Germany 03/02 to 07/02 1996 "Berlin or Bust"
A single manned trip to DB land, main aim of this trip to get to Berlin behind a pair of 218's. As usual # denotes new loco.
The overnight ferry, now departing from Ramsgate, was as usual the booked outward move, with probably a couple of beers in the Titanic bar in Ostend before sleeping my way across Belgium.
Saturday 03/02/96
2728 Oostende - Aachen 0634 Oostende - Köln 280km
110 263# Aachen - Köln 0634 Oostende - Köln 70km
Only one piece of new track to aim at today, so mainly a case of working my way south towards my overnight, covering as many diesel diagrams on the way as possible.
218 130 Köln - Köln Hansaring 0940 Gummersbach - K.Hansaring 1km
143 258# Köln Hansaring - Köln 1050 Köln Hansaring - Au 1km
215 038# Köln - Euskirchen 1114 Köln Deutz - Trier 40km
215 094# Euskirchen - Bonn 1159 Euskirchen - Bonn 34km
Time to drop further down the Rhine & cover the diagrams on the Kreuzberg & Emmelshausen branches.
110 419 Bonn - Remagen 1123 Wuppertal Oberbarmen - Koblenz 20km
215 130 Remagen - Heimersheim 1319 Remagen - Kreuzberg 8km
215 123# Heimersheim - Remagen 1321 Ahrweiler - Remagen 8km
111 081 Remagen - Boppard 0900 Nordeich Mole - Heidelberg 58km
215 121 Boppard - Emmelshausen 1426 Boppard - Emmelshausen 15km
215 121 Emmelshausen - Koblenz 1502 Emmelshausen - Koblenz 34km
The run under the wires from Boppard through to Koblenz was todays new track for Diesel.
111 098 Koblenz - Mainz 1143 Emden - Seebrugge 91km
141 276# Mainz - Bingen 1727 Mainz - Bingen 30km
218 368 Bingen - Ingelheim 1828 Bingen - Mainz 12km
Hold your Horses! That's new track for Diesel Bingen to Gau Algesheim under the wires, I hadn't spotted that. The hours pouring over the loco diagrams (thanks to the Compilers in the European Rail Gen group) each year threw up lots of opportunities for new track.
218 379 Ingelheim - Gau Algesheim 1835 Mainz - Saarbrücken 3km
218 386 Gau Algesheim - Mainz 1702 Saarbrücken - Frankfurt 21km
141 291# Mainz - Darmstadt 1938 Wiesbaden - Darmstadt 33km
No doubt leapt here to view a diesel diagram but obviously not a winner so:
141 214 Darmstadt - Frankfurt 2056 Darmstadt - Frankfurt 28km
A couple of beers & a McDonald's then south to pick up the overnight.
111 083 Frankfurt - Heidelberg 1618 Hamburg Altona - Karlsruhe 87km
103 208 Heidelberg - Frankfurt 2115 Stuttgart - Hamburg Altona 87km
Daily Total = 961 KM
A Compo to myself at the back of the train & I even remembered to write down the loco number for a change.
Sunday 04/02/96
103 217 Frankfurt - Hamburg Hbf 2115 Stuttgart - Hamburg Altona 528km
Virtually every centimetre of the 270km's from here to Berlin was required track for Diesel!
When the line opened on 15 December 1846 it was then the longest trunk route in the German States.
On 21 June 1931 the Schienenzeppelin (Rail Zeppelin) experimental rail car ran over the 257km route between Hamburg-Bergedorf and Berlin Lehrter in 98 minutes. Between Karstädt and Wittenberge it reached a top speed of 230 km/h (140 mph), a world record for rail vehicles not broken until 1955. On 11 May 1936 the world record for steam locomotives was set on the line.
In May 1933 Germany's first high-speed diesel unit, Fliegender Hamburger (Flying Hamburger) was introduced on the line. With an average of 76mph for the 286km Lehrter route this was the world's fastest scheduled rail service.
The 2nd world war & following Russian occupation of the East put paid to the route, it became single tracked & very much a secondary route especially from August 1961 when the direct line into Berlin was severed by the Russians. After the fall of the wall on 1 August 1990 an Intercity service was established with a journey time of about 4 hours. Various options were considered to seriously upgrade the route, on 2 March 1994 the German Govt decided to build a high-speed Maglev line.
Whilst that was being developed, train times were speeded up by using pairs of 218's, the services running non-stop between the two Cities.
218 457) Hamburg Hbf - Berlin Zoo 0643 Hamburg A - Berlin Zoo 270km
218 489#)
Even better, after only an hours wait in Berlin, a different pair of 218's back to Hamburg.
