18th June 2014 - The MarschbahnWednesday 18th June 2014 One reason for staying in this area was that we wanted to spend a day on the Marschbahn between Hamburg and Westerland, a line which we find interesting operationally and which, at least for the moment, is a unit-free zone. The first IC train left Hamburg at 9:15 so it was a choice of the 7:35 or 7:43 off Lübeck, the former was a through train from Kiel worked by a class 218 diesel and the latter was a class 112 electric loco and the only thing that would have induced us to catch the latter would be the unlikely event of getting a new 112 for haulage; so the 7:35 it was. 218 407 did the honours to Hamburg where we had about an hour before 101 077 propelled us to Itzehoe for a pair of 218s forward. The formation of the train had changed since our previous visit and the front coach was a Driving Trailer which got us thinking as the front two coaches are detached at Niebüll to form a through service to Dagebüll Mole and on our previous visits they had been two "fresh air" coaches which had normally been put back on the south (opposite) end of the main train once they had been down to the harbour. 218 371 at Niebüll18th June 2014. With 218 379 on IC2314 05:10 Köln Hbf to Westerland (Sylt). IC2314 arrived at Niebüll on time despite being 5 or 6 minutes late at one stage and we got off onto the newly re-built platforms to watch proceedings before deciding what to do next. As expected, the two locos and the front two coaches were uncoupled and sent off up the shunt neck to wait for whatever the NEG were using on their branch today which turned out to be VT71, a former HLB 2 car unit which was a friend of VT72 that we had seen parked up on the Taunusbahn ten days ago. We were expecting this to draw the two IC coaches into the NEG station, which is a separate station across the road from the DB one, but it disappeared doing some sort of shunt whilst the pair of 218s dropped down to rejoin the rest of the train and work it to Westerland. VT71 at Niebüll18th June 2014. Former HLB 628/629 071 attaches the Dagebüll Mole coaches to the rear of IC2073 14:56 Westerland (Sylt) to Berlin Südkreuz. Whilst we were taking some photos of the 218s, VT71 came back into view with the two IC coaches and a four wheeled generator van on the rear; so that's what they do to provide power for the air con coaches. As we hadn’t been down to Dagebüll on our last few visits to the area we decided it was high time for another so walked across the road to the NEG platform and re-joined the train eliciting a couple of strange looks and profuse apologies from a lady who had taken the German papers which had been left on the table we had been sitting at – no problem dear, please have them, we were only looking at the pictures! HW1 at Dagebüll-Mole18th June 2014. Generator van to provide power for the air-conditioning etc for the through IC coaches to Dagebüll-Mole. A further change from our previous visits came when we crossed another train worked by Austrian Railways class 5047 clone VT4 at Blocksberg; on previous visits we can only remember just the one train shuttling up and down the 14km long branch though this may have been due to most of our visits being outside the peak summer months. Dagebüll Mole station is right on the quayside and all the other passengers made their way to the waiting boat for the journey to one of the North Sea islands whilst we photographed VT71 running round the two coaches and generator van. VT71 at Dagebüll-Mole18th June 2014. Former HLB 628/629 071 on the quayside at Dagebüll-Mole with E14 12:45 to Niebüll; the IC coaches and generator van will be left in the platform to be collected by the next train. Once it had done this, it coupled up and pushed the van and coaches back a little but did not take them back to Niebüll on this occasion, instead turning straight round when it arrived and heading back to Dagebüll whilst VT4 waited in the wings for the next pair of through coaches from the Hamburg direction. We needed to be on this train if we wanted to get to Westerland and back on an IC train but our planned 50 minutes there turned into less than 20 when required ER20-013 was seen on the 14:22 NOB train to Hamburg-Altona so we grabbed a snack and went back to Niebüll on that then waited for the IC to catch up. ER20-013 at Westerland (Sylt)18th June 2014. On the rear of NOB81723 14:22 Westerland (Sylt) to Hamburg-Altona. Westerland is the main town on the island of Sylt to which the only access from the mainland is the 11km long rail link across the Hindenburgdamm, so the only means of getting road vehicles there is via an Autozug service from Niebüll. This means that with these car trains, plus the passenger trains, the IC portions and normal services to Dagebüll Mole and the DMU service to Tønder, in Denmark there is rarely a dull moment so no chance of us getting bored in the 50 minutes we had here. Niebüll18th June 2014. A busy scene at Niebüll as 218 344 and friend depart on an Autozug whilst 218 219 and 372 wait to shunt the the Dagebüll Mole portion of IC2072 06:04 Dresden Hbf to Westerland (Sylt) A further reason for taking IC2073 back south was that the pair of 218s stay on to Hamburg rather than being replaced by an electric at Itzehoe so there was 42 extra diesel miles to be enjoyed for an arrival in Hamburg about quarter past six; excellent timing for a visit to our favourite steak restaurant “Block House” opposite the station.
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