This was the second of the 1997 trips which appeared from my 2023 clear-out. It was a long weekend comprised of some fairly routine branch bashing in Germany, wrapped round a steam tour (ADL Belgian Steam Double) which started at Eupen and covered a good proportion of the Vennbahn.
Friday 25 July 1997
05:49 from Wolverhampton – not to Mrs EG’s great delight, but made with about 7 minutes to spare. A totally uneventful journey to Euston arriving at about 08:00 and thence by Northern Line to Waterloo where the Eurostar terminal has its own little escalator from the UndergrounD. The Eurostar terminal has some of the few seats (maybe all of them?) at Waterloo and seems to be attracting its fair share of down and outs, penniless travellers etc. The opportunity was taken to collect information from Eurostar regarding Nederlands add-ons, Germany fares and the like. These are very strangely structured but the midweek Supersavers to any NS station at £69 and the £89 to Aachen, Köln, Düsseldorf and Mönchengladbach look sensible.
Eurostar to Brussels was a complete non-event : trundle through Kent, mad dash to Lille, slow trundle via Tournai and Ath to Brussels, arrived on time ar 13:44 allowing time for investigation of fares and purchase of tickets (weekend return to Eupen at BFr 690 proved to be the best bet) and a leisurely glass of Hapkin at Au Laboreur before catching 14:48 Köln as far as Verviers and thence the local to Eupen arriving in adequate time for a bus at 17:03 to Aachen. Investigation at Aachen suggested there were no worthwhile rover tickets so a single to Köln at DM 18.80 (BFr 376 was obtained and an SE train taken. At Köln a visit to the tourist office proved well worthwhile, providing the excellent Hotel Savoy, 5 minutes from the station, at a very reasonable rate (DM 75).
05:49 from Wolverhampton – not to Mrs EG’s great delight, but made with about 7 minutes to spare. A totally uneventful journey to Euston arriving at about 08:00 and thence by Northern Line to Waterloo where the Eurostar terminal has its own little escalator from the UndergrounD. The Eurostar terminal has some of the few seats (maybe all of them?) at Waterloo and seems to be attracting its fair share of down and outs, penniless travellers etc. The opportunity was taken to collect information from Eurostar regarding Nederlands add-ons, Germany fares and the like. These are very strangely structured but the midweek Supersavers to any NS station at £69 and the £89 to Aachen, Köln, Düsseldorf and Mönchengladbach look sensible.
Eurostar to Brussels was a complete non-event : trundle through Kent, mad dash to Lille, slow trundle via Tournai and Ath to Brussels, arrived on time ar 13:44 allowing time for investigation of fares and purchase of tickets (weekend return to Eupen at BFr 690 proved to be the best bet) and a leisurely glass of Hapkin at Au Laboreur before catching 14:48 Köln as far as Verviers and thence the local to Eupen arriving in adequate time for a bus at 17:03 to Aachen. Investigation at Aachen suggested there were no worthwhile rover tickets so a single to Köln at DM 18.80 (BFr 376 was obtained and an SE train taken. At Köln a visit to the tourist office proved well worthwhile, providing the excellent Hotel Savoy, 5 minutes from the station, at a very reasonable rate (DM 75).
Saturday 26 July 1997
Very impressive buffet breakfast at the Savoy starting at 07:00 so plenty of time to sample it before catching the 07:50 to Aachen armed with previously purchased Wochenende ticket [those were the days!]. 09:09 bus to Eupen got me there at 09:45 (subsequently found out I could have got the next one!). [Subsequent long experience suggests this wouldn’t necessarily have been sensible – one of my rules now is ‘get as far as you can as soon as you can’]. The ADL party arrived on 07:54 ex Oostende a bit late at around 10:50.
The tour train (50 3666 + 2 coaches + buffet car) turned up late and eventually left at 11:30. A very pleasant amble was had over the Vennbahn to Raeren and back down to Trois Ponts where 26 101 was being watered ready to go on to Gouvy. The promised side by side photos didn’t materialise but on arrival at Gouvy 26 101 went off to the shed to be watered again after an impressive false departure, so an extra photo opportunity presented itself. The Gouvy turntable was out of action (is it big enough for a Krieg anyway?) so 26 101 ran tender first to Kinkempois for a high speed [on foot]) shed visit. Strange antics on departure; having arrived immediately east of the office block we reversed southwards and departed to the west side of the block (across the throat of the shed yard). Arrival at Liège was more or less on time, allowing a friterie visit before the 20:00 København, which was late anyway so I ended up on 20:09 Dortmund as far as Aachen then the late running(ish) 21:12 SE to Köln.
