European Steam Trains

LEHRTE LOCO 02/10/1971

Alan Ledger June 14, 2024

Lehrte loco depot west of Braunschweig, what a place, it was like a mini Swindon works with its transverser that moved along the shallow pit in front of us. There was another row of engines behind where I am standing, a buffer is partially in view to my right. The piece of machinery that transports the engines is out of sight. I have only come across one other depot in West Germany that was like this and that was at

Picture of the Week: 03-2204 AT ARNSDORF

Alan Ledger May 18, 2023

Here we are on one of the Plan Dampfs organised in Germany where the state railways allows for four days preseved German steam engines to work normal service trains in different areas. In this case Dresden and east of. Here are two pictures taken, the first one of East German Pacific 4-6-2 03-2204 seen here storming into Arnsdorf station in the usual fashion with a last minute brake application working the 11.55 Dresden to Gorlitz train number N5111. The second

Picture of the Week: 001-234 Hof

Alan Ledger November 24, 2016

West German 4-6-2 2 cylinder class 001-234 stands alongside the shed at Hof its home depot in the summer evening sunshine after working the 16.34 from Neuenmarkt Wirzberg. This train was often worked by a 2-10-0 class 50. It will work the 19.12 later to Nurnberg. This was the last strong hold for the remaining few of this large class of engines and this one was the last of the class to be built. They worked all the express trains

Picture of the Week: Yugoslav 006-020

Alan Ledger November 17, 2016

Date: 17 November 2016 at 09:10:28 GMT This is the Austria Yugoslav border with a Yugoslav 2-8-2 class 06-020 leaving Spielfeld Austria with a passenger train for Maribor. You didn’t venture into Yugoslavia unless you wanted really serious trouble with their police so we stayed in Austria, just! The border post was right behind us. There aren’t many photographs of Yugoslavian engines about! Sunday 20th July 1972. Regards Ledg.

Picture of the week: Eisfelelde Talmuhle East Germany 99-7231

Alan Ledger January 21, 2016

Yet another trip to East Germany to see the last of steam on the standard gauge around Halberstadt where I had to lay low and dodge the police by the marshalling yards, not a good place to be on your own in East Germany. They had the luxury of a car to find me but made the mistake of having their siren on. Still got some pictures though. Then on to see the narrow gauge at Wernigeroda. Here is a

Picture of the Week: Ponferada Spain

Alan Ledger October 29, 2015

Ponferada and Villablino Railway 2-6-0 number 6 has just crossed the bridge over the reservoir at Santa Marina in the remote area of northern west Spain and is entering a tunnel cut through the hills as it comes down from the mines at Villablino with coal for the power station at Ponferada. Snow still lies high up on the northern Pyrenees mountains. This was a busy line and there were about 15 to 20 engines of different types working out

Picture of the Week: 003 131

Alan Ledger September 25, 2015

On one of our first trips to West Germany we managed to sneak round the steam workshops at Linen, closed for the weekend, on the Rhine Emden line in the north of the country and were surprised to see this engine undergoing overhaul and a long way from it’s home depot. We believed at the time they had all finished working in the west, 298 were built in the 1930s. This is a 2 cylinder light Pacific 003-131 which we

Picture of the week: 043-574 Lathen, West Germany

Alan Ledger July 23, 2015

A West German class 43 2-10-0 3 cylinder oil burner 043-574 with that deep distinctive 3 cylinder beat they had heads north for Emden docks with a train of loaded coal hoppers, these were big heavy trains and this one is seen between Haren and Lathen on the busy Munster, Rheine, Emden, Norddiech main line. Double heading was quite frequent on these trains. It was relatively flat in this area with very sandy soil, fir trees along with Oak and

Picture of the Week: 052-399

Alan Ledger March 19, 2015

Thought you might like another winter shot as this years season is drawing to a close although we could still yet have snow! Here is West German 2-10-0 052-399 working the 11.34 local train from Hof to Lichtenfels, west of Munchberg, high up in the eastern hills near to East Germany. This was taken on our cold weeks expedition to West Germany in 1973 mentioned before. Here we are plodding around in the deep snow getting more and more colder.

038-711 Picture of the week

Alan Ledger January 22, 2015

Ex Prussian P8 4-6-0 038-711 one of the last remaining three engines still in service at the time this photo was taken, February 1973. These three would be finished for good three months later in May. They were the last of a once 4000 strong class. The German railways gave them a great send off in the May I believe. Here it is seen leaving Freudenstadt with the 14.11 to Hausach which is near to the French border during an

Picture of the Week: Saalfeld

Alan Ledger October 29, 2014

Another visit to East Germany and an early start from our hotel before returning for breakfast. This time oil burning Pacific 01-0517 is setting out from Saalfeld on a real grim and gloomy morning working the 06.58 to Leipzig via Gera. There was also a steam hauled service via Jena to Leipzig worked from Saalfeld. The steam shed is on the left with engines standing in the yard ready for work. The class of engines working these two services kept

Picture of the week: East German 2-10-0 Class 44

Alan Ledger July 31, 2014

A night time picture of an East German 3 cylinder oil fired 2-10-0 class 44. Here is 44-0233 standing at Saalfeld late at night with its burners roaring away getting steam up ready for the long climb out to the steel works at Unterwellanbourn on the line to Gera with a heavy freight of casting sand. There will be a banker at the rear for the long haul ahead. Tuesday 21st April 1981.

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