905/906 241803 294693/789/830/852/853/860/861/891 333648 335082/152 362402 363160/206/660/823 364511/520/611/762/890 365131/838
The hotel offered an expansive breakfast and we accepted the invitation, I can see us returning here before too long, once we have worked out the best rooms to see the passing trains from. We would be always fighting time today, heading back to Hoek van Holland and the ferry home. We drove directly into Holland and called at Venlo yard, where our nose’s were happy to note that the sun was not hot enough to produce the pungent aroma we expect from ‘Dog Poo Ally’. In all we noted 11 numbers here, 6 came from DB and 5 of these were class 151 electrics numbered 151095/096/098/099/113, in that order! Once we have got all we could we headed of to Tilburg. A view of the works, from the station platforms, saw Euro Cargo Rail’s class 66 diesels ECR 4/7/8/9/10 all awaiting commissioning. We spent just over an hour on the platforms and as usual here trains were plentiful. ITL operated 186150 passed with a long freightliner, DB’s 189073 ‘sparked’ it’s way through on an oil train, but best of all (for me) 6401 (in Rail Pro livery)+6422+6455 passed on a Iron Ore working, although this was run close when 2225 came out of the small roundhouse building in it’s original dark red/brown colours complete with ‘whiskers’. As always we have to call a halt and now was the time. We loaded ourselves into the car and headed back for the ferry. Although long the journey home was totally un-eventful, it gave us a long time to put the finishing touches to the remainder of this years tours, so watch this space.
Venlo Yard (08:40) NS 1769 6407/32/59/81 DB 151095/096/098/099/113 155101 Tilburg Station (10:20 – 11:40) 455 811/16/18/38/60/73/92/93/99 905/10/17/22 1710/33/51/68/71/78/81 1839 2225 2368 6401/22/55 8732 9502 303002 DB 189073 private owner 186150 ECR 4/7/8/9/10