Very impressive buffet breakfast at the Savoy starting at 07:00 so plenty of time to sample it before catching the 07:50 to Aachen armed with previously purchased Wochenende ticket [those were the days!]. 09:09 bus to Eupen got me there at 09:45 (subsequently found out I could have got the next one!). [Subsequent long experience suggests this wouldn’t necessarily have been sensible – one of my rules now is ‘get as far as you can as soon as you can’]. The ADL party arrived on 07:54 ex Oostende a bit late at around 10:50.
The tour train (50 3666 + 2 coaches + buffet car) turned up late and eventually left at 11:30. A very pleasant amble was had over the Vennbahn to Raeren and back down to Trois Ponts where 26 101 was being watered ready to go on to Gouvy. The promised side by side photos didn’t materialise but on arrival at Gouvy 26 101 went off to the shed to be watered again after an impressive false departure, so an extra photo opportunity presented itself. The Gouvy turntable was out of action (is it big enough for a Krieg anyway?) so 26 101 ran tender first to Kinkempois for a high speed [on foot]) shed visit. Strange antics on departure; having arrived immediately east of the office block we reversed southwards and departed to the west side of the block (across the throat of the shed yard). Arrival at Liège was more or less on time, allowing a friterie visit before the 20:00 København, which was late anyway so I ended up on 20:09 Dortmund as far as Aachen then the late running(ish) 21:12 SE to Köln.
50 3666 with the "ADL Belgian Steam Double" tour at Raeren on 26-7-97 |
50 3666 at Sourbrodt on 26-7-97. Despite the German flag, this part of the Vennbahn was in Belgium. |
Belgian 2-10-0 26 101 backing down on to the tour train at Trois Ponts, with 50 3666 in the background |
Sketch of the station area at Freinsheim
Sunday 27 July 1997
Just missed breakfast (replaced by cheese baguette with mayonnaise !*?! on the station) in favour of 07:13 to Koblenz via the east bank of the Rhein and the bridge north of Koblenz. Koblenz was very busy 08:45-09:00 with trains to Budapest, Milano etc. The 09:00 to Bingen (eventually Frankfurt) was a well patronised double deck set complete with noisy and obnoxious punks. I was relieved to change at Bingen for the DMU to Kaiserslautern, which went via the direct route Enkenbach - Kaiserslautern. Back to electrics briefly for the short run to Neustadt where there is a railway museum with the usual collection of rusting kettles. [I record what I see at the time, it’s much more spick and span now]. There is also a preserved line, Kuckucksbähnel, running steam from the station immediately west of Neustadt [Lambrecht]. Today was an operating day but timings didn’t permit [but did, in later German outings].
The plan from Neustadt was to head north then east on minor lines to get to Mainz. This proved a complicated process involving 12:34 Freinsheim (via a reversal at Bad Dürkheim, a nice little country ‘Y’ terminus), 13:21 Freinsheim - Grünstadt, 13:32 Grünstadt - Monsheim (wondrous array of semaphores here, and the signalwoman’s lunch dropped off by the driver), 14:00 Monheim - Alzey, and 14:28 Alzey - Mainz. All OK except 12:34 Neustadt - Freinsheim stopped short of the physical junction (A on the diagram) .
I’ll have to go back there when finishing off the other lines in the area like the Ramsen branch, the electrified Bad Dürkheim - Mannheim line, etc. At Mainz I was somewhat baffled by the absence of the 15:12 to Wiesbaden (SuX – I had misread the timetable!). The 15:20 obliged, and a ‘quick’ run round to Wiesbaden just allowed time to notice that there is a flying junction en route so it needs to be done both ways. [Looking at this in later life (2023) I’ve long since decided that life’s too short to be really pedantic about unidirectional flying/diving junctions and whilst I’ll do both sides when convenient I only get obsessive about bi-di lines like those at Merseburg and Niederwiesa. I did in fact complete the job on 20.6.22 by which time I’d forgotten I even needed the westbound line... ]
A 6-minute connection to the 15:34 to Limburg was made comfortably and left me with a choice of an hour’s food break at Limburg or a round trip Niederhausen-Frankfurt and then to Limburg. Food won – hope there is some, watch this space... There was. Limburg is a pleasant market town; being a fine day it was heaving with people whose main purpose seemed to be food, drink and gawping. Lots of snacky stands and kiosk-type bars under chestnut trees, but also quite a few restaurants if you persevere. I ended up with a large steak and a Franziskaner Weissbier [now (2023) widely available in Shropshire supermarkets].
