On our first trip to Europe in 1972 we had little info to go by. Randy had Continental Railway Journal, and there were steam depots listed showing where they were, and how many engines were allocated to each. That was our guide to some big sheds(engine roundhouses are thus called shed, if round or just engine house), such as Rheine (Rine-ah), Emden, Hof, and so forth. Anyway we met a guy from Holland among other enthusiasts (including the Aussie Schroeder Brothers, who were traveling for 6 months), who put us on to a periodical called "World Steam" published by David Thornhill in the UK. This was incredible with lots of info from where good lines were, certain trains, how much was steam, and even maps of photo locations. This publication vanished with the demise of world steam of course. Another useful book was "Dampfgefurte Reiszug" I think I spelled it right. This was a German book which translates into Steam Hauled Passenger Trains. It had schedules and so forth in it. So armed with these two bits of knowledge and lots of study time, we headed off to Europe in 1974 for 6 weeks during the summer. I had two years of German in High School, and 2 years Spanish in College, so we were able to figure out the German book okay. Notes were there also regarding doubleheaders, ruchtfahrte (tender-first), and other info. The coolest thing we ever shot over there, was the two trains with simultaneous departures from Lauda at 7 am.
It was the center of our day. Two trains left Lauda, one headed for Wurzburg, and the other to Lauda. You get to the split around 6 am, and catch a freight coming in from Wurzburg, then a passenger train coming in from Wurzburg, a 6:30 freight to Werteim(Once doubleheaded in the fog), and then the departures side-by-side(Sometimes) at 7 am. What a spectacle with a Class 023 2-6-2 (built around 1958), on each train. One had to be careful as a 7:05 from Wurzburg showed up right after on that double-tracked line(Which was being electrified I might add.
Today people are spoiled by internet and cell phones when it comes to information. I got a cab ride in 1975 and wrote a letter in German(best I could) and my reply was sorta vague, but indeed they sent an inspector to be in the cab with me, as I rode a 4-6-2 6 weeks from when they were to be retired. Luckily the fireman had lived in Toronto, so my one way trip was roundtrip, and much was at 72 mph (120km). Now we have all the info we need, but nothing to see. However I must say the Germans and Brits have tons of preserved mainline steam each year. There was just such an event in Trier, Germany in March. 9 mainline steam engines were put in passenger service for 3 days, running regularly scheduled trains. For about 200 Euro you could attend the event, photograph, or ride any train you wanted to. Lots of interesting power including Pacifics, and yes the one I rode in which was 012-075.
It is now 01-1075, as when it was rebuilt they converted it back to coal, thus it was reclassified. It is a 3-cylinder engine.
So while terminology changed, the translation was not that difficult. Just yesterday my brother found his journal (train log) from the first half of the 74 trip. Oh by the way we rented a Simca 1000, which was our home, as we even slept in it in fields and other places 1/3 of the nights. Being tall we had to have the door open!!! Good times!
Greg
PS That 6 week trip cost us a total of $1000.00, roughly the price of a high end charter today!!!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/15/2018 11:26AM by Greg Scholl.