218 493) Berlin Zoo - Hamburg Hbf 1128 Berlin Zoo - Hamburg A 270km
218 458)
218 328 Hamburg - H.Wandsbek 1520 H Hbf - Ahrensburg 6km
218 157# H.Wandsbek - Hamburg 1529 Ahrensburg - Hamburg 6km
Now a leap up to Cuxhaven for required track down to Bremerhaven, nice to have winner's on both trains.
218 286# Hamburg - Cuxhaven 1558 Hamburg - Cuxhaven 116km
216 080# Cuxhaven - Bremerhaven 1857 Cuxhaven - Bremerhaven 43km
141 350# Bremerhaven - Bremen 1941 Bremerhaven Lehe - Bremen 66km
120 128# Bremen - Münster 1636 Westerland - Köln 173km
111 125# Münster - Gelsenkirchen 2209 Münster - Essen 73km
The route to Kiel was now electrified, but the Köln - Kiel overnight still ran. On a Sunday night it was extended through to Süderbrarup to return military service personnel from weekend leave, requiring a 218 forward from Kiel. Even better, it then formed a service through to Flensburg - all required track for diesel for me.
110 318 Gelsenkirchen - Kiel 2203 Koln - Süderbrarup 471km
Daily Total = 2022 KM
Monday 05/02/96
218 491 Kiel - Süderbrarup 2203 Koln - Süderbrarup 52km
218 491 Süderbrarup - Flensburg 0701 Süderbrarup - Flensburg 29km
Flensburg was not a position of strength so I had to do a couple of units to get out of dodge & over to the Westerland line.
628 210 Flensburg - Jübek 0803 Flensburg - Kiel 26km
628 230 Jübek - Husum 0729 Kiel - Husum 26km
218 104 Husum - Glückstadt 0901 Husum - Hamburg Altona 111km
218 168 Glückstadt - Wilster 0959 Hamburg Altona - Husum 27km
218 112 Wilster - Glückstadt 1001 Husum - Hamburg Altona 27km
218 117 Glückstadt - Itzahoe 1059 Hamburg Altona - Husum 18km
218 108# Itzahoe - Elmshorn 1101 Husum - Hamburg Altona 34km
At last a winner 218! I was leaping to Neumünster for a booked class 103 turn back into Hamburg.
111 027 Elmshorn - Wrist 1200 Hamburg - Kiel 21km
That was until the 111 failed at Wrist! No other option than to await to events - the loco was battered by the driver, we formed the next southbound starting from Wrist. No buses for the punters to/from Neumunster!
111 027 Wrist - Hamburg Hbf 1358 Wrist - Hamburg 36km
218 178# Hamburg Hbf - Hamburg Harburg 1458 Hamburg - Cuxhaven 12km
xxx xxx Hamburg Harburg - Hamburg Hbf (no idea of train or loco number) 12km
218 284# Hamburg Hbf - Hamburg Bergedorf 1611 Hamburg - Buchen 16km
470110) Hamburg Bergedorf - Hamburg Hbf 1627 H.Bergedorf - Pinneberg 16km
472101)
218 166) Hamburg Hbf - Lübeck 1715 Hamburg Hbf - Lübeck 62km
218 287#)
218 165) Lübeck - Hamburg Hbf 1730 L.Travelmunde Strasse - Hamburg Hbf 62km
218 154#)(Locos Top & Tail & In Multi)
Back at Hbf the winners had dried up so U-Bahn to Altona.
218 171# Hamburg Altona - Elmshorn 1926 Hamburg Altona - Westerland 30km
218 260) Elmshorn - Hamburg Altona 1730 Westerland - H.Altona 30km
218 113)
A LONG overnight so snacks & a couple of bottles in the compo before catching up on some sleep.
103 133# Hamburg Altona - Nürnberg 2023 H.Altona - Wien 615km
Daily Total = 1250 KM
Tuesday 06/02/96
111 191# Nürnberg - München 0411 Nürnberg - München 199km
A day trying to do new track for diesel to Bayrischzell then Traunstein - Garching. Starting by covering any 218 diagrams on my way to Bayrischzell
218 441# München - Holzkirchen 0626 München - Lengries 37km
218 404 Holzkirchen - Schliersee 0650 München - Schliesee 24km
218 404 Schliersee - Meisbach 0818 Schliersee - München 7km
218 235 Schliersee - Bayrischzell 0746 München - Bayrischzell 24km
218 235 Bayrischzell - München 0953 Bayrischzell - München 78km
120 103 München - Traunstein 0805 Karlsruhe - Salzburg 118km
218 360 Traunstein - Garching 1316 Traunstein - Garching 34km
Not my first attempt to do the route loco hauled - but my first successful one. Forward to Mühldorf to chase Rabbit's for the rest of the day.
