Steam in Emsland Area

Steam Trains in the Emsland Area 1973 - 1977

At the tender age of 14 my railway friend Martin and I were confronted with a first serious question of conscience: On one of the ways to the railway observation in Hagen's main station we found a few DM notes as if blown away by the wind. No wallet from which any clues as to the owner could have been taken, no extremely high total amount, two or three loose notes lay around on the floor.

Too tempting was the prospect of finally being able to afford a train ride to the steam engine mecca of Rheine. Because the price of DM 26. 00 for a return ticket was far beyond our pocket money budget.

The decision had been made and since this was the first "long-distance" trip of well over 100 km, appropriate preparations had to be made. Catering had to be provided. Schnitzels were fried and a thermos filled with hot tea.

On the morning of the 14th. 03. 1973 a ticket was then bought in the ticket office. At that time it was produced as Edmondson's ticket, printed on cardboard.

Details on the tariff calculation, spatial validity and cancellation can be taken from the scans in the following gallery. Simply click and scroll through:

Ticket

Ticket: This is a return ticket of more than 50 km, valid for 2 months, allowing interruptions and not requiring an additional express train supplement.
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Stamp Impressions

The stamp impressions on the back show the use of the D 731 and, following on from it, the E 1935.

At the very bottom, you can see the stamp of the D 736 (with a lot of imagination) for the return journey from Münster to Hagen main station.

The print of the E 1936 on the front of the ticket shows the use of the train between Rheine and Münster.

Above the hole, which was snapped at the barrier in Hagen, you can see the embossing 14III for the date and HG II 55 for the location and identification of the pincers.
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Station Distance Table

Station distance table: The fare calculation was based on the tariff distance, which did not always correspond to the actual distance, to cover averages for alternative routes.

This fare distance could be taken directly from the station distance board, which was available for larger stations or occupied ticket offices.

For on-train sales, staff had access to the distance indicator (handheld tariff) for ticket sales on long-distance trains.

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Fare Calculation

Fare calculation: As print templates for ticket creation were not available for all connections, the data may have had to be taken from this distance table and manually written to a corresponding blank ticket.

For the ticket to Rheine, the issuing officer was able to use a corresponding template, which specifies the tariff distance of 125 km and the area boundary number R 3017.

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Space Boundary Board

At that time, the space boundary board described all "corridors" within which a journey was made without calculating detour kilometres. With long travelling distances, several room boundaries could be lined up.
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Area Boundaries

On my ticket, the area boundary R 3017 was noted, which referred to the section between Hagen and Münster. All routes between the points "Witten - Dortmund - Lünen" and "Unna - Hamm" could be used. Here it becomes clear that the tariff distance according to which the fare was calculated did not have to correspond to the actual distance. The distance from Hagen via Dortmund and Lünen to Münster may have been different from the distance from Hagen via Unna and Hamm to Münster.
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So much for my excursion into analog fare design and calculation.

Immediately after arrival in Rheine, a confirmation call had to be made to Martin's parents. ( We didn't have a phone then). Due to the lack of cordless hardware, a telephone booth on the forecourt of the train station in Rheine was visited and the confirmation of the successful arrival was confirmed via the pay phone (there was also no card phone yet) using the coin supply brought along.

The attractiveness of Rheine and the Emsland line with the last steam-operated express train service at DB was internationally known. After our phone call we were approached by an Asian-looking railway friend: "Can you tell me the way to the Bahnbetrrriebswörk?" We were prepared and had ordered a printed city map of Rheine from the local bookstore in Hagen before the tour. So now we could pass on our knowledge about the not quite short way from the train station Rheine to the Bw in direction Hauenhorst.

The photo yield of this first real railway tour was neither particularly large nor of particularly good quality.

And then it went on. The tours in January and April 1975 were still carried out by train. The photo motifs in Rheine are therefore limited to the railway station, the Bw and its immediate surroundings. Later, my geography teacher, who was a railway enthusiast, allowed me to take rides in his car and thus, in addition to the obligatory visits to the railway station, also took pictures on the Emsland line.

13. January 1975:

Shooting details can be taken from the following picture gallery. Simply click and scroll through:

Depot Visit

Before visiting a railway depot, the gods had set the registration in the locomotive management.

In order to keep short-term train cancellations or foreseeable delays as low as possible, there were always a few train drivers on standby in the lounge of a depots.

One of these train drivers was then given to us in the depot Hamm, Wanne-Eickel or Freilassing for company and entertainment. These officials in the driving service had a lot of stories to tell or admonished us when we were allowed to climb onto the driver's cab of a 104 in the depot Hamm to take pictures: "Don't touch anything, otherwise the thing will go off and I don't know why" (The colleague was probably not familiar with old-building locomotives).

