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  • Trams and Interurbans in Southwest Germany

  • Discussion about railroad topics everywhere outside of Canada and the United States.
Discussion about railroad topics everywhere outside of Canada and the United States.

Moderators: Komachi, David Benton

 #181831  by NarrowGaugeElectric
 
Hello folks,
I just want to introduce myself. I'm new in this forum and as I'm also interested in electric traction I think I'll show you some interesting pictures and some facts:

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Yes, you guessed it, I'm from Germany.

Here you'll see some very different electric trolleys (or trams?):
Left is car no. 235, HSB (Heidelberger Strassen- und Bergbahn AG/Heidelberg Tram and Funicular Company), a classic bidirectional 6axle tramcar. In the middle, car no. 44, HSB. 4axle motor-car, in running condition but it has to be renovated thoroughly. Built in 1925.
Right is car no. 122, OEG (Oberrheinische Eisenbahngesellschaft AG). 6axle "Variotram", built 1996.

More pics -if you're interested- may come soon. :-)

 #182378  by CarterB
 
Nice photos, please post more!

Do you happen to have anything about the trams that operated in Hamburg? or route maps of the Hamburg tram lines?

 #182470  by NarrowGaugeElectric
 
Here's a link to Hamburg's tramways...

http://www.trampicturebook.de/tram/germany/hamburg/

Well, there are some books covering the Hamburg system, but unfortunately there's still no book that tells the whole history of Germany's second largest tram-network.

I'm about to show you some pics next week, as here (in the area around Mannheim/Heidelberg) you can still see a great variety of trams, interurbans and even a funicular-railway, all built between the early sixties up to 2003.

Some historical vehicles are also preserved, just have a look at:
http://www.ign-ev.de
http://www.hsh-ev.de
http://www.die-bahnfreunde.de (also in English!)
http://rnlf.de.vu (only in German, but quite easy to navigate)

See ya next week...

 #182607  by NarrowGaugeElectric
 
Some more pics:

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This is a so-called „Halbzug“ (Half-Train), motor car and control trailer.

They came in sevice in 1926, being used as „Express-Trains“ on the Mannheim-Heidelberg route.
Withdrawn in 1974(!!).
Three trainsets are still existing, this one here is used as „parts-carrier“ for the remaining one.. Next pic.

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This is the „Saloon-Car“, with is still in service today.

These trains were unique on narrow-gauge lines in Germany these days, and they could even be coupled together with another „Half-Train“ to form a so-called „Full-Train“.
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The third one is on display in the Hannover-Museum..Next pic:

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Here the third one. The use of thick and sturdy riveted steel made these trains very „invincible“, that lead to one of their nicknames: „Tank-trains“ (=Panzerzüge).

And now for something completey different...
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An OEG-train (car 112) in new livery makes ist way round the curve at Heidelberg-Bismarckplatz. For the next two years this will be the regular route due to track renewal in northern Heidelberg.

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Another OEG-train, a „Variotram“ takes the curve..

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Quite surprisingly, even a HSB-tram used the curve shortly after the OEG-trains passed. Maybe it was because it was delayed and had to take a shortcut...

New pictures next,
thankyou for your patience... ;-)