Out of the fog
Out of the fog
On my way to several appointments dealing with research for my first book in Berlin and points both north and east I included a visit of the now called "Döllnitzbahn" from Oschatz to Mügeln. It was still all steam. Since the integration of the Deutsche Bundesbahn and the Deutsche Reichsbahn roster in 1992 the century-old steamers shared the same roster as the 250 kph ICE trains.
I opted for a night train from Karlsruhe by way of Frankfurt to Leipzig. With a local train I reached Oschatz the next day and took public transport to Mügeln as by the schedule the lone active locomotive should be there.
On September 13, 1993 I found not one but two Meyers under steam in the dense fog at Mügeln. The 099 713, as the former Deutsche Reichsbahn 99 1608 was now numbered, was the scheduled steamer while a sister loco was out for a retuning of the safety valves.
The friendly staff let me have a look inside the shed where three more Meyers were sitting cold. Time was running up, by end of the year the ownership went to the private entity of the Döllnitzbahn GmbH. Regular steam ended 1994, freight ended in 2001.
I hiked along the line to Schweta, a distance of three kilometers to wait for the freight to Oschatz. A couple of coal empties was all the business to do. The train was mostly on a sight downgrade here, the fire was doing good so the fireman enjoyed a few minutes at the cab opening of the engine built in 1921. There are no windows to close, anyways.
Remember, this was a daily affair in Germany in 1993.
Out of the fog
Out of the fog
On my way to several appointments dealing with research for my first book in Berlin and points both north and east I included a visit of the now called "Döllnitzbahn" from Oschatz to Mügeln. It was still all steam. Since the integration of the Deutsche Bundesbahn and the Deutsche Reichsbahn roster in 1992 the century-old steamers shared the same roster as the 250 kph ICE trains.
I opted for a night train from Karlsruhe by way of Frankfurt to Leipzig. With a local train I reached Oschatz the next day and took public transport to Mügeln as by the schedule the lone active locomotive should be there.
On September 13, 1993 I found not one but two Meyers under steam in the dense fog at Mügeln. The 099 713, as the former Deutsche Reichsbahn 99 1608 was now numbered, was the scheduled steamer while a sister loco was out for a retuning of the safety valves.
The friendly staff let me have a look inside the shed where three more Meyers were sitting cold. Time was running up, by end of the year the ownership went to the private entity of the Döllnitzbahn GmbH. Regular steam ended 1994, freight ended in 2001.
I hiked along the line to Schweta, a distance of three kilometers to wait for the freight to Oschatz. A couple of coal empties was all the business to do. The train was mostly on a sight downgrade here, the fire was doing good so the fireman enjoyed a few minutes at the cab opening of the engine built in 1921. There are no windows to close, anyways.
Remember, this was a daily affair in Germany in 1993.