East German 2 cylinder 4-6-2 pacific 01 2137 gets underway from Bautzen east of Dresden on this glorious sunny morning with train D451, the overnight express from Frankfurt Main to Warsaw. You really had to be there to appreciate the noise it made departing with this heavy train made up of 12 coaches plus a dead class 132 diesel on the back climbing up the rising gradient towards Gorlitz and the Polish border, it was unbelievable and completely unexpected as it had rolled into the station silently. You can see the sharpness of its exhaust by looking at the black smoke, there is a gap between each cylinder beat between the two columns of smoke. It was as sharp as a razor and not a hint of a slip, it just dug it’s toes in and went for it. I don’t think the valve setting was altered at all as it climbed away up the hill. Fantastic!
Saturday 30th April 1994.

Regards
Ledg.