Back at the station the 17:50 to Giessen was almost on time, and became so by the time it got to Giessen at 18:48. The line is very attractive after leaving Limburg as it winds along a quite narrow valley. The ‘third side’ of the triangle west of Giessen is well worth doing (1 train about 06:00, one 17:30-ish) as it has a separate high level alignment for several km). [Not to mention two ways of accessing it at the eastern end, but that’s two other stories.]
Giessen is a large ‘V’ station with a depot just west of it. Fortunately the incoming train from Limburg arrived on the northern arm of the ‘V’ and the 19:15 to Köln departed from the southern one, thus ensuring no problems if I ever reverse there... Just to make sure, someone provided an operational problem which required the train to reverse the length of the platform before starting. It left 19 minutes late but regained time fairly easily, being only 10-12 late at Betzdorf where I could see the Daaden branch train had been held, so dashed across to do the last branch of the day. This is a short branch, lots of industry to spoil the scenery but no visible freight traffic. Arrival at Daaden was about 5 late but early enough to get away to Betzdorf on time. At Betzdorf there was just time to appreciate the bizarre platform numbering system (101, 102, 105, 106, 107, 113) before the 21:26 to Köln appeared. Fortunately the skies had cleared earlier on and the daylight held out until the train reached Au which was the end of new track for the day. All in all, an excellent day.
Just missed breakfast (replaced by cheese baguette with mayonnaise !*?! on the station) in favour of 07:13 to Koblenz via the east bank of the Rhein and the bridge north of Koblenz. Koblenz was very busy 08:45-09:00 with trains to Budapest, Milano etc. The 09:00 to Bingen (eventually Frankfurt) was a well patronised double deck set complete with noisy and obnoxious punks. I was relieved to change at Bingen for the DMU to Kaiserslautern, which went via the direct route Enkenbach - Kaiserslautern. Back to electrics briefly for the short run to Neustadt where there is a railway museum with the usual collection of rusting kettles. [I record what I see at the time, it’s much more spick and span now]. There is also a preserved line, Kuckucksbähnel, running steam from the station immediately west of Neustadt [Lambrecht]. Today was an operating day but timings didn’t permit [but did, in later German outings].
The plan from Neustadt was to head north then east on minor lines to get to Mainz. This proved a complicated process involving 12:34 Freinsheim (via a reversal at Bad Dürkheim, a nice little country ‘Y’ terminus), 13:21 Freinsheim - Grünstadt, 13:32 Grünstadt - Monsheim (wondrous array of semaphores here, and the signalwoman’s lunch dropped off by the driver), 14:00 Monheim - Alzey, and 14:28 Alzey - Mainz. All OK except 12:34 Neustadt - Freinsheim stopped short of the physical junction (A on the diagram) .
I’ll have to go back there when finishing off the other lines in the area like the Ramsen branch, the electrified Bad Dürkheim - Mannheim line, etc. At Mainz I was somewhat baffled by the absence of the 15:12 to Wiesbaden (SuX – I had misread the timetable!). The 15:20 obliged, and a ‘quick’ run round to Wiesbaden just allowed time to notice that there is a flying junction en route so it needs to be done both ways. [Looking at this in later life (2023) I’ve long since decided that life’s too short to be really pedantic about unidirectional flying/diving junctions and whilst I’ll do both sides when convenient I only get obsessive about bi-di lines like those at Merseburg and Niederwiesa. I did in fact complete the job on 20.6.22 by which time I’d forgotten I even needed the westbound line... ]
A 6-minute connection to the 15:34 to Limburg was made comfortably and left me with a choice of an hour’s food break at Limburg or a round trip Niederhausen-Frankfurt and then to Limburg. Food won – hope there is some, watch this space... There was. Limburg is a pleasant market town; being a fine day it was heaving with people whose main purpose seemed to be food, drink and gawping. Lots of snacky stands and kiosk-type bars under chestnut trees, but also quite a few restaurants if you persevere. I ended up with a large steak and a Franziskaner Weissbier [now (2023) widely available in Shropshire supermarkets].
