News from Preßnitztalbahn *LINK* *PIC*

The attached images were received today from Olaf Buhler.
I met Olaf and his brother, Steffen while visiting the German Democratic Republic in 1985. At that time, both brothers lived with their parents in Jena.
Since then, both Olaf and Steffen have gotten married. Olaf still lives with his wife, Ulrike and family in Jena. After completing high school, Steffen moved to Oberwiesenthal, where he landed a job as a steam locomotive engineer on the former Deutchse Reichsbahn narrow gauge line which was to be privatized into "Fichtelbergbahn" (http://www.bvo.de/fichtelbergbahn/). Steffen met his future wife, Isabel, when she dropped-off in Jöhstadt her brother, Nils, who enjoyed volunteering in the Preßnitztalbahn engine house. Steffen, Isabel and their family now live in in Jöhstadt.
After reunification, both Olaf and Stephan became active with the Preßnitztalbahn (http://www.pressnitztalbahn.de/) preservation group in Jöhstadt. The Preßnitztalbahn group are working to reinstate a former Deutchse Reichsbahn narrow gauge line which once operated between Wolkenstein and Jöhstadt, with a locomotive shed at the Jöhstadt end of the line. To date, most of the facilities, including track, bridges, locomotives and structures between Jöhstadt and Steinbach have been either rebuilt or replaced. All attached images depict trains operating on Preßnitztalbahn on April 30, 2007.
Along the railway line between Jöhstadt and Steinbach are two interesting hotels, which feature steam-powered narrow gauge trains running directly past the hotel:
Pension & Gaststätte Schlösselmühle
Schlösselstraße 60
09477 Jöhstadt
Telefon: +49 (0) 37343 2666
Fax: +49 (0) 37343 2665
Email: schloesselmuehle@web.de
URL: [www.schloesselmuehle.de]
Gaststätte & Pension Forellenhof
Hauptstraße 2
09477 Jöhstadt OT Schmalzgrube
Tel.: +49 (0) 3 73 43 / 24 72
Fax: +49 (0) 3 73 43 / 21 97 16
E-Mail: forellenhof@forellenhof.com
URL: [www.forellenhof.com]
In Steinbach, there is a great little restaurant tucked-into the woods, on the opposite side of the creek along which the steam trains operate:
Raststätte "am Wildbach"
Schmalzgrubner Straße 18
09477 Steinbach
Tel: +49 (0) 3 73 43 887 38
URL: [www.raststaette-wildbach.de]
Gaststätte Forellenhof and Raststätte "am Wildbach" are famous for fresh trout, which are raised locally.
Steffen and Olaf Buhler maintain a special connection to LaPorte County Historical Steam Society (http://www.hesston.org/), who maintain and regularly operate Deutsche Reichsbahn 99.3361, 0-8-0 (Orenstein & Koppel 13200 / 1938), ex-Mecklenburg-Pommersche Schmalspurbahn 14, 60 cm gauge. When spare parts are needed for DR 99.3361, the LCHSS guys connect with their colleagues at Preßnitztalbahn, who can often supply the needed parts. Likewise, when German steam relief valves on DR 99.3361 were replaced with American components, LCHSS returned the original parts to Preßnitztalbahn for future use in Germany.