With the rush of visitors in the large depots at the end of the steam era, such as Ottbergen and Rheine, an insurance sum had to be paid for the inspection. In return, we were allowed to move freely in the depot, after appropriate admonition. In Ottbergen this was only entered in a book by name. In Rheine, a visitor's card was also issued, which was later to be worn visibly on the depot site - even with a ribbon.

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Resting Time

Resting time: Here 012 100-4 simmers photogenically in the depot. The two gentlemen in grey are certainly part of the staff.
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Disused

Disused: If 011 062-7 looked quite normal on our first visit and was only "disfigured" by the railway friend standing in front of it, the machine now looks quite plucked. Even if only written on with chalk, it was a great service to be able to read the locomotive number from this perspective because of the open smoke chamber door. Someone's been doing some thinking.
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08. April 1975:

Shooting details can be taken from the following picture galleries. Simply click and scroll through:

Express Train Steam

Express train steam: D 735 has been changed from electric locomotive to 012 066-7 in Rheine and leaves Rheine station here in the direction of Norddeich.
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Damp Mopped

The platform at Rheine station looks like a damp wipe when 012 100-4 arrives here with D 715 from Norddeich. An electric locomotive will take over the train for the next leg of the journey to Munich. Loco 012 100-4 will be able to recover from the strenuous journey in the depot.
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Analog Display

Analog display: We were already used to platform displays with automatically operated directional films from the Hagen metropolitan railway station. Here in Rheine, the destinations and types of trains were still pushed up and down by hand and the time "turned in".
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Export Support

Export support: 042 241-0 brings here a load of brand new Audis for shipment from Emden to the rest of the world. At that time, old and new were in succession. Wherever in the world today, there are probably not too many of these Audis left. Loco 41 241, as it is now called again, has survived and is currently (2020) in the Netherlands.
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From the North Sea to Lake Constance

In 1975 there were still through coach connections with trains on routes that are very unusual today. Here you can see the train running sign of a D 715 course car. Norddeich-Münster-Dortmund-Hagen-Hüttental-Weidenau-Giessen-Frankfurt(M)-Heidelberg-Stuttgart-Ulm-Friedrichshafen

In the opposite direction with D 714, which also drove via the Ruhr-Sieg line, Hagen was bypassed even then. Just as now planned for the new IC line over the Ruhr-Sieg line. With the difference that there was a through coach for Hagen from Letmathe.

29. May 1975:

Shooting details can be taken from the following picture gallery. Simply click and scroll through:

Route planning

Be where and when? Current online timetables did not yet exist at that time. For this reason, printed lists such as "Steam Guided Trains" or current news from railway magazines had to be evaluated.

This is the note for the tour on 29. 05. 1975. I did not take any pictures of the 103 that day.

The 29. 05. 1975 was a Thursday. We in North Rhine-Westphalia did not have to skip school that day. It was a holiday - Corpus Christi. Behind Rheine to the north was a normal working day in Lower Saxony.

CHange of Traction

Change of traction: At this time, the change from electricity to steam for the trains of the Emsland line took place daily in Rheine. The only picture I took of it is how 012 100-4 leaves her train from Emden direction and goes from the station to the depot. On the left side of the picture there is a 140 waiting to take over the train as well as some railway enthusiasts. Panic was the order of the day. The end of steam operation especially with 012 was in sight.
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Waiting Zone 1

Waiting zone 1: For Emsland trains heading north, the steamers waited in the track apron of Rheine like here 012 066-7.
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Steam under Electric Power

Steam under electric power: The journey continued to Salzbergen under electric power. 012 066-7 is really going strong here with its heavy express train.
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Waiting Zone 2

Waiting zone 2: Here at the Schleupestraße level crossing, pedestrians and vehicle traffic on the road must give priority to the Dampfross.
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Perspective

Perspective: At the end there was the obligatory depot- visit on 29. 05. 1975. This railway day ended with a view through the driving wheel set of an unknown locomotive to 042 226-1.
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On this day, after a short detour to the depot Rheine, we set off in the direction of Lingen. I owe this tour to my geography teacher and his car.

15. April 1976:

Shooting details can be taken from the following picture gallery. Simply click and scroll through:

I win

I win: Here it looks like the electric locomotive squad, led by 140 661-0, has gained the upper hand.

The steamer on the right already has a lid on the fireplace and the locomotive signs have already disappeared from the boiler door.

The electrical crew is still resting at the Bw Rheine.

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Nuclear Fission vs. Water Vapour:

Nuclear fission vs. water vapour: Two different technologies for energy production meet each other.

Of course, only the class 042 locomotive moves past the nuclear power plant in Lingen as the lead of a sister locomotive.

Fortunately, the nuclear power plant remained in the same place until it was shut down.

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Not for Third Parties

Not for third parties: For strategic reasons the timetable of this train probably could not be passed on.

