German Heritage Lines - Info needed

After 60017's successful appeal for info about the Netherlands, can I start a similar process for Germany?

I'm aware of several German destinations where I can find locos in steam if I know the right time to go; Cranzahl, Isle of Rügen, Nördlingen museum, the Rheinland-Pfalz Plandampf weekends, the Schiefe Ebene, etc etc. But is there a German website that even half replicates the detailed and oft-taken-for-granted job that NP does, by bringing the whole of the national scene together?

Anything that would help to put together a when-and-where summary for 2011 would be fantastic. German language only would be no problem for me.

 

www.vdmt.de

I picked up a leaflet at Gerolstein at Easter that shows all the museums and tourist lines in Germany. The leaflet shows all the lines/museums on a map, whereas the website doesn't until you click on each region. Each line should have a website address too, if you click on the red dots a pop up window appears and the address should be on there. There are about 90 lines/museums listed on the leaflet.

 

Try this forum, it has a lot of info.

http://germanrail.8.forumer.com/

No1 railway in Germany has to be the Harz.. it's a simple must if youve not been... it is narrow gauge and a network of lines with several locomotives in steam each day.

 

You must be having a laugh? The Harz is No.1 Heritage Railway in Europe and probably the world.

Try this. The German eqivalent of Natpres/Freightmaster/End of the Line combined:

http://www.drehscheibe-online.de/

Also good:

http://www.lok-report.de/news/news_museum.html

http://www.lok-report.de/ - the best list of all upcoming events under Termine.

The only place to be in October:

http://www.plandampfteam.de/index.php?site=termine

Hope this helps,

David

 

Great guys, all I could ever need, thanks a lot.

 

Visited Eisenbahnmuseum recently very interesting check the site out .Had a footplate ride for 4euros lots to see well worth a visit.

 

Just a word of caution:- Most of the Museumsbahnen only run at weekends.

Nevertheless, for their friendly atmosphere and apparent lack of 'elfansafety, they are well worth the effort - just spend the weekdays fotting real goods trains in spectacular scenery, with no lineside fences. Try asking and you may also get a mainline footplate ride.

Quick plug; unfortunately the steam is no more!:-
http://www.drehscheibe-foren.de/foren/read.php?17,4810273,4810273#msg-4810273

 

Hello,

as far as a website is concerned www.drehscheibe-online.de has already been mentioned. As far as museum lines are concerned try and get yourself a copy of the "Kursbuch der deutschen Museumseisenbahnen" which is published by Uhle & Kleimann every year. This year's edition was 5.50 Euros which is money well invested. You might get yourself a copy of this year's edition for planning next year's visit as most lines follow a similar pattern of operating days and train times every year. *** Advertising on *** We have them on sale at the Hannover Tramway Museum and if we still have some left I can get you a copy. *** Advertising off ***

The VDMT site does not list all museum lines and museums, only those which are member of the VDMT (Verband Deutscher Museums- und Touristikbahnen or Association of German Museum and Touristic Railways).

Unfortunately I am not aware of anything like http://ukhrail.uel.ac.uk/ for Germany.

Just like Sir Nigel Gresley said, weekdays are a problem. Some very quick research revealed that only the museums at Bochum, Darmstadt, Nördlingen, Neustadt an der Weinstraße and Neuenmarkt-Wirsberg are open daily except Mondays in the Season. The Sauschwänzlebahn at Zollhaus Blumberg operates two trains each way on Wednesdays throughout the season and the Dampfbahn Fränkische Schweiz at Ebermannstadt operates on Wednesdays in August. Apart from that only the narrow gauge lines in East Germany offer steam daily but this is no complete list. Elsewhere be prepared for weekends only at best and one train on the last Sunday of the month at the worst.

If you are looking for standard gauge steam the choice is a bit limited anyway but rest assured that you will find a few gems well beyond the usual diet of a class 52.80 with DR Reko-coaches. Museumseisenbahn Minden is probably top of the list in that respect.

Hope that helps.

Kind regards

Christoph

 

I know you only asked about heritage lines (of which there are probably far less in Germany than in the UK), but the main line side of things may interest you too; try this site:
http://www.railway-planner.net/

On the right at the top there is even an English/American flag (though I don't use it), but do click off the filter on the left of the screen just below the date frame!

The site does also give a lot of heritage line operating days, but a very high proportion of the sites are purely steam centres, such as the one my wife and I belong to, the "Damplokfreunde Salzwedel".

It's likely this site will give you better notice of what is happening, particularly in 2011, than the "Kursbuch der deutschen Museums-Eisenbahnen"; I have to say the clubs here are not too good at getting their publicity machines into gear, with the result that poor old Uhle & Kleimann cannot get the book out much before Easter.

Hope this helps a little...

David