Back at the station the 17:50 to Giessen was almost on time, and became so by the time it got to Giessen at 18:48. The line is very attractive after leaving Limburg as it winds along a quite narrow valley. The ‘third side’ of the triangle west of Giessen is well worth doing (1 train about 06:00, one 17:30-ish) as it has a separate high level alignment for several km). [Not to mention two ways of accessing it at the eastern end, but that’s two other stories.]
Giessen is a large ‘V’ station with a depot just west of it. Fortunately the incoming train from Limburg arrived on the northern arm of the ‘V’ and the 19:15 to Köln departed from the southern one, thus ensuring no problems if I ever reverse there... Just to make sure, someone provided an operational problem which required the train to reverse the length of the platform before starting. It left 19 minutes late but regained time fairly easily, being only 10-12 late at Betzdorf where I could see the Daaden branch train had been held, so dashed across to do the last branch of the day. This is a short branch, lots of industry to spoil the scenery but no visible freight traffic. Arrival at Daaden was about 5 late but early enough to get away to Betzdorf on time. At Betzdorf there was just time to appreciate the bizarre platform numbering system (101, 102, 105, 106, 107, 113) before the 21:26 to Köln appeared. Fortunately the skies had cleared earlier on and the daylight held out until the train reached Au which was the end of new track for the day. All in all, an excellent day.
Part of Monsheim's array of semaphore signals on 27.7.1997 |
A few stragglers leaving DMU 628 677 as the sun sets at Daaden, 20:57 on 27.7.1997 |
"View from my room" - the Savoy hotel overlooked Köln Hbf, with the Dom (cathedral) beyond. |
Monday 28 July 1997.
Slightly more leisurely start than usual to get to the station for 09:00 when the day tickets start. A precautionary single Düren - Aachen was also purchased. The Kursbuch had revealed trams to Bonn Hbf ay zz:13, xx:33, xx:53 so when a no. 16 arrived at 09:13 it seemed to be a good opportunity... Some while later while immersed in the Kursbuch working out what I could do with the extra 20 minutes, the tram driver came to point out that we we were in a reversing siding and the best thing was to stay on and go back to the station (which was Sürth). Of course, we waited in the siding for the 09:13 from Köln Hbf to go past. Still, I got some track and no harm was done except to the ego as I was able to get the 09:33 and reached Bonn Hbf in good time for 10:34 to Bad Münstereifel. This was class 215 hauled and reverses at Euskirchen. Bad Münstereifel is a genuine branch terminus and serves a town well worth a wander round. Insufficient time today however, as I had to go back to Euskirchen where to my great relief 12:29 to Köln was on time. It remained so to Köln Hbf (13:!4) making an easy connection into 13:20 to Aachen.
The precautionary ticket purchase saved me getting off at Düren and on arrival at Aachen there was time for an Erdinger weissbier before the 15:10 bus to Eupen. This too was on time and the putatively very short connection at Eupen into the 15:55 train looked OK. Until just after the Belgian border when the dreaded bus inspectors staged a lightning raid. Of course somebody (not I) had a dodgy ticket and was, after lengthy and voluble argument, hauled away. Of course too, the bus was packed and stopped nearly everywhere. Major concern was necessary for 15 minutes or so (the train 1 hour later would get me to Brussels in time but only by relying on the punctuality of a Köln - Oostende). [These were a legend at the time for unpunctuality – nowadays they’d probably pass without comment, at least on DB] . Arriving at Eupen at 15:52, a mad dash got me to the train at 15:54. Easy peasy-ish.
The connection at Verviers is into an IC originating at Welkenraedt which was of course on time and virtually empty so a very comfortable ride to Brussel Zuid was had, arriving in time to be refused admission to the 18:27 Eurostar. What difference does it make, I ask myself. Anyway rules is rules, so off to Au Laboreur for a Hapkin consumed outside on the pavement (well, on a chair on the pavement) whence, of course, one can spot all the locos going in and out of Zuid from and to Centraal. Dreadful, as the bashers say. And I got my penultimate 80 (8001) at Schaarbeek where it was doing interesting things with the stock of the Schaarbeek - Port Bou autokipper.
