11th February 2013 - One last day on the HarzMonday 11th February 2013 This morning dawned bright and sunny again, no charters for us today but we had one little job to do before heading off on the first train up the Brocken and that was to photograph the Railtrails Tours special with 99 5901 which departed at 08:25. As it was a little earlier than yesterday the sun was not quite above the horizon for our shot from the footbridge, but it was quite atmospheric in the early morning light. 99 5901 at Wernigerode A study of the locos “on shed” revealed two that we needed for haulage and it looked as though they were positioned to work the first two trains which would be an excellent result. Sure enough, 99 7247 duly appeared for the 08:55 which we took to the junction station of Drei Annen Hohne where we got off and waited for the second train of the day to catch us up. Whilst the loco was taking water, we walked down the road to the level crossing where the lines to Brocken and Nordhausen diverge to take a photo of 99 7247 departing towards Schierke. 99 7247 at Drei Annen Hohne A brisk walk back to the station and beyond to the level crossing at the other end enabled us to get a shot of the Railtrail charter that we had overtaken at Wernigerode Hasserode as well as a photo of the second train of the day up the Brocken; we were pleased to see that it had 99 7239 on the front which was the second of the two locos that we were after. There was no danger of missing this as all trains stand at Drei Annen Hohne for at least seven minutes whilst the locos take water. 99 5901 at Drei Annen Hohne This train was a lot busier than the first one but we managed to find some seats for the journey up the mountain but, as is quite common, the bright sunshine gave way to mist as we ascended and the summit was completely shrouded and very cold. Because of the cold and lack of views, we decided to head straight back down again, plus the fact that we wanted to have a steam hauled ride to Eisfelder-Talmühle as the additional trip allowed on the “Brocken Card” ticket that we had purchased for the day. This particular ticket is valid for one return trip up the Brocken plus one other return trip anywhere else on the system within the next seven days but, as we only had today available, both journeys had to be squeezed in. Brocken There was only four minutes to change trains at Drei Annen Hohne but there was no need to panic as the Eisfelder train ended up leaving nine minutes late once all three trains had done their business there. We have known the locos to swap trains on this three way meet so that the train from Nordhausen gets a loco that is facing uphill on the Brocken section but 99 7238 had been turned since we last saw it so was already facing the correct way. 99 7238 at Drei Annen Hohne The journey to Eisfelder-Talmühle was enlivened by crossing the empty Railtrail charter at Elend and our train from yesterday returning from Gernrode at Benneckenstein otherwise it was an unremarkable journey there and back. For added entertainment we did end up doing a loco swap with 99 7241 back at Drei Annen Hohne meaning that 99 7232 would be spending at least one night at Nordhausen. We could have got off here and waited for one of the other trains to take us back to Wernigerode but we had noticed that some of the trains going up to the Brocken had been very busy earlier so decided that it would be better to go now whilst we actually had a seat. In any case, the light was starting to fade so it was probably time for an early finish by our standards and a wander round Wernigerode before dinner.
Keywords:
Germany,
Harzer Schmalspurbahnen
Comments
No comments posted.
Loading...
|
Subscribe
RSS
Recent Posts
9th & 10th January 2018 - A lucky trip
8th January 2018 - Brewery Bonus
7th January 2018 - To Bern for steam
6th January 2018 - Onwards and westwards
5th January 2018 - A Tale of two Banskás
4th January 2018 - Bobbing around Brno (again)
3rd January 2018 - Delay Dodging
2nd January 2018 - Third Time Lucky
1st January 2018 - Happy Republic Day
31st December 2017 - Farewell 2017
Archive
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
|