tomgraphiXX
The very first trip / Erste Fahrt
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The Cologne Club "Freundeskreis Eisenbahn Koeln" had the big goal of restoring the still existing coaches of the famous "Rheingold" luxury train back to their origins of 1928.
In late 1969 the first two coaches were finshed, while the rest still had to be restored, but was in good order.
So the Club decided to make a first trip as "Rheingold" along the original route of the train from Cologne along the Rhein river to Mainz and Darmstadt to Karlsruhe.
While living along the Darmstadt - Heidelberg/Mannheim mainline I caught the chance to get a good image of the train and decided to take the train to the big junction of Mannheim-Friedrichsfeld, where the line to Heidelberg, Karlsruhe(the direct way) and Mannheim diverge from each other, forming three double track mainlines from there on to Karlsruhe, where they again reunite. The original Rheingold route in fact first followed the direct line to Karlsruhe straight ahead, avoiding a stop at Heidelberg or Mannheim respectively. This route was chosen to avoid changing direction and engines respectively. Heidelberg in the 1920(up to 1956, when the new station was ready) was a dead-end station, and though Mannheim was a through station, a train arriving from the north(via the "Riedbahn" Frankfurt - Mannheim) also had to change direction then.
Later on the Rheingold" nonetheless got a stop at Mannheim, where the engines had to be changed.
A class 18.5 of Mainz MPD was in charge of the train from the dutch border to Mannheim, and here a class 18.3 - ex class IVh - took over to Basel SBB.
Well - as none of the mentioned engines was serviceable at the time, the club chose a class 01 engine, which of course surely was autenthic as well.
01 128 of Trier MPD was chosen for the entire trip, Trier being the next depot from Cologne housing several class 01 engines then.
The train ran twice, first time on Saturday, March 8th, 1970 and a second time the next sunday.
So I was able to catch the train on it´s first trip at Mannheim-Friedrichsfeld while charging through in moderate speed without stopping there.
Thankfully the driver had opened up again after being led into the through tracks to Karlsruhe, thus producing a nice steam plume on that dull and misty winter day.
Pity that no one had thought of changing the engine plates to their Original as 01 128 in these times, at least on the front...
Captured with Praktika Nova I und Meyer 1,8/58 mm on Ilford FP4 film, photographed with Novoflex slide-copying device and Nikon D800 and Sigma 2,8 / 105 mm macro lens.
***
1970 waren beim Freundeskreis Eisenbahn Köln gerade zwei historische Rheingold-Wagen des ursprünglichen Vorkriegs-Rheingoldzuges äußerlich wiederhergestellt worden.
Dies nahm man zum Anlaß, eine erste große Sonderfahrt mit allen ehemaligen Rheingoldwagen durchzuführen, auch wenn der Rest der Wagen sich noch nicht wieder im Ursprungszustand befand.
Die Reise führte über den Hauptteil der historischen Strecke von Köln nach Karlsruhe, wobei ab Mainz über Darmstadt - Mannheim-Friedrichsfeld - Schwetzingen gefahren wurde.
Hier sieht man den Zug bei der Durchfahrt in Mannheim-Friedrichsfeld, bespannt mit der Trierer 01 128.
Das war damals das Bw, das am nächsten bei Köln lag und
noch eine 01 als authentische Bespannung stellen konnte.
Daß bis dahin nur zwei Wagen in den Originalzustand versetzt worden waren, fällt bei dem diffusen winterlichen Licht hier kaum auf.
Mannheim-Friedrichsfeld, 8.3.1970
_____________________________
The very first trip / Erste Fahrt
Pressing the favourite-button? Take your time, read the text, think, and leave a comment please!
*** *** ***
The Cologne Club "Freundeskreis Eisenbahn Koeln" had the big goal of restoring the still existing coaches of the famous "Rheingold" luxury train back to their origins of 1928.
In late 1969 the first two coaches were finshed, while the rest still had to be restored, but was in good order.
So the Club decided to make a first trip as "Rheingold" along the original route of the train from Cologne along the Rhein river to Mainz and Darmstadt to Karlsruhe.
While living along the Darmstadt - Heidelberg/Mannheim mainline I caught the chance to get a good image of the train and decided to take the train to the big junction of Mannheim-Friedrichsfeld, where the line to Heidelberg, Karlsruhe(the direct way) and Mannheim diverge from each other, forming three double track mainlines from there on to Karlsruhe, where they again reunite. The original Rheingold route in fact first followed the direct line to Karlsruhe straight ahead, avoiding a stop at Heidelberg or Mannheim respectively. This route was chosen to avoid changing direction and engines respectively. Heidelberg in the 1920(up to 1956, when the new station was ready) was a dead-end station, and though Mannheim was a through station, a train arriving from the north(via the "Riedbahn" Frankfurt - Mannheim) also had to change direction then.
Later on the Rheingold" nonetheless got a stop at Mannheim, where the engines had to be changed.
A class 18.5 of Mainz MPD was in charge of the train from the dutch border to Mannheim, and here a class 18.3 - ex class IVh - took over to Basel SBB.
Well - as none of the mentioned engines was serviceable at the time, the club chose a class 01 engine, which of course surely was autenthic as well.
01 128 of Trier MPD was chosen for the entire trip, Trier being the next depot from Cologne housing several class 01 engines then.
The train ran twice, first time on Saturday, March 8th, 1970 and a second time the next sunday.
So I was able to catch the train on it´s first trip at Mannheim-Friedrichsfeld while charging through in moderate speed without stopping there.
Thankfully the driver had opened up again after being led into the through tracks to Karlsruhe, thus producing a nice steam plume on that dull and misty winter day.
Pity that no one had thought of changing the engine plates to their Original as 01 128 in these times, at least on the front...
Captured with Praktika Nova I und Meyer 1,8/58 mm on Ilford FP4 film, photographed with Novoflex slide-copying device and Nikon D800 and Sigma 2,8 / 105 mm macro lens.
***
1970 waren beim Freundeskreis Eisenbahn Köln gerade zwei historische Rheingold-Wagen des ursprünglichen Vorkriegs-Rheingoldzuges äußerlich wiederhergestellt worden.
Dies nahm man zum Anlaß, eine erste große Sonderfahrt mit allen ehemaligen Rheingoldwagen durchzuführen, auch wenn der Rest der Wagen sich noch nicht wieder im Ursprungszustand befand.
Die Reise führte über den Hauptteil der historischen Strecke von Köln nach Karlsruhe, wobei ab Mainz über Darmstadt - Mannheim-Friedrichsfeld - Schwetzingen gefahren wurde.
Hier sieht man den Zug bei der Durchfahrt in Mannheim-Friedrichsfeld, bespannt mit der Trierer 01 128.
Das war damals das Bw, das am nächsten bei Köln lag und
noch eine 01 als authentische Bespannung stellen konnte.
Daß bis dahin nur zwei Wagen in den Originalzustand versetzt worden waren, fällt bei dem diffusen winterlichen Licht hier kaum auf.
Mannheim-Friedrichsfeld, 8.3.1970
_____________________________