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European Railroad Discussion > Freight Car Friday: Germany EditionDate: 01/17/25 13:10 Freight Car Friday: Germany Edition Author: NMlurker I had a free day in Berlin and determined that I needed to be somewhere on the outer ring that encircles Berlin to catch freight action. I also needed to be able to get there by train from central Berlin. My choice was Saarmund southwest of Berlin. It is a rural station with excellent indication of impending trains since you can see signals in both directions. At the station it looks like a four-track mainline but the outer two tracks are generally only exist at the station for the hourly passenger service. I arrived at 10:45 AM and for almost one hour stared at eight red signals. I began to wonder if I had chosen correctly or was in the right place. The first freight train came at 11:23 AM and it got increasingly busy up until when I had to leave around 4:15 PM. While I was there, there were four other railfans including a very nice local German man that was extremely knowledgeable about operations. One of the interesting things that he said was that freight traffic varied considerably from day to day. I was lucky to be there on a very busy day with lots of variety. And the weather was great.
1. The first freight train was led by an off-center cab diesel from the private German company ESML. It was a unit train of Czech (CD Cargo) high-side gondolas with metal scrap. Everywhere that I was through eastern Europe I saw such metal scrap trains, often CD Cargo. 2. A rather new and very clean CD Cargo liveried, leased from German company Northrail, Class 248 Dual Mode Vectron leads a unit train of empty log (or pole) flat cars. 3. Class 193 Vectron operated by German logistics company Captrain and leased from German company ITL with a train of LKW Walter soft-side trailers in well-type flat cars. The orange ones are from Swiss company Wascosa. ![]() ![]() ![]() Date: 01/17/25 13:20 Re: Freight Car Friday: Germany Edition Author: NMlurker 4. This was the only time that I saw new automobiles and vans being carried on flat cars in this manner. Someone will recognize the logo on the yellow flatcars, I did not note it. The train is led by a Class 186 TRAXX Railpool locomotive registered in Germany.
5. More innofreight open-top containers on flat cars, this time lettered for Deutsche Bahn (DB) and steel mill Arcelor Mittal. These happen to be empty, in iron ore service, heading back towards Hamburg. 6. I actually took this shot for the Chinese container that I had never seen but shows a string of modern 40' flat cars in articulated pairs operated by DB. ![]() ![]() ![]() Date: 01/17/25 13:39 Re: Freight Car Friday: Germany Edition Author: NMlurker 7. More of my favorite open autoracks where I can't see any ownership information. I can say that these are all new Skoda automobiles, likely built in the Czech Republic, so possibly CD Cargo autoracks.
8. This was actually a mixed freight but started out with cement hoppers. Some are VTG and the ones with orange lettering are from French car lessor ermewa. 9. METRANS is a Czech logistics company that is a major transporter of international containers. This train is led by a Class 383 Vectron lettered for subsidiary HHLA, Hamburger Hafen and Logistic AG. The first two cars and most of the train are typical 80' container flat cars. Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/25 13:55 by NMlurker. ![]() ![]() ![]() Date: 01/17/25 13:54 Re: Freight Car Friday: Germany Edition Author: NMlurker 10. A going away shot of a short mixed freight comprised of mostly what I call 'boxcars' that are sort of like bulkhead flats with tarp coverings. The red ones are DB, the orange and black one is Wascosa. I'm not positive what the second-to-last car is. And the last car is a large GATX stainless steel tank car.
11. Another DB mixed freight of mostly soft-side "boxcars" and led by a Class 185 TRAXX. I can see DB, DB Schenker, and French car lessor ermewa. 12. A DB Class 187 TRAXX with ribbed sides leads a short train of tank cars. I like the three increasing sizes of GATX tank cars followed by several Wascosa and other GATX cars. ![]() ![]() ![]() Date: 01/17/25 15:16 Re: Freight Car Friday: Germany Edition Author: ironmtn A very interesting set - lots of variety, good angles, and interesting motive power - and I appreciated the identification information on the freight equipment.
And a fine location - glad it worked out for you. We've probably all had that experience of a long lull looking at red signals, and then it all starts flowing. Thanks for being patient and hanging in there until things got busy, and then sharing the results with us. MC Date: 01/17/25 20:07 Re: Freight Car Friday: Germany Edition Author: jgilmore Nice set, I find Euro freight ops very interesting and love the open autoracks. Reminds me of growing up in Detroit in the 70s when they were everywhere...
JG Date: 01/17/25 20:15 Re: Freight Car Friday: Germany Edition Author: gaspeamtrak Excellent !!!
Date: 01/18/25 00:18 Re: Freight Car Friday: Germany Edition Author: 86235 NMlurker Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------- > 10. A going away shot of a short mixed freight > comprised of mostly what I call 'boxcars' that are > sort of like bulkhead flats with tarp coverings. Coil carriers (see below) > The red ones are DB, the orange and black one is > Wascosa. I'm not positive what the second-to-last > car is. At a guess a coil carrier with a telescopic hood. And the last car is a large GATX stainless > steel tank car. > BTW Metrans is a subsidiary of HHLA, I don't know if that's what you meant? Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/18/25 02:20 by 86235. ![]() Date: 01/18/25 09:14 Re: Freight Car Friday: Germany Edition Author: NMlurker > BTW Metrans is a subsidiary of HHLA, I don't know if that's what you meant?
Nope, I misread my reference and got it backwards, thanks for the correction. I would not have guessed that those cars were carrying steel coils. |