Unit Garching - Mühldorf
218 343) Mühldorf - München Ost 1433 Mühldorf - München 75km
218 357#)(218 344 & 392 DIT on rear)
218 312#) München Ost - Markt Schwaben 1545 München Ost - Mühldorf 21km
218 359)
218 235) Markt Schwaben - München 1533 Mühldorf - München 31km
218 425)
218 383# München - Buchloe 1652 München - Füssen 68km
218 230) Buchloe - Kaufering 1608 Oberstdorf - Hof 12km
218 435)
Not my usual leaping point of Kaufbeuren but Kaufering also gives time for a 1/2 litre of Augustiner between moves.
218 233) Kaufering - Buchloe 0952 Dresden - Obertsdorf 12km
218 439)
218 234 Buchloe - Kaufering 1705 Füssen - München 12km
218 398 Kaufering - Buchloe 1750 München - Aulendorf 12km
218 355) Buchloe - München 1811 Oberstdorf - Regensburg 68km
218 353#)
I had spotted another winner 218 while covering the Mühldorf's on a diagram I could now cover.
Unit München (Tief) - München Ost
218 358# München Ost - München 2033 Mühldorf - München 10km
111 072 München - Regensburg 2148 München - Regensburg 138km
103 244 Regensburg - Köln 1811 Wien - Brussels 562km
Daily Total = 1532 KM
Wednesday 07/02/96
Unbelieveably the current winter timetable had thrown up some new track for diesel, under the wires' between Bonn & Köln!
110 469# Köln - Remagen 0519 Köln - Koblenz 54km
215 131# Remagen - Bad Neuenahr 0605 Remagen - Kreuzberg 10km
215 125 Bad Neuenahr - Köln Hbf 0555 Kreuzberg - Köln Deutz 65km
In the dark throughout as done in February but with only one train a day Beggars can't be choosers!
Time to cover the Gummersbach's in search of any required 218's.
218 136 Köln Hbf - Overath 0803 K.Hansaring - Gummersbach 28km
218 132 Overath - Rosrath Stumpen 0846 Overath - K.Hansaring 12km
218 130 Rosrath Stumpen - Rosrath 0903 K.Hansaring - Gummersbach 2km
218 131 Rosrath - Köln Hbf 0840 Gummersbach - K.Hansaring 18km
No joy there then! Over the years some of the overnights I'd done may well have gone down the "wrong" side of the Rhine via Bonn Beuel, but with no clear record of this I'd planned to do this today. Not diesel hauled you understand!
110 257# Köln Hbf - Koblenz (Via Bonn Beuel) 1013 Köln Hbf - Koblenz 91km
216 210# Koblenz - Limburg 1204 Koblenz - Geissen 52km
216 118# Limburg - Koblenz 1158 Geissen - Koblenz 52km
This would turn out to be my last time travelling behind 216's along this scenic route which closely follows the River Ems throughout, I'm glad they were both winners. The route did, however, remain diesel hauled for some years to come, mainly with class 215's.
110 448 Koblenz - Remagen 1412 Boppard - Köln 39km
112 132# Remagen - Bonn 1215 Saarbrücken - Bremerhaven Lehe 20km
The prolific 215 diagrams in/out of Euskirchen threw up loads of winners over the years - indeed I hardly ever travelled direct between Bonn & Köln & v/v over the years apart from on overnights.
215 020# Bonn - Euskirchen 1542 Bonn - Bad Munstereifel 34km
215 098# Euskirchen - Weilerswist 1605 Kall - Köln Deutz 10km
215 047 Weilerswist - Euskirchen 1603 Köln Deutz - Junkerath 10km
215 038 Euskirchen - Köln Hbf 1545 Gerolstein - Köln Deutz 40km
110 167# Köln Hbf - Oostende 1814 Köln - Oostende 70km
2706# Aachen - Oostende 1814 Köln - Oostende 280km
Daily Total = 889 KM
Total KM = 6654 KM Total Moves = 89
Daily Average = 1330 KM Average Per Move = 74.7 KM
I certainly got about a bit on this trip, it produced my highest daily average of any trip I have ever done.
PS: the Hamburg - Berlin Maglev project was shelved in 2000, ICE's now do the journey in just over 90 minutes.
Cheers Poodle.
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