Did 042 320-2 want to defend itself here with military means against the replacement of the steam operation?

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The end of steam operation in October 1977 was approaching. The time of the farewell rides began. The 13th. and 20. March 1977 therefore special trips from Hannover - Bremen - Leer - Rheine - Osnabrück - Hannover took place.

Shooting details can be taken from the following picture gallery. Simply click and scroll through:

Visual timetable 1

Visual timetable 1: For the planning of the photo locations, a visual timetable was created by hand using some known timetable corner points for the route section in question.
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Kilometre 266 5

Kilometre 266 5:

This would have been visible on the milestone if I had not cut off the lower part.

Similar to today's GPS data, the recording location for km 266. 5 on the route 2931 can be set to an exact point between Meppen and Haren

This mileage, which is nowadays usually attached to the overhead contact line masts, allows the driver to change speeds, for example, in accordance with the timetable.

This is 043 903-4 en route on 13. 03. 1977. At that time you could even open the windows in the cars while driving and let the smoke and soot particles blow around and into your eyes!
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Paperwork

Paperwork: There were printed book timetables for the regularly running trains, which included time and speed information for each individual train.

With this scan of issue 2A of the Bundesbahndirektion Münster for local trains, valid from 26. May 1974, on the left hand side you can see the respective speed changes at the kilometre points for the Ntb 7437 with a three-car of the class 624.

In contrast to this, the engineer was allowed to use his Nb 7407 or Nb 7411 at 100 km/h.

The pick-up point 266. 5 is therefore exactly between the Hemsen(Ems) and Haren(Ems) block.

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Much Area

Much area: Flat land is typical for the Emsland route. Here 042 096-8 will be on the second tour on 20. March 1977 with her special train through the North German countryside near Tecklingen.
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Mandatory

Mandatory: After the special train a short stop at depot Rheine:

The Fifty-Fifty Joker is already set. 042 113-1, 043 621-9 are already facing 221 145-6 and a discreet beige turquoise engine.

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Farewell

The time for special steam trips was running out and on the 10th and 11. September 1977 there was another big steam spectacle. Trains from the Netherlands with 023 and on the Emsland line with 042 and 043 were operated.

Shooting details can be taken from the following picture gallery. Simply click and scroll through:

Visual Timetable 2

This is the visual timetable of the journeys with indication of the train numbers, planned traction units and train formations for the section Münster Hbf / Bentheim to Leer (Ostfriesland)
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The Pilot goes off Board

The pilot goes off board: With lead locomotive 220 077-2 D 2915 from Bentheim arrived in Salzbergen on 10. 09. 1977.

The lead locomotive has stopped and 023 076-3 will pull the 9 Bm of Nederland Spoorwegen alone towards Rheine.
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Return of Empties

Return of empties: Much noticed by the photographers present for the special trips, 043 475-3 here brings back empty car transport wagons from the port of Emden in the direction of the manufacturers' factories for reloading.

I wonder if the railroad police still had the situation under control.

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23. October 1977:

Last steam special train ride along the entire Emsland line:

After that the steam operation was over for the time being. Nevertheless, there were still a few wistful memory tours.

Old electricity

If on the 26th. August 1978 no more steamers were running in Rheine, then there was at least the possibility to take a picture of the old locomotive 104 019-5 with a set of Silberlinge in the station.

No change of engine

On the Emsland line and in the direction of the Norddeich the contact wire hangs and allows a trip without changing the engine. This is 110 508-9 at foggy 01. February 1981 with an express train in the harbour station Norddeich Mole.

Long express trains, especially in the summer months. Heavy ore and coal trains from the port of Emden heading south. In addition to the usual local passenger and freight traffic, the trains here were equipped with the famous steam locomotive series 01. 10, 41 and 44 until the end of the regular steam operation at the Deutsche Bundesbahn. The Bw Rheine as home of most of the machines used was a place of pilgrimage for railway enthusiasts from home and abroad.

Fortunately, steamers can be admired today at least pulling special trains on the routes in Germany.

You can find all Emsland photos under this link to my photo database.

Back to overview Railway Stories

Steam Trains in the Emsland Area 1973 - 1977

Ticket

Stamp Impressions

Station Distance Table

Fare Calculation

Space Boundary Board

Area Boundaries

Depot Visit

Resting Time

Disused

Express Train Steam

Damp Mopped

Analog Display

Export Support

CHange of Traction

Waiting Zone 1

Steam under Electric Power

Waiting Zone 2

Perspective

I win

Nuclear Fission vs. Water Vapour:

Not for Third Parties

Visual timetable 1

Kilometre 266 5

Paperwork

Much Area

Mandatory

Visual Timetable 2

The Pilot goes off Board

Return of Empties

Contact