European Railroad Discussion > Trains In Rhine River Gorge (Pt 1)

A week ago the wife and I were on a Viking Rhine River cruise from Basel, Switzerland to Amsterdam, Netherlands. On April 24th, our longboat sailed through the spectacular Rhine River Gorge. Electrified double-track mainlines on both sides with LOTS OF TRAINS.....a railfan's paradise! Ror some reason, the tracks on the west side of the river had two to three times the number of trains on the east side. Both sides sported passenger and freight trains, passenger trains easily outnumbering freight trains by two-to-one. Because of obstructions on both sides, trees and buildings between the river and tracks in many locations, I was only able to photograph about half of the trains that I saw.....but I photographed about 25 to 30 trains in three hours! The following is a small sampling of what I saw. I am unfamiliar with the locomotive types and their owners, maybe someone can comment on them.

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1 looks rather like a Class 151.

Trains in the Rhine River Gorge in Germany on April 24, 2018.

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Train in the Rhine River Gorge in Germany on April 24, 2018.

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Good shots. Thanks.

The west side is the newer high speed line. The east side is mostly local traffic.

Great photos of the German rails in such spectacular scenery.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

My wife and I took the same Viking cruise in 2016, and train watching was a delightful addition to an otherwise great experience.

There are several You Tube videos shot around Rudesheim, Germany that are worth the time to watch.

Note that the graffiti problem on rail equipment is just as bad in Europe as it is in the US.

andersonb109 Wrote:
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> The west side is the newer high speed line. The
> east side is mostly local traffic.


Nonsense! The west side is the old main line, which has now been displaced by the Koln - Frankfurt High-Speed line. It now has many fewer of the prinicipal long distance passenger trains, but it interesting to note that it still outnumbers the east bank route, which was always secondary (and more of a freight) route.

Picture one of part three is of a new Siemens Vectron, on which the ACS64 is based. It's in the green and black livery of Czech leasing and service company Lokotrain.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/18 10:03 by 86235.

One third to one half of the freight trains that I saw in the gorge were solid container trains. I just noticed that I didn't get even one photo of any of them! Like I said, obstructions like trees and buildings hiding part or most of a train were a constant hazard!

In 2002 when I rode the ICE train from Frankfort to Berlin it was up the west side of the River and I watched the freights traverse the east side line.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

Bob3985 Wrote:
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> In 2002 when I rode the ICE train from Frankfort
> to Berlin it was up the west side of the River and
> I watched the freights traverse the east side
> line.

Today you would ride the NBS (high speed line) from Frankfurt to Koln and miss the Rhine gorge entirely.

Photo 3 of part 2 shows a new Traxx loco by Bombardier.

Posted from iPhone

Lynn

About how many cars long were the freight trains?

In 1972 to 74 we kept them to about 30 cars and one locomotive.

They were fitting the cars with coupler pockets back then but still they have not changed over from hook and buffer. May never happen.

Ron

lynnpowell Wrote:
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> The following is a small sampling of what I saw.
> I am unfamiliar with the locomotive types and
> their owners, maybe someone can comment on them.

The diesel locomotive in the middle photo of Part 2 is a Class 218.

In September of 2001, I visited between Mainz and St Goarhausen, Most of the passenger traffic was on the west side of the Rhine and most of the freight traffic was on the east. Plenty of river traffic as well.

We stayed two nights in Schloss Schoenburg above Oberwesel. Room 13 was great with a terrace outside that had a view of all the rail and river traffic.

It was all too civilized enjoying the complimentary sherry while rolling them by from the terrace.

Ron asked, "About how many cars long were the freight trains? "
Most of the freight trains were in the 20 to 30 car range. The train shown in Part 3, number 3, was 38 cars long (carrying either iron ore, coal, or coke). Unit container, auto rack, tank car, grain car, and coiled steel car trains were also seen. I also saw locomotives from Austria, Switzerland, and three or four logistics companies hauling freight trains. The west bank saw half of the freight trains and three-fourths of the passenger trains. Passenger trains on the west bank were locomotive hauled intercity, EMUs, and DMUs, while the east bank hosted only EMUs (in about three different paint schemes). It was rare to not see a train for five minutes on one side or the other, and once there were two on the west bank and one on the east bank all at the same time!

Thanks for the photos Lynn.

Got to spend 24 months working on the DB. One first class railroad. It still looks much like it did except they have many more 4 axle cars now.

Ron