Steam & Excursion > 2 steam engines racing daily in regular service

First the back story.  My brother and I made our first trip to Europe in 1972, and had little good intel.  However we met some other fans who put us in the right direction for publications that were extremely good for pre-internet days.  One was a book that cover steam-hauled passenger trains.  One of the cool things we learned about was a simultaneous departure from a town called Lauda, which had 4 lines radiating from it.  So in the summer of 1974 we visited the region, and actually made two visits in the same year.  I went back in 1975 for the last time, and got it one more time, but it was too dark for movies.  So below we have a shot in 1974 and a couple from 1975 of the same train.  We dubbed these "The Racers", which was in reality a 7 a.m. departure of a passenger train from Lauda to Wurzburg(On the left), and another one to Werteim on the right.  The Wurzburg line was doubletrack(Center between the two trains).  We would congregate where the split was and had a good show most days.  One issue was there was a 7:05 due from Wurzburg on that middle track (Coming from behind), so one had to be cautious.  The shots from 75 are brightened in photoshop.  They were shot near the station after departure, and the 1974 shot is at the split.  FWIW I am working on a couple of videos with footage from these trips.  Not done yet though. Enjoy the still images! They are among some of the rarest I have ever shot.
Greg Scholl
http://www.gregschollvideo.com
 

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The engines in most cases were class 023 2-6-2's which is the case in the first summer shot.  The winter scene in March 1975 is an 023 on the left but the engine on the right to Wertheim is an 50 class 2-10-0. I forgot to include that info in the original post.
Greg Scholl

Truly to be treasured. 
Bob

Really Neat Series!

Larry

Had to sound awesome leaving town!

Posted from iPhone

SD45X Wrote:
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> Had to sound awesome leaving town!
>
> Posted from iPhone

Yes it was quite the experience.  I think somewhere one of us did at least one cassette recording but we cannot locate it.  I think we got something like 6 trains in this little segment before breakfast.  There was a 6:00 am freight,  a 6:30 freight, the Two Racers, a 7:05 arrival, and the "Fish Train" which was usually doubleheaded 2-10-0's.
Yes, thats 6.  Our guesthouse was about 2 blocks from the tracks.  Each hour the town churchbells would toll, and when we heard the 7 bells, it was usually followed by the stack talk from the two passenger trains.  The winter one was the only time I was that close to the station.  In the summer we were always where the two lines split.  I told my brother yesterday we should have ridden one of the trains, and shot some nice movies from one of them.  But I thought of it about 44 years too late!!!
Greg

Great pictures Greg.
Not in regular service but the week long Steam Extravangaza in Trier Germany last April provided several opportunities for parallel steam departures. 
Sadly, the first one we waited for did not occur when the second steam loco injured a photographer.
Digital cameras really help now as you can take many shots and choose the best "parallel".
Picture has also been doctored to remove some of the catenary.
Bob

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I saw a bit of video on that event.  The Germans do a great job with their Plandampfs where they put steam on regular trains for a few days.  Participants can either ride or photograph.  Wish we could do that in the U.S.!!!
   I think one of the engines was 01 75, which I rode the cab of in regular service in 1975 from Rheine to Nordeich Mole.  It was 012-075, but I think they made it back to the original number.  It was a 3-cylinder oil-fired engine when I saw it.
Greg