European Railroad Discussion > Week in the East - Part 1 - Berlin

My year in London is almost over, and one of the remaining things I wanted to do was go to Lithuania to see the village where my maternal grandmother's family came from.  So I met up in Berlin with a friend from the Bay Area whose mother is from the same family, and we went to Latvia and Lithuania to seek out the village.  First we had a weekend in Berlin, however.  Part 1 is a few photos from the Berlin weekend.

I had not been to Berlin since 1980, when as you can imagine, it was a very different place.   Since reunification, there has been nonstop construction to knit back together the rail network that was split in two during the days of divided Berlin.  In Cold War days, both the S-Bahn (regional Metro) and U-Bahn (Metro) systems were split in two.  However, the S-Bahn was still run by the East Germans, even in West Berlin, and West Berliners largely boycotted the S-Bahn, preferring to use the U-Bahn instead, which was run by West Germans in the western portion of the city. 

1.  Westbound S-Bahn (S-5) train at Zoologischer Garten.  2 tracks on the left are for the S-Bahn, which is a frequent urban/regional metro system using mainline rail technology.  2 tracks on the right are for regional express and intercity trains.  In the days of divided Berlin, all international trains from West Germany into West Berlin used the tracks on the right to serve several stops in West Berlin.  With reunification, DB has built the new Hauptbahnhof (HBF), and most of the intercity and international trains now use the lower level at HBF and do not use these tracks parallel to the S-Bahn.  Instead, these tracks are now full of a regional express network of RE and RB-trains that serve the greater Berlin region. 
2. BVG streetcar shown outside Alexanderplatz Station, which is in the former East.  Prior to reunification, streetcars were only left in East Berlin.  Since reunification, several lines have been extended into the former West.
3. U-Bahn train at Schlesisches Tor station.  In Cold War Days, this was the end of the line, as the terminal at Warschauer Strasse across the river was in East Berlin.    
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/14/16 01:23 by dwatry.

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4.  U-Bahn train on Oberbaumbrucke over the Spree River.  There is a Sunday art market going on on the ped bridge below the train.  In Cold War Days the river here was the border.  The longest remaining section of the Berlin Wall is right near this location along the banks of the river on the eastern side.  It has become a gallery of mural painting known as the East Side Gallery. 
5.  Ostdeutsche Eisenbahn (ODEG) regional train at Spandau Station. 
6.  PKP (Polish Railways) Berlin-Warsaw IC train at Friedrichstrasse Station. 
 

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7.  Former Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) preserved VT18 trainset at Lichtenberg Station.  These trainsets were built by the Gorlitz Wagonbau in the early-1960s for TEE service for the East German system, and were used on services to Prague and Vienna. 
8.  DB Regional Express at Friedrichstrasse.
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/14/16 08:31 by dwatry.

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Very nice Duncan, my last railfan experience in Berlin was 1989, just before the wall fell. Having gone back with friends on non-railfan holidays since it is quite an eye opener what has changed. A bit of me misses the excitement of crossing the border at Friedrichstrasse and spending the day chasing trains on the DR in East Berlin. 

Duncan

You certainly managed to cover a wide variety of action on Berlin. However you included no photos of the new Berlin Hbf -- in my mind one of the world's great train stations.

Here's one of my favorites -- a view as you walk into the main entrance.

WP17

 

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Thanks so much for these photos.  My time go back to the early 1950's serving in the Army in Berlin.

In those days, we could enjoy all the street car lines in the western part of  the city, with all old equipment from the 1920's.

Ed

I'm off to Berlin next week, on my first ever visit. These photos certainly boost my enthusiasm for the trip. Also, some good ideas where to go. Many thanks for the uploads. Chris UK.

Great stuff, many thanks! I've been to Berlin a few times , first in 1975 (after Willy Brandt's "Ostpolitik", and the Helsinki conference on Human Rights) when we arrived from Budapest overnight on a steam-hauled (from Dresden) sleeper train. We stayed in the West and took the train for Hook of Holland from the Zoo station. Sadly this was diesel hauled but the preceding train to Hamburg had one of the modernised DR 01 pacifics. Apologies for posting this pic again but it semed relevant.

After a few visits in the 1990s, we stayed for a bit in 2012. What a change! I attach a few photos from that trip;

Pic 1 Hamburg departure from Berlin Zoo in 1975

Pic 2 Station on the Stadtbahn looking east (S-bahn tracks)

Pic 3 Main line train on Stadtbahn with DR designed electric loco

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/14/16 15:36 by spflow.

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