Steam & Excursion > Forbidden Steam, at least it was at the time

In 1972 there was a thing called the cold war, and there was east and west Germany.  We made our first trip to Europe that year, and spent a lot of time in West Germany.  We heard that near Bebra in West Germany you could get some trains crossing from East Germany into West Germany, as there was a few miles from the East German border to Bebra.  The attraction was the modified 4-6-2's known as the 01.5.  We spent a day or two catching what we could.  There was a tunnel right near the checkpoint, which we "checked out" and it looked a bit uninviting. Anyway here are a few pictures.  I got a few movies of some trains.
One train was scheduled as a doubleheader each day back to E. Germany.  Descriptions under each picture.
(1) Eastbound Pacific heading into Honebach tunnel nearly to the East German Border, from West Germany
(2) This 01.5 has just come out of the Honebach tunnel headed to Bebra.  We spoke to the German signal maintainer on the left and asked if there was any issues with folks on the other side.  He stated that some of his relatives were still in the east.  Sad to hear that.  Reminded us of how free we were in the U.S.
(3) The daily doubleheader from Bebra heading to East Germany, about half way between Bebra and the Honebach tunnel(was a small station nearby, but will research exact location later).  My brother climbed a tree for elevation, and I have a movie of him having trouble getting down!!!
A few years later entering E. Germany was a bit more relaxed and more enthusiasts got in there for some great steam images.  E. German steam lasted probably 10 years more than W. Germany.
Greg Scholl
http://www.gregschollvideo.com

FWIW I am working on some of the films I shot for dvd release sometime in 2019.


 

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01 533 now owned by the Austrian Society for Railway History (German: Österreichische Gesellschaft für Eisenbahngeschichte or ÖGEG).  It is serviceable.  https://www.oegeg.at/normalspur/lokpark-ampflwang/dampflokomotiven/

- Doug Debs

We visited East Germany right after the (big beautiful) wall came down and people were still using horse and wagons (with rubber trires) and driving smoke-emitting Trabants.
The whole place looked like this country in the 1930s.
But the people and the food were wonderful!
BTW, I have a friend who manged to sneak out of Germany when the (big beautiful) Wall was up, without a scratch, by being smarter than'the dimwits who put up the Wall!

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

Good stuff.  My big interest is North American steam, but this is not bad.  Not bad at all!