Meanwhile back at Brussel Zuid the 19:27 Eurostar was busy getting itself ready to leave 10 minutes late. Unfortunately due to stupid airline-type procedures you have to sit there... [What on earth would I have thought of today’s Eurostar (2023) had I been able to see it then?] Uneventtful run back, exactly as outward, an arriving exactly on time despite the late departure. It was announced that immigration would be done at Waterloo, so naturally it was done en route (vice versa on the outward trip). Over to Euston in good time for the 22:45 to Wolves but Virgin Trains were unmoved and insisted I remained on the 23:45. Otherwise, a pretty good day. [My notes don’t reveal how I got home but I suspect the long suffering Mrs EG collected me from Wolverhampton].
Slightly more leisurely start than usual to get to the station for 09:00 when the day tickets start. A precautionary single Düren - Aachen was also purchased. The Kursbuch had revealed trams to Bonn Hbf ay zz:13, xx:33, xx:53 so when a no. 16 arrived at 09:13 it seemed to be a good opportunity... Some while later while immersed in the Kursbuch working out what I could do with the extra 20 minutes, the tram driver came to point out that we we were in a reversing siding and the best thing was to stay on and go back to the station (which was Sürth). Of course, we waited in the siding for the 09:13 from Köln Hbf to go past. Still, I got some track and no harm was done except to the ego as I was able to get the 09:33 and reached Bonn Hbf in good time for 10:34 to Bad Münstereifel. This was class 215 hauled and reverses at Euskirchen. Bad Münstereifel is a genuine branch terminus and serves a town well worth a wander round. Insufficient time today however, as I had to go back to Euskirchen where to my great relief 12:29 to Köln was on time. It remained so to Köln Hbf (13:!4) making an easy connection into 13:20 to Aachen.
The precautionary ticket purchase saved me getting off at Düren and on arrival at Aachen there was time for an Erdinger weissbier before the 15:10 bus to Eupen. This too was on time and the putatively very short connection at Eupen into the 15:55 train looked OK. Until just after the Belgian border when the dreaded bus inspectors staged a lightning raid. Of course somebody (not I) had a dodgy ticket and was, after lengthy and voluble argument, hauled away. Of course too, the bus was packed and stopped nearly everywhere. Major concern was necessary for 15 minutes or so (the train 1 hour later would get me to Brussels in time but only by relying on the punctuality of a Köln - Oostende). [These were a legend at the time for unpunctuality – nowadays they’d probably pass without comment, at least on DB] . Arriving at Eupen at 15:52, a mad dash got me to the train at 15:54. Easy peasy-ish.
The connection at Verviers is into an IC originating at Welkenraedt which was of course on time and virtually empty so a very comfortable ride to Brussel Zuid was had, arriving in time to be refused admission to the 18:27 Eurostar. What difference does it make, I ask myself. Anyway rules is rules, so off to Au Laboreur for a Hapkin consumed outside on the pavement (well, on a chair on the pavement) whence, of course, one can spot all the locos going in and out of Zuid from and to Centraal. Dreadful, as the bashers say. And I got my penultimate 80 (8001) at Schaarbeek where it was doing interesting things with the stock of the Schaarbeek - Port Bou autokipper.
Meanwhile back at Brussel Zuid the 19:27 Eurostar was busy getting itself ready to leave 10 minutes late. Unfortunately due to stupid airline-type procedures you have to sit there... [What on earth would I have thought of today’s Eurostar (2023) had I been able to see it then?] Uneventtful run back, exactly as outward, an arriving exactly on time despite the late departure. It was announced that immigration would be done at Waterloo, so naturally it was done en route (vice versa on the outward trip). Over to Euston in good time for the 22:45 to Wolves but Virgin Trains were unmoved and insisted I remained on the 23:45. Otherwise, a pretty good day. [My notes don’t reveal how I got home but I suspect the long suffering Mrs EG collected me from Wolverhampton].
215 120 waits to propel the branch train back from Bad Münstereifel to Euskirchen on 28.7.1997
The next trip remains something of a mystery, although photographic records, such as they are, suggest that for some reason I was at Weert later in 1997 and I was certainly on an IFC steam tour in the Paris area in the autumn of the same year.
