European Railroad Discussion > 1980 DR Steam

In 1980 I was trekking around Europe and wanted to check out some Deutsche Reichsbahn steam. I went to West Berlin, and then walked across to East Berlin and got a visa, hotel reservations and train tickets to go to Saalfeld, which was the center of the most steam on DR at the time. On the appointed day, I took a train from East Berlin to Leipzig, and then changed there for a train to Saalfeld. I was surprised to find the Saalfeld train had an immaculate Class 01 4-6-2 on the point for my ride!

1) DR Class 01 4-6-2 on Leipzig-Saalfeld train at Leipzig Hauptbahnhof (July 6, 1980). I met 2 East German railfans on this platform, and I gave them some West German railroad magazines I was carrying, which they had never seen. Later I wondered if that was a deportable offense!
2) DR Class 01 4-6-2 approaching Saalfeld from Leipzig on passenger train (July 7, 1980).
3) DR Class 44 2-10-0 approaching Saalfeld on a freight train (July 7, 1980).

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4) DR Class 44 2-10-0 on northbound freight leaving Saalfeld.

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Thanks Duncan, great set.

You was there at the last great time to catching steams in East Germany on regular trains. Both, passenger and freights.
Think, you had a great expenrience there.
Great bundle - thanks for sharing.

Very interesting images and story. Thanks for sharing. My first (and only) visit to Saalfeld occurred in 1985.

Great photos Duncan. You are tugging on my heart strings. When I was over there in 2002 they had no plandampf's planned so I did see and ride some narrow guage steam.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

Very nice -- the 44s were real brutes. I found it interesting -- and as far as I know this is a true story, but tell me if it isn't -- that throughout the post-WW2 period the East and West German railway authorities continually coordinated their class and locomotive numbering systems so that there were never conflicts or duplications.

Gordon

I don't think they've been called Deutsche Reichsbahn since about May 1945. Reichsbahn was a Nazi thing.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/07/18 07:14 by PHall.

PHall - Not so - the Deutsche Reichsbahn name predated the Nazis - it was used since the 1920s, and was used by the East Germans up until the DR and DB were merged in 1993. See wiki link below and also scan of DR 1984-85 timetable book.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Reichsbahn_(East_Germany)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/07/18 14:33 by dwatry.

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Gordon - I don't know if that's the case but wouldn't surprise me. There were several places where DR trains with DR locos ran through into DB territory (such as to Hamburg, Lubeck), so it makes sense. Interested to hear if anyone has better info on this.

Regarding the DR name, I think it actually came into use in the late 1930's by the Nazi regime, but it did indeed remain in use for the East German Rail system. The link has an interesting explanation as to why, and it probably is correct, but my late uncle had a different explanation for whatever it's worth. He was a history teacher in East Germany, and he explained to me many years ago it had to do with debt-obligations, which would be incurred if a new railway organization was set up. So the money strapped DDR left it the way it was - kind of actually supplements or agrees in a way with the Wiki explanation, so maybe it was the same thing explained differently.

Not sure if there was any official coordination between the DR and DB regarding numbering, etc., at least I have never seen it written that there was. HOWEVER, it's pretty clear the DR did indeed use same system as the DB, while other communist countries strayed in numbering and so forth. So it seems very likely there was some coordination at some level, maybe very unofficial or deniable even. There also seems to be some coordination behind the scenes in some locomotive designs and so forth, again something I've been told wouldn't take place but certain authors have even noted there is an amazing similarity in some designs even though nobody talked to each other supposedly.

And by the way, thanks for posting those pics - nice stuff, appreciate you sharing it! The third pic of the freight approaching Saalfeld has one of the more interesting Eastern Europe freight cars in it, that second car which look's like a boxcar. It indeed is a boxcar, but it's a "multi purpose" car that has roof hatches in it, as well as hoppers underneath. So it can be used as a boxcar, but also as a covered hopper - and they were often used for grain transport.

The histories available all show the DR being formed in 1920 through merger of the prior state-based railways (such as Prussian Railways). This predated Nazi control by 13 years.

dwatry Wrote:
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> The histories available all show the DR being
> formed in 1920 through merger of the prior
> state-based railways (such as Prussian Railways).
> This predated Nazi control by 13 years.


Of course, anybody who speaks German will know that "Reich" means "state" and has nothing to do with Nazism or anything else. Similarly the old DB stood for "Deutsches Bundesbahn" or "Federal Railway", as the 1949 West German state had a federal structure. The new organisation formed after reunification has the same initials but the title is now "Deutsches Bahn".

gbmott Wrote:
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> Very nice -- the 44s were real brutes. I found it
> interesting -- and as far as I know this is a true
> story, but tell me if it isn't -- that throughout
> the post-WW2 period the East and West German
> railway authorities continually coordinated their
> class and locomotive numbering systems so that
> there were never conflicts or duplications.
>

From Joern Pachl, professor of the rail program at Braunschweig (Germany) Technical University, and ex-DR towerman, among other things:

For steam locomotives, this in indeed true. In the 1950s, when new
steam engines were still being built, many people still believed that
the separation of Germany was just a temporary situation. So, the
railway authorities on both sides still acted as if they had a common
numbering system. There was no common authority supervising this, each
of the two railways just avoided to assign class and locomotive
numbers that would duplicate with numbers on the other side.

After 1961, the hope for reunification was dwindling. So, with new
Diesel and electric locos, both railways still used the same system
but did no longer pay attention to avoid duplications. Now, some class
designations were used in the East and the West for different types of
engines. Examples are the Diesel classes V100 and V60 that existed as
a Western and an Eastern version. In 1968 in the West and 1970 in the
East, a new computer-based numbering system was introduced. The old
class designations were replaced by a three-digit series number, which
became part of seven-digit operational number for each locomotive.
While the structure of the operational numbers looked the same in East
and West, two groups of three-digit numbers followed by a one-digit
checking number, the series numbers followed different principles. So,
the same series number could occure in East and West for completely
different locomotives. As an example, the series 120 was a four-axle
electric loco in the West, but a six-axle Diesel loco in the East.
After the German reunification, the East German railways changed to
the Western numbering system, which became the common system for
entire Germany. So, all East German locomotives had to be renumbered.
As an example, the 120 became a 220.

TAW

Ausgeseichnet! Thanks